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Aviation History
1969
1969 - 1715.PDF
466 AIR TRANSPORT. OBSOLESCENCE AND THE 747 THE Boeing 747 was going to make older jet aircraft absolutely obsolete, said Mr Harold Gray, chairman and chief executive of Pan American, in Washington recently. This would be true even if there were no increase in total traffic. he added—such was the efficiency and economy of the new aircraft. It would be cheaper for Pan American to replace some of its other aircraft with 747s. even if this meant the utilisation of the older types dropped to zero. Mr Gray also reaffirmed the big carriers' assertion that ten-abreast seating would be a mistake. The utilisation of the extra seats over nine-abreast layout would be low. he said, and the quality of service might suffer. Airport terminals that could now handle two 707s within a quarter of an hour could equally well handle a 747, he thought. The big problem facing airport managements was not meeting the demands of the 747 so much as meeting the normal 12-15 per cent annual traffic growth. PROBLEMS FOR THIRD AIRPORT PLANS for developing a third London Airport seem likely lo run into difficulties even after a decision on a suitable site has been taken. The major snag is that there is likely to be an acute shortage of gravel for construction purposes during the next few years because of a sudden spurt in the motorway programme. The Ministry of Transport's engineers are worried about the lack of gravel, and also that the civil engineering industry will be short of capacity during the same period. Obviously, not only the third London airport, but its motorway access and any plans for extending the runways at Gatwick would be affected by this situation. Plans for starting work on London's Motorway Box in the early 1970s will also extend the difficult period for a few more years. Another problem is that of providing the fast rail access which is considered vital for the success of any third London airport, All regions of British Railways are desperately short of capital for modernisation, and are unlikely to contribute towards the cost of a rail link, at £1 million per mile of double track, or of trains, at £100.000 per four-car self- propelled electric unit. Even if the British Airports Authority pays for these items, it will have to contend with an acute staff shortage on the railways. Rail access to two of the four sites on the short list. Cublington and Thurleigh. would not impose any problems other than those already mentioned. At Nuthampstead, fUCHT International. 27 March 1969 however, there is the difficulty of access from an extremely slow, mainly diesel-operated. line to Cambridge. Access to Foulness involves that from heavily used commuter lines, with Liverpool Street, a terminal used to capacity at present, as the London terminus. If the most extravagant of the Foulness plans, that for a combined motorway/monorail link, were to be adopted, there would be an abundance of difficulties including shortage of raw materials and civil engineering capacity, and public opposition to the motorway, which might take ten years to build. In addition, the speeds of 150 m.p.h. expected from the monorail would not be acceptable because monotrains become unstable at more than 100 m.p.h. D.W.W. Tridents for Cyprus? An order for two HS Trident 2Es is expected to be signed Shortly by Cyprus Airways. European 747 Club Air France. Alitalia. Lufthansa and Sabena signed on March 14 an agreement for the joint main tenance of their fleets of Boeing 747s. Lufthansa will install a flight simulator at Frankfurt for use by all four airlines. KSS Change to 747Bs KLM, SAS and Swissair, who have recently agreed on technical co-operation with their Boeing 747s, have together changed their previous orders to ones for the heavier, longer-range "B" version. Seven aircraft are involved—three for KLM and two each tor SAS and Swissair. BOAC's 747 Needs BOAC may need up to 20 747s eventually, said the airline's engineering director, Mr Charles Abell, in Seattle recently. It has 12 on order and four on option at present. He added that none of the 12 on order would be changed to the longer-range 747B, but that the configuration Of the four options, scheduled for delivery in 1973, was still under discussion. More Carvairs for BAF A fleet of six ATL Carvairs will be in service with British Air Ferries at Southend during this summer season. One of the five previously used, G-ASKG, was delivered early this month to Compagnie Air Transport at Le Touquet. This is being replaced by one of three which have been stored at Lydd for the past two years. The sixth Carvair, now delivered, was actually the 17th to be built. This has been lying at Stansted for several years in an unequipped state; it has now been finished and registered G-AXAI. The first of two BAC One- Eleven jets for Dan-Air Services was delivered to Gatwick on March 14. Lease- purchased from American Airlines, it is seen here with temporary livery and still carrying its US registration. N504I, before being flown to Dan-Air's engineering base at Lasham, Hants, where it will be repainted and pre pared for use on European holiday flights this summer. Dan-Air expects its second American Airlines One-Eleven to arrive before the end of this month
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