Airline Affairs

The other major contributing factor was the enhancement of capacity on the domestic network using existing resources. The airline says it is now comfortable with the present level of capacity on the domestic market, despite concerns by its competitor that there is a domestic oversupply. As forecast earlier in the year the 1994 half of the financial year was considerably stronger than the final half as yield fell and capacity increased. James Strong, also at the result announcement, said that Qantas was satisfied with its future bookings on the domestic network and that it hadn’t suffered the problems of oversupply. International operations were not as buoyant as the domestic network, which saw Qantas gain market leadership on major trunk routes, achieving 50.8% after a hard fought battle with Ansett.

Traffic to Japan had been reeled in over the reporting period, and according to Mr Pemberton, “is now at a more realistic level” after a peak during the previous three years. Volume has increased markedly from Taiwan and Korea, while some other areas of southeast Asia were performing languidly. International operations contributed $151m to the $320.4m operating profit for the year, from total operating revenue of $7.27 billion, itself up 10.3%. The Kangaroo Route and trans Pacific operations to Los Angeles have experienced improved yields. Operations to continental Europe remained poor (poor services = poor results, what do they expect? Ed) and the network, which has already suffered profound rationalisation over the past two years, could stand to face further trimming once the airline’s JSA with British Airways is fully implemented.

Sales revenue generated from the UK and European markets stood at $741.8m, followed by southeast Asia and the Orient (681.1m), then North America and the Pacific (473.1m). A further $282.6m was generated from other sources including charters. Japan, however, continued to be the largest single source of revenue, at $797.3m. An 82% increase in capital expenditure was largely due to the purchase of two 767-300s and one 737-400.

A total of 14,422,000 passengers were carried on scheduled services across the network, which had an increase in available seat kilometres by 9% to 69,748 million, predominantly on domestic operations. Load factor fell slightly to 72% per cent, from 72.2% as capacity was increased. Freight volume grew, with RTKs at 6350m (5849) and ATKs at 9620m (9217). Across the group’s operations to June 30, Qantas had 135 aircraft in service, up from 126 in the previous year. Staff numbers also increased from 26,791 to 28,948.

Despite the warm feeling generated by the healthy results, it will be some time yet before a true picture emerges on Qantas’s post privatisation performance, with the spectre of potential domestic over of capacity and the nagging issue of a surplus of foreign investment hanging over the company. At presstime some 22.6 million shares remain with foreign investors, above the 494.88 million share limit imposed by the Government. Gary Pemberton said of the overhang, “The foreign ownership is starting to look manageable. A 22 million share overhang in a company the size of Qantas, in terms of its daily turnover, is clearly manageable.”

Mr Pemberton said that much of the hysteria surrounding foreign investment had been generated by the media, and that it was ‘a non event’, given the power of the Board of Directors to veto any voting rights exercised by shares exceeding the limit. “Speculation about Qantas being foreign owned is totally unfounded.” Management will give the situation 90 days to settle down, by which time it expects that foreign investment will be brought into line at the 49% limit. If foreign ownership was to remain at the current level of around 51.3% Qantas could face the very real prospect of losing its national identity as the Australian flag carrier, a fact that would clearly advantage Ansett in the continuing negotiations with the Hong Kong government over Qantas’s fifth freedom rights through the colony. For the Hong Kong Government to say that it does not recognise Qantas as an Australian carrier would immediately benefit Ansett’s position and cut a vital profit line from the Flying Kangaroo’s Asia network.

In another recent dispute, Mr Pemberton said that Qantas had resolved an issue with the Australian Taxation Office over aircraft leasing accounting practices, but would not state the amount the Federal Government had agreed to underwrite to clear the debt. Results for the year to date are encouraging, with July showing an increase in domestic market leadership, taking the airline close to its forecast 54% by June 30 1996. “We are very pleased with the early results and particularly pleased with the way Qantas is performing in the domestic market,” Mr Pemberton said. “I suggest it will be seen that the assumptions in the prospectus were at least realistic, if not conservative. The international results have been a little uneven, but we still feel the outlook for the year is strong. The focus is on containing costs, improving yields and ensuring everything we do is calculated to add to the bottom line.” The forecast net profit for 1995/96 is $237 million.

