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Aviation History
1980
1980 - 3432.PDF
FLIGHT International. IS November 1980 1845 Air transport Hong Kong ATLA rejects Laker LAKER Airways' application for Lon don-Hong Kong traffic rights has been rejected by Hong Kong's Air Trans port Licensing Authority. Under current regulations, there is no appeal against the ATLA decision, but Laker has asked the British Secretary of State for Trade John Nott to intervene. The reason for the decision was that Laker's planned service—offer ing 250,000 seats a year on seven DC-10 round-trips a week—would have added too much capacity to the Hong Kong market. British Cale donian, which together with Cathay Pacific Airways has been cleared to increase its service frequency to as many as seven return trips a week, describes the decision as "sensible and courageous." BCal's estimates put total traffic on the route at 300,000 passengers next year, and the airline believes that Laker's service would have reduced load factors be low economic levels for some years. The decision is the second occasion when the> British and Hong Kong authorities] have been at odds since it was decided to end British Airways' monopoly on the route. Originally, the ATLA issued licences to Cathay Pacific Airways and British Caledon ian and rejected Laker's application, but the subsequent decision of the Civil Aviation Authority was that only BCal and BA should be allowed to operate. Trade Secretary Nott overturned this decision on appeal— hotly opposed by Hong Kong interests —and licensed all three newcomers to compete with British Airways. BCal and Cathay Pacific started operations this summer, under the terms of the ATLA's 1979 decision, while Laker Airways submitted a new application. Laker has now asked John Nott to seek an exemption for Laker Airways from Hong Kong's licensing pro- Fokker F.29 may become a tripartite programme BOEING could join Fokker and the Boeing may be assumed to have pre- the Japai Tamnp^p airrraft inrlnctrv in Hpvplnn- rprlpri thp Ontrh rnmnanv's nrpspnta. aircraft cedures. British Airways already operates without a licence, under a clause in the regulations governing air services into Hong Kong which originally covered BOAC and BEA. According to Laker, the colony's Governor can grant similar exemp tions. The present regulations govern ing the issue of Hong Kong licences, under which applications are vetted by laypeople co-opted to serve on the ATLA panel, are in any event being reviewed, and Laker Airways argues that in the meantime it should be given exemption. Laker Airways also notes that the ATLA has, in refusing Laker's licence, blocked the path of the only airline with an interest in using the round-the-world Route 6, available to Britain under the UK-USA bilateral. Laker had intended to start the Globetrain service after successfully establishing itself on the Hong Kong route. e Japanese aircraft industry develop ing a new short-haul 130 to 150- seater based on the F.29. The possi bility that the US company could become a partner in such a pro gramme forms the basis of the most recent Fokker proposals to Japan, while Boeing's own 737-300 project now appears less likely to go ahead than statements at the time of the Farnborough Air Show implied. In early September, it was generally assumed that the 737-300, a 128-seater development of the existing aircraft with advanced-technology engines, would go ahead early next year. The launch decision is now "not nearly as close as it seemed," the company tells Flight. It is not clear what has caused Boeing's change of heart, although the reduced level of sales recently recorded by the company may have played a part. The fact that the 737-300 compared poorly in perform ance with projected all-new aircraft may also be influencing Boeing; the F.29 would carry 10 to 15 more pas sengers on the same powerplants, while the field performance of the 737-300 would not be as good as that of the present 737. Boeing may there fore be keen to look at alternative ways of reaching the market for new aircraft in that size bracket without adding another completely new pro gramme to the 757 and 767 workload. Contacts between Fokker and Boein ceded e Dutc company' presenta tion of a tripartite programme to the Japanese industry in late September. Previously, the F.29 had been planned as a Japanese-Dutch programme; Boeing's involvement was confined to subcontract manufacture of unmodi fied 737 body sections and the two main partners would have borne the risks and profits of the project. Fokker and Boeing have presumably extended their understanding to cover possible risk-sharing arrangements. Boeing has not shown any interest in taking anything less than a con trolling interest in any joint pro gramme (as was evident in the un successful search for a risk-sharing partner on the 757). But if the market for an aircraft falling between the 737 and 757 should emerge before 1987— as most companies interested in the area believe it will—Boeing's re sources may not be adequate to support development of an all-new type. An agreement with Fokker and Japanese companies would be prefer able to exclusion from the market, which might happen should both the F.29 and the Airbus SA series go ahead. For Fokker and the Japanese, partnership with Boeing would offer guaranteed access to the US market in return for reduced control over the programme. A decision to involve Boeing in development of the F.29—or YXX, as th Japanese industry styles its new aircraft programme—would almost certainly delay the launch of the air craft beyond mid-1981, and this might be welcome to some sectors of the Japanese industry. Together with reduced emphasis on the 737-300, it will also reduce the pressure on Rolls- Royce and the British Government to make an early commitment to full- scale development of the Anglo- Japanese RJ-500 engine. Contrary to some reports from Japan, Rolls-Royce and its Japanese partners have not yet decided to go ahead with the con struction of development engines. They have agreed that the current design forms the basis for the manu facture of development hardware, but do not have the necessary funding to carry this out. The Japanese partners, it is understood, have been keen to go ahead with the next stage of development, but it is unlikely that funding will be forthcoming from the UK Department of Industry in the absence of firm orders. People... • New secretary-general of the International Civil Airports Associa tion is Elie Nicoletta. Before this he was a director with Pan Am, and has served as an expert on loan to the Directorate of Civil Aviation, Colom bia.
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