FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1985
1985 - 0074.PDF
WORLD NEWS UK could deregulate this month LONDON ~ Domestic air fares de regulation is likely to be in effect in the UK by the end of this month. The UK Civil Aviation Authority has published pro posals to relax its control of domestic air fares on all routes other than those to and from the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, where cur rent CAA fares approval rules remain in force. The Author ity is giving airlines three weeks from the January 3 proposal date to file objec tions and discuss the matter with them; then, assuming there are no major objections—and these are not expected—fares deregulation becomes law. The rules will require that airlines notify the CAA ten days before adopting a new fare. This would allow the CAA to intervene if it saw the new tariffs as "predatory or monopoly behaviour, but such intervention would be ex pected to be very rare". These proposals were first put forward in the CAA's Report on Airline Com petition Policy (CAP 500). Under the present Civil Avi ation Act the Authority has the power to carry out such a change, but is consulting the airlines first because "We do not usually act in a cavalier fashion". Bell admits Acap delay FORT WORTH First flight of Bell's D292 Advanced Composite Aircraft Programme (Acap) helicopter is almost a year behind sched ule, following a series of industrial and funding prob lems. The aircraft is now sched uled to fly in May, as opposed to the mid-summer 1984 date originally planned. A series of walkouts by the Bell work force between May and August last year, as well as a shortage of funds, has slowed Europe's first 737-300 The first European Boeing 737-300 is due to be delivered at the end of this month. British inclusive-tour operator Orion Airways, based at East Midlands, is preparing to accept the first of five Boeing 737-300s it has ordered. down the programme, says Bell. The company is negotiating with the US Government for extra funding to get the all- composite helicopter into the air. Bell is confident that the money will be released shortly. In late 1982 Bell received $21 million Phase II Acap funding. Both Bell and sole Acap competitor Sikorsky were contracted to build three airframes under Phase II—one tool-proof article, one static-test article, and a flight- test vehicle. Sikorsky, which received $29-125 million in initial Acap funds, flew its S-75 Acap helicopter on July 27, 1984. The aircraft has completed 8hr of flight-tests and is now undergoing performance eval uation, says Sikorsky. The S-75 has reached 160kt in a shallow dive and 145kt flying straight and level. Acap is one of the prime R&D studies in the US Army's LHX light-helicopter programme. The US Army is seeking to define the best con figuration for the future light scout/attack role. The programme aims to test the survivability, crash- worthiness, "stealth" charac teristics, and performance of a composite attack helicopter. Bell's D292 is based on the Bell 222, while the Sikorsky S-75 uses the engines and dynamics of the S-76. Airlines offer mercy flight help TEL AVIV Secret diplomatic talks were reportedly under way earlier this week to airlift 12,000 "undernourished" Ethiopian Jewish refugees from famine- stricken Sudan and Ethiopia. They remained in the region following the collapse last weekend of Operation Moses, the Israeli-organised airlift. The Jewish agency Zvi Eyal confirmed last weekend that a number of airlines had offered to undertake the mercy flights. The last flight carrying Fal- ashas refugees landed at Ben Gurion International Airport, Tel Aviv, from Khartoum on January 5. The abrupt halt to the operation, which had pre viously been shrouded in secrecy, came after the first public revelation of the airlift. Trans-European Airlines, a Belgium charter operator which had been organising the Boeing 707 shuttle service, announced that it was stop ping the flights because of "premature publicity". Since November 21 Oper ation Moses had airlifted more than 7,000 Falashas in 35 flights from the Sudanese capital Khartoum to Israel via Brussels and other European airports, including Rome. The Israeli Air Force had also been undertaking mercy flights' with its C-130 Hercules. The secret airlift had been scheduled to continue into, next week. According to. reports, it abruptly stopped after the director of the Jew ish agency in Israel, Yehuda Dominitz, leaked the story to Jewish settlers' newspaper Nekuda. Dominitz was imme diately suspended. Two Israeli opposition par ties have submitted motions, of no confidence in the Gov ernment. The left-wing Citi zens' Rights Movement and the right-wing Tehiya Party have stated that the Govern- ' ment's acknowledgement of, the mercy flights directly ledj to the halting of the airlift.^ Cancellation of the airlift came as a bitter disap pointment to the Israeli Gov ernment and to the Ethiopian Jews in Israel whose relatives have been left behind. Accord-' ing to sources in Israel, the Falashas have expressed their anger at the world's Press and at Israeli authorities for j revealing details of Operation | Moses at a press conference , organised by the Prime Minis ter's office while the operation j was taking place. Israeli offi cials expect that the airlift canJ be restarted and completed in] a few weeks, despite protests from Ethiopia. FLIGHT International, 12 January li
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
