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Aviation History
1983
1983 - 2231.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT CAAC plans capacity increase BEIJING Chinese state carrier CAAC needs to increase domestic fleet capacity by at least 30 per cent to meet short-term passenger demand. According to Wang Dao, deputy director of the airline's planning department, although CAAC can currently meet the requirements of its 21 inter national routes to Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa, passengers often complain about the diffi culties of getting seats on domestic flights. For instance, CAAC can carry only about 70 per cent of total potential traffic on the Beijing-Guangzhou route during the peak tourist season between August and October. The domestic logjam would be cleared, says Wang Dao, if CAAC had another 100 million ton-kilometres of domestic capacity—at least a 30 per cent capacity increase—for the passengers, cargo, and mail. Another problem is that many of the airline's aircraft are obsolescent or obsolete. "We must buy more advanced 'planes to replace the old," Wang Dao affirms. "Since 1980 we have bought five Boeing 747s, five 737s, and two DC-9 Super 80s, in addi tion to the ten 707s purchased in 1973. We're going to buy more." Over the last seven years CAAC has experienced an average annual total traffic increase of 20-4 per cent. The Super 80s are now delivered and are being used on CAAC's busiest routes, from Shanghai to Hong Kong, Tokyo/Osaka, and Guang zhou. Wang Dao says that flights on the Beijing- Guangzhou route will be ' increased to meet growing passenger volume. CAAC now operates more than 20 aircraft types, but a long-term development pro gramme has been mapped out to upgrade and modernise the fleet. The plan calls for the fleet to be completely modernised by the end of the century. FLIGHT International, 17 December 1983 These models of the Fokker 50 (above) and Fokker 100 (below) give a clearer idea of what the new aircraft will really look like. The most visible changes from the F.27 are the Fokker 50's six-bladed propellers and extra number of windows. The Fokker 100's extra length is obvious The airline plans to buy a number of medium- and long- range aircraft and about 100 utility aircraft for industrial and agricultural purposes in the next seven years. It currently operates 173 domes tic services totalling 210,000 route kilometres. The net work covers 76 cities in 21 provinces, five autonomous regions, and three munici palities. It operates more than 600 schedules a week. Its international network, which currently totals 150,000 route kilometres, will be extended to North and West Africa and Oceania in the future. According to Wang Dao, CAAC wants to do business with manufacturers who provide good product support. The airline needs the manu facturers to provide repair and maintenance services. It has recently built its first large hangar (100m long, 72m wide, and 22m high) at Beijing's Capital Inter national Airport for widebody maintenance. But it still relies on the manufacturers (Boeing for its widebodies) to help with major repairs. Frontier Horizon aims for January DENVER ~ Frontier Airlines' new sister carrier Frontier Horizon now plans to begin operations on January 9, if it receives approval for its applications from the US CAB. Frontier Horizon will initially operate three daily return services from Denver to Chicago O'Hare, and two to Washington Dulles Inter national. Later in January the airline should begin services to New York La Guardia, and in February to San Francisco International. The new carrier originally planned to begin operations on December 15, but the date was put back because of what the company called logistical problems. Frontier Horizon plans to have about 275 staff on its books when it starts up, almost all of them non-union. The airline expects to have received five Boeing 727-100s by January 9, and another two by mid-February. Each will seat 109 pas sengers, with 99 economy and ten business class seats. Schedules and fares have still to be announced; but at Denver, its flights will be timed to connect to key "banks" of flights operated by sister Frontier Airlines. The new carrier expects to have an operating cost per seat mile of about seven cents. • A major CAB bureau has said that labour unions' objec tions to the establishment of Frontier Horizon as a spin off of Frontier Airlines should be ignored and its certifica tion should go ahead. The CAB's Bureau of Domestic Aviation stated that: "The argument that this corporate re-organisation constitutes an avoidance of Railway Labour Act obligations to union members is merely an attempt to bring a labour dispute before the Board rather than before the proper forum, the National Media tion Board". People Susan Hamilton has joined Transamerica Airlines' board of directors as director, Ireland. She was previously manager for the airline's scheduled service sales within the Republic and for its adver tising and promotional activ ities throughout the rest of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Richard J. Orr has been appointed senior vice- president and manager oper ations for Frontier Airlines. 1585
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