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Aviation History
1994
1994 - 2668.PDF
AiR TRANSPORT Shanghai defers expansion plans TNDEPENDENT Chinese car- J.rier Shanghai Airlines has been forced to delay the launch of international services and reduce its order for new Boeing 767s, fol lowing changes in regulatory approval by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). The CAAC's new, stricter, cri teria state that a domestic carrier must now carry a minimum of 1.5 million passengers a year before qualifying for overseas flights. Shanghai Airlines has fallen short of this requirement, having carried 1 million passengers in 1993: it expects to carry 1.2 mil lion in 1994. "We regret not haying been given CAAC approval, but, with further development, we expect to reach this target next year," says chairman He Pengnian. He notes, however, that other similarly sized state-owned air lines had already been given approval to operate international services before the new stipula tions were imposed. Shanghai Airlines had intended to fly 767-300s to Hong Kong this year, in direct competition with its larger rival China Eastern Air lines. Other planned destinations included Osaka, Japan, and St Petersburg, Russia. It is negotiat ing to exchange two of the five 767-300s on order (the first of which was delivered in July) for five 737s for domestic use. The first two 737s, together widi a second 767, would be delivered in 1996. The airline's 757-200 fleet will also be increased to eight, with the delivery of two more aircraft in 1995 and in 1996. • Brazilian traffic rides on economic conditions BRIAN HOMEWOOD/ RIODEJANIERO BRAZIL'S MAJOR airlines have reported a significant increase in passenger numbers since a national anti-inflation plan, which included the intro duction of a new currency, was introduced on 1 July. Since then, Brazil's inflation has been reduced from more than 40% a month to slightly more than 1%, although it started to creep up again in October. Flag carrier Varig reported a 13% increase in international passen gers in September, compared with August, and an 8% increase in domestic passengers. Transbrasil has reported an overall 25% increase, VASP 35% and regional carrier TAM 45%. Airlines say that greater eco nomic stability, rather than increased purchasing power, has driven demand higher. "When die economy is stable, more business is done and more people travel on business. The lack of inflation also allows companies to plan their spending for the month," says Varig marketing director Joao Luis de Sousa, adding that the same applies to leisure travel by individual passengers. De Sousa says that reduced inflation has led to increased sales in instalments. Varig accepts pay ment in ten fixed monthly instal ments for domestic tickets and 12 for international tickets. Pre viously, the instalments had to be set at high levels to protect against die effects of inflation. De Sousa says that die economy has still not reached the stage where major carriers can consider increasing the number of flights. Load factors for the first half of October were 61% for Transbrasil, 64% for Varig and 65% for VASP. • See feature, P31. European Court rules on France JULIAN MOXON/PARIS THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice at Luxembourg has decisively rejected an attempt by France to delay the opening of the country's two most profitable internal routes to competition. French airlines were thus dieo- retically free to begin services between Paris Orly and Toulouse and Marseilles on 27 October — the date originally specified by die European Commission (EC) when, in April, it ruled diat the routes should be opened. French transport minister Bernard Bosson, however, is now demanding diat airlines must first tender to operate the routes. This puts the earliest date for the arrival of competition back to 1 January, 1995, but EC Transport Commissioner Marcelino Ortega insists that the Court's ruling should take effect immediately. Bosson applied to Luxembourg in June for a suspension of die EC ruling, but the Court has found diat France had "...failed to estab lish" diat opening die routes to competition would prejudice loss- making monopoly carrier Air Inter. It disputes Air Inter's asser tion that die arrival of other air lines on its most profitable routes would reduce its ability to operate on non-profitable routes. Bosson has promised diat appli cations for the routes will be processed "openly". Several French airlines have said that they will apply, including Air Liberte. The airline's president, Lofti Belhassine, says that it will begin Orly- Toulouse services from 2 January. He complains, however, diat die new procedure "...has never been used for routes served by Air France and Air Inter". Similarly, Orly-based AOM says: "If the minister had wanted to put such a procedure in place, he should have done so in April". AOM is preparing to serve Orly- Marseilles, and is about to take delivery of two McDonnell Douglas MD-83s for the route. British Airways subsidiary TAT, which originally bought the case to Brussels, will not reveal its plans. The fight over Orly access comes as French regionals have formed an alliance to fight for their rights under European liberalisation law. Air Adantique, Air Liberte, AOM, EAS, Regional Airlines and TAT have created the "Committee for the Defence of French Air Transport". TAT says: "It is time to finish widi the protectionism, which prevents French people from taking advantage of competition". • British Airways celebrates die opening of its 21st route from France to other European desti nations on 29 October, with a new Paris-Rome service. It now oper ates ten routes from Paris Charles de Gaulle, four from Lyon, five from Nice, and one each from Orly and Marseilles. Q Deliberate scrapes test 777 unstick speed A BOEING 777 UNDERGOES minimum unstick-speed (Vmu) trials at Edwards AFB, California, during October. Designed to determine the lowest speed for a given weight at which the air craft can take off, the pilots deliberately "tailscrape" the 777, which is fitted with a laminated-oak skid to protect its tail. By early October, three 777s had been flown on more than 200 test flights, with more than 700h airborne. Certification is still planned for April 1995 and United Airlines should take delivery of the first 777 the following month. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 2 - 8 November 1994 9
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