Kiwi Takes Flight

Kiwi Travel International Airlines became New Zealand’s second international airline on August 23 when it flew its first scheduled service to Sydney from Hamilton. Kiwi currently operates six scheduled flights per week across the Tasman — three services between Hamilton and Brisbane (Mon, Wed & Thur), two between Hamilton and Sydney (Wed & Sat) and one between Dunedin and Brisbane (Mon) — using its leased 727-200. In the weeks after service began the airline was experiencing very high passenger loadings. Flights into Sydney were experiencing load factors in the 90s, while outbound flights were in the mid 60s. The airline was able to achieve this despite the fact that most travel agents in New Zealand are in one way or another aligned with Air New Zealand, while Australian travel agents, still smarting from the two Compass collapses, are notably reluctant to support start-up airlines (refer Recce last issue).

The 173 seat single class 79cm (31in) pitch 727-200 is leased from AvAtlantic in the USA. AvAtlantic provides the flightcrew and trained the New Zealand cabin crew. Kiwi operates on AvAtlantic’s AOC, and AvAtlantic performs all A and B level maintenance checks. New Zealand and Australian government approvals to operate the scheduled flights came on the same day the aircraft was delivered from the US and the day before services commenced, on August 22. Kiwi had initially planned to commence services using National Jet’s 737-300, although for a number of reasons, including the 737 not being ETOPS cleared and problems with NJS’s AOC, it elected for the larger aircraft. Kiwi Travel International is now looking seriously at other trans Tasman city pairs not currently served by direct flights, specifically to Newcastle and Canberra. Further down the track Kiwi will look at leasing a 757 or 767 for services to Asia, and later may launch services to London. “We want to be a legitimate competitor to Air New Zealand,” Kiwi’s Chief Executive Ewan Wilson told AA. Mesa Air Group subsidiary carrier Air Midwest’s first Beech 1900D was delivered in late August. The 1900D was the first of 12 the Wichita based carrier has on order, to replace a similar number of Beech 1900Cs. Air Midwest is a codesharing partner with USAir Express. The Mesa Air Group is the world’s largest Beech 1900D operator, with this latest delivery bringing the fleet total to 82.

June Quarter Softens but Caps of Another Record Year

Spurred by a slowly improving economy and record growth in the inbound tourism market, Australia’s domestic air transport industry continues to set records. Dept of Transport data for the June quarter was released as we closed for press. Thus for the first time since Australian and Qantas merged we are able to provide you with traffic data under the more complex terms of the new domestic airline regime.

As expected, the June quarter was the softest of the four quarters and recorded negative growth compared with the previous quarter though it still managed to top the June 1994 figure by 5.6% in pax uplifted and 6.5% in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs). However, the full 1994/95 year performed even better than this with an increase in pax uplifted over 1993/94 of 9.2% to over 23.4 million, RPKs up 10.6% to just over 25 billion and an average load factor of 72.5%, a little down on the previous year’s 74.5% but considered good when taking into account the massive increase in capacity thrown onto the domestic network by both carriers this time last year. At the time Qantas increased capacity by around 21% whilst Ansett responded with an increase in the region of 17%. Some of the routes that showed the most spectacular growth included Melbourne/Brisbane 15.6%, Melbourne/Perth 13.9% and Cairns/Sydney also with 13.9%.

In comparing the performance of the two airlines it seems that Qantas has reinforced its turnaround against Ansett and is continuing to fly less trips with an overall higher load factor, something that goes a long way to increasing profitability per trip by any standard. Qantas also benefits by being able to feed into its huge international network though working on the basis of purely city to city domestic travellers Ansett considers it is running neck and neck with Qantas. Either way, the massive increase in capacity injected into the market last Spring has created an environment of continuing deep discount leisure airfares and airline fleets that are technically stretched to the limit with almost no reserve capacity. Qantas is also better off in this regard due to its sheer superiority in aircraft numbers and the ability to deploy 747 and additional 767 capacity as and when needed at seasonal peaks on the primary routes to absorb demand.

Ansett doesn’t have this luxury as its largest domestic airliner is the 211 seat Boeing 767-200 though it might at some time be able to deploy one of its three 418 seat 747-300s on a peak time holiday flight though this is unlikely due to the increasing demand already placed upon these aircraft and the logistics difficulty Ansett would have handling the aircraft at its domestic terminals. The 1995/96 year looks set to attract another record with industry observers suggesting that pax uplifted could reach 27 million or double the number that flew in 1988/89, the final full year before the onset of four years of recession and the disastrous Pilots’ Dispute.

From the Snakepit

The discovery of a large snake in the cockpit of a Russian jetliner caused the flightcrew to sit “absolutely still” for more than three hours before making an unscheduled landing, according to a Russian newspaper report. The Tupolev Tu-154 trijet had just taken off from Chita in Siberia en route to Moscow when the serpent reared its ugly head, forcing a diversion to the western Siberian city of Omsk. The report does not say what sort of snake it was or how the pilots managed to land the aircraft whilst remaining “absolutely still”. Sometimes it’s better not to know these things!

That’s Showbiz

The new Sydney production of the musical Miss Saigon is attracting good business to Qantas, which is offering packages for it and Phantom of the Opera. The airline is offering two night packages from $378 twin share ex-Brisbane and Melbourne comprising return airfare, accommodation and an A reserve ticket to the show as well as champagne and chocolates at interval. Packages are also available from other major Australian cities. Miss Saigon’s opening night in July was attended by 400 New Zealanders who flew across the Tasman in a Qantas 747 after booking a four night package organised by American Express Travel. Qantas has so far sold more than 150,000 Phantom packages while $3m worth of Miss Saigon packages were booked prior to opening night. Both productions are sponsored by the airline.

Feathered Friends

Japan Airlines has released statistics on the birdstrikes its aircraft suffered during 1994…. just thought you might like to know! The airline recorded 458 birdstrikes during the year, most occurring at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (31), followed by Moses Lake in the USA (a training airfield — 28) and Jakarta (17). The aircraft most commonly hit were the DC-10 and MD-11 trijets (41 strikes per 10,000 flying hours) while the species most often encountered were kites and various large scavengers. Gulls, swallows, terns, pigeons, ducks and the odd bat (not a bird, of course) all featured in the statistics. None of the strikes endangered passengers.

Airports Selloff Delayed?

Two bills covering the sale of the 22 airports currently controlled by the Commonwealth may now not pass through Parliament until next year instead of this year as planned. There is speculation that the airports privatisation bills are being held back due as a pre-election tactic. It has been reported that selling the airports does not sit easily with Prime Minister Keating, who wants to make the privatisation of other assets such as Telstra a major election issue. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Kim Beazley, has confirmed it was “most likely” the airport bills would not go to the Senate until early next year. Airspray of Canada has bought Mandala’s five Lockheed Electra freighters, three of which will be broken up into parts, while two will be converted to firebombers. While around a dozen ex USN Orions have been converted as civil firebombers, this is believed to be the first time Electras will be converted to firebomber configuration. Pictured is a Mandala Electra airliner. (Keith Anderson)

Essendon Legal Battle

Essendon Airport operators are not giving up the fight to retain their place of business. As a result of plans to close the airport, they are considering legal action against the Federal Government and Federal Airports Corporation and have consulted class action specialists Slater and Gordon. The operators (who represent 1300 employees at the airport) discussed suing for alleged misrepresentation of the airport’s future and anticipated breaches of contract regarding their long term leases. Some renewed their leases only a few months ago but the Government plans starting the selling process next year. The latest piece of craziness to emerge from the ongoing Essendon saga is an idea touted by Greens senate candidate, Professor Peter Singer, who wants the site turned into a model green village using alternative energy sources and other supposedly environmentally friendly philosophies. From the opposite side of the political fence comes another idea intended to keep the airport operating. The National Party’s Julian McGauran has called on the Federal Government to spend $10m buying homes on Essendon’s flightpath.

Qantas Doubles Antarctic Flights

Qantas’ Antarctic sightseeing flights programme has been doubled for this summer to 12 flights from Melbourne, Sydney and Perth between November 26 and February 25. Qantas and Croydon Travel launched the 12 hour flights last New Year’s Eve, and that particular flight will again be part of the programme. Qantas has planned 16 different routes to take advantage of the best weather conditions and to provide optimum views of the polar icecap. The flights will operate at a minimum of 10,000 feet (3050m) above sea level or 2000 feet (610m) above the highest ground within 100 nautical miles (185km). Fares range from $999 or $1399 economy class, $2199 business class to $2799 first class.

AA Comment: Congratulations to Croydon Travel for having the innovative foresight to not only get these flights back into the air again but to persevere against a wall of disinterest from the airline community. As for those at Qantas management who failed to share Croydon’s ‘can do’ enthusiasm, we say once more — ‘build it and they will come!”

Emirates Woos Australian Government

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum recently headed a delegation from UAE based Emirates to discuss air service agreements with the Australian government. In Sydney, Sheikh Ahmed, Chairman of Emirates, said that the airline was seeking rights to fly to Sydney and Melbourne within twelve months following the delivery of the Boeing 777 in March next year. Emirates is seeking at least three services a week to make the service profitable. Dubai has opened its skies to some 76 international carriers who have taken advantage of growing business and tourism traffic to the region. As part of its visit to Australia, the delegation was speaking with Ansett and Qantas to seek their involvement in an agreement which could see a reciprocal service or a codeshare agreement on the route. Qantas served the Middle East through Bahrain up till the Gulf War. The effects of that conflict and the entry into service of the long ranging 747-400 into the QF fleet dimmed the airline’s interest in returning to this important though low key market.

Emirates, which last year won an Airline of the Year award, says that it has the power to generate a high level of inbound tourism to Australia, from a source of high disposable income travellers in the UAE. Sheikh Ahmed told Julian Green that Dubaians would welcome Australia being opened up as a destination because of the climate and English language. Tim Clark, Chief Director of Emirates accompanying Sheikh Ahmed in Australia, said, “the UAE in its own right is becoming an important generator of outbound tourism. On top of that, business links between the Gulf and Australia now focus principally on Dubai.” The Australian Tourism Commission is expected to open an office in Dubai soon, and an Australian consular office already operates there.

If granted rights, the Emirates service would be operated initially through a port in Asia until the 777 series B was delivered enabling nonstop services to Dubai from south eastern Australia. This could also give the airline an interesting one stop service to Europe from Australia. Emirates hopes to operate three classes to Australia, and sees a strong market in Melbourne, from where it will also benefit from the FAC’s current ambitions to create a regional freight hub there, enhancing Emirates in the already strong air freight market. The airline currently operates 16 A300-600 and A310-300 aircraft. Its inflight entertainment product has earned it numerous awards, and Emirates has recently spent two million dollars on personal video systems for passengers in its First, Business and Economy classes.

Inbound Tourism Continues to Leap Ahead

An 11.6% increase in inbound tourism was recorded for 1994/95, with a massive 72% increase in the number of international visitors attending conferences and conventions, reports Julian Green. 3,535,300 overseas visitors travelled to Australia last year, with approximately 1.19 million from the growing markets of north east Asia, including Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan. New Zealand also continued to be a strong outbound market with 501,800, followed by Britain (354,500) and the United States (295,200). The volume of traffic from northeast Asian sources such as Korea and Taiwan has been reflected by airlines of the respective countries and Qantas taking up additional capacity over the past two years. The Middle East and Africa combined contributed just one per cent of inbound tourism, which is hardly surprising considering the lack of direct air services to these markets. The majority of visitors stayed between one and two weeks and were predominantly on holiday or visiting friends and relatives (VFR).

New Airport Industries Directory

The Airport Industries Association, a collective of leading Australian airport infrastructure providers, is producing a new directory to showcase the extensive capabilities of its members to key international markets, particularly in the Asia Pacific. Julian Green reports that the new directory will feature 46 members with a broad range of capabilities from construction, engineering organisations and manufacturers of flight information display systems, to federal organisations including the Federal Airports Corporation and AirServices Australia. The AIA, under the umbrella of Austrade, has been successful in advocating the services of Australian aviation businesses throughout Asia and further afield. Together with the support of the Department of Industry, Science and Technology, members profiled in the 1996 Directory will be promoted at key aviation conventions such as the Aviation Expo in Beijing during October, and Asian Aerospace in Singapore next year.

Wrong Airline

In the aviation industry it is not really difficult to have companies with similar names. Consequently we would like to set the record straight that Bryan Grey’s proposed new airline, details of which were outlined in our September edition, is named Aussie Airlines, not Aussie Air. The latter is an Adelaide based commuter/charter operator owned and operated by Brenton Hollitt who when not flying his Cessna 402 is apparently being inundated with phone calls from hopeful future employees of Mr Grey’s potential airline. We also believe that Aus-Air, the successful Moorabbin based regional airline, has also been mistaken in the same manner. Neither operation has anything whatsoever to do with Bryan Grey’s proposed Aussie Airlines.

Twa Out of Chapter 11

Trans World Airlines emerged from voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late August following a restructuring and shedding a third of its debt through a debt-for-equity deal with creditors. The airline filed for bankruptcy in late June this year and sought to implement a prepackaged restructuring plan which was backed by employee-shareholders and creditors. It was this prepackaging which allowed the fast emergence from Chapter 11 after only two months. TWA was previously operating under Chapter 11 protection for a period of nearly two years until January 1992 but on that occasion debt remained excessively high. This time, the airline’s debt has been cut by $US500m which will reduce its annual interest costs by about $US50m. The new arrangements mean that creditors have increased their stake in the airline from 55% to 65%, while the employees’ interest has dropped from 45% to 30%.

Despite this, some $US700m worth of long term debt and $US367m worth of capital leases remain, although an aggressive cost cutting campaign will see TWA’s operating cost per available seat mile reduced from (US) 8.82 cents in the first half of 1995 to below 7.5 cents in the third quarter of the year. TWA expects to return an operating profit in 1995, although analysts are showing some concern about longer term prospects due to its single hub operation and ageing fleet of 184 aircraft, now averaging 18 years of age. Many of these will be replaced over the next 12-18 months through leasing rather than purchasing. The first of three new MD-83s leased from Ansett Worldwide Aviation Services has already entered service while Boeing 767s are expected to replace the airline’s Lockheed L-1011 TriStars.

Backing Their Judgement

Qantas’ senior management has put its money where its mouth is by purchasing substantial quantities of the airline’s shares. Chairman Gary Pemberton has purchased 60,000 shares of which 40,000 have been placed with his nominee company, GMP Nominees; managing director James Strong has 40,000 shares (half of them through his private company, Strong Aviation Services); and finance director Gary Toomey bought 20,000 shares as well as taking up his staff allowance of 263 shares. Shares purchased under their own names cost the Qantas directors $1.90 each; those bought on behalf of their nominee company’s would have been charged at the institutional rate of $2.00 each.

More Qantas Capacity to Canada

The International Air Services Commission (IASC) has given Qantas