FLIGHT,

28 March 1952

361

CIVIL AVIATION
L.A.C. BUYS SKYWAYS
N agreement by which Lancashire Aircraft Corporation, Ltd., fc take over Skyways, Ltd., was expected to be completed this week. By this arrangement Lancashire Aircraft will take over all Skyways' 5s Ordinary shares. Brig-Gen. A. C. Critchley remains on the board, but the other directors resign. Lancashire directors David Brown (chairman, who joined the Lancashire board last summer); J. E. Rylands (managing director); and Sir Wavell Wakefield (contract manager), become directors of Skyways. T h e future policy for the company has still to be decided, but its principal work of maintenance at Stansted* will continue. Only two aircraftboth without C. of A.are concerned in the deal, namely, a York and a Lancastrian, the DC-3S which were previously operated by Skyways in the Middle East having been sold to Gulf Aviation some little time ago. Skyways' Stansted base, which was transferred from Dunsfold (now used by the Hawker Siddeley Group) is well equipped for the overhaul of Yorks and, as these aircraft form an important part of the Lancashire fleet, one purpose of the purchase becomes apparent. Approximately 20 per cent of the shares of Morton Air Services were held by Skyways, and these are now taken over by the Lancashire Aircraft Corporation. T h e L.A.C. is at present operating a Blackpool - Isle of Man service four times a week in association with B.E.A.

18 passengers and they will have increased fuel tankage with a total capacity of 410 gallons, giving a range of 1,400 miles. Union of Burma Airways is at present flying domestic services and an international service from Rangoon to Bangkok, mainly with DC-3S, but it is reported that the Marathons will be used on services to India and Malaya as well as on the route to Thailand. A stewardess will be carried on the Marathon flights and meals will be served from the small buffet. T h e Marathon has already been in scheduled service with West African Airways and during a demonstration tour of Australia and New Zealand some scheduled passenger and freight services were operated with this type on behalf of Qantas Empire Airways in New Guinea and in New Zealand for N.Z.N.A.C.

K.L.M.'s LOSS
is with regret that we have to record the loss of two K . L . M . ITaircraft during last week-end. On Saturday the DC-6 P H - T P J , Koningin Juliana, on a flight from Johannesburg to Amsterdam crashed and caught fire while making an instrument approach to Frankfurt Rhine-Main Airport. Forty-four of the 37 passengers and 10 crew lost their lives. On Sunday the Constellation P H - T F F , Venlo, was burnt out at Bangkok on a flight from Amsterdam to Sydney. In this case the aircraft is reported to have caught fire in the air and to have made a crash landing. Passengers and crew were unhurt.

A QUARTER FLEW
T O T A L of 1,775,000 passengers flew to or from the United Kingdom in 1951, an increase of 24 per cent compared with the previous year. T h e 1951 figure represents 25 per cent of all travellers to and from the U.K., although in the last three months of the year 32 per cent of all journeys to or from the country were made by air passengers. During the year 873,000 air passengers arrived in the U.K. and 902,000 departed, compared with 710,000 and 723,000 respectively in 1950. Air traffic on the continental routes showed the greatest increase, rising by 30 per cent to 1,054,000. Total passenger journeys, sea and air, during 1951 were 7,099,000, a 12 per cent increase over 1950 or 35 per cent increase ever 1938. Sea journeys were up 8 per cent compared with 1950 and for the first time since the war exceeded the 1938 level. T h e figures have been announced by the Board of Trade.

PROGRESS IN INDONESIA
I A T I O N in the United States of Indonesia seems assured of AV " a good future. T h e large number of islands scattered over a vast area make air transport essential. K.N.I.L.M., the East Indies offshoot of K.L.M., developed the first air transport in the area over a number of years before the war and, after the liberation from Japanese occupation, K . L . M . re-opened essential services until the formation of Garuda Indonesian Airways in Dec. 1949. This Indonesian company, whose operations are managed by K.L.M., operates an extensive network within the islands and to Singapore and Manila. T h e present fleet consists of 10 Douglas C-47AS converted by Canadair to seat 21 passengers, 12 C-47AS used for freight or having accommodation for 27 passengers, four 13-passenger Convair PBY-5A amphibians and eight ConvairLiners; and, as recorded in Flight last week, an order has just been placed for 14 de Havilland Herons. Unfortunately the lack of trained personnel is a severe handicap to the rapid expansion of aviation in Indonesia, but I.C.A.O. has sent a mission to Djakarta to assist in training Indonesian nationals in air-traffic control, radio and meterological work, aerodrome construction and aviation engineering. It is also hoped to start an

BURMESE MARATHONS
order for three Marathons has been placed with Handley AN Page (Reading), Ltd., by Union of Burma Airways for delivery later this year. T h e aircraft will have accommodation for

INDONESIAN AIRLINES : The routes of Garuda Indonesian Airways referred to above. Air Ceylon, &.O.A.C., K.L.M. and Q.E.A. also serve Djakarta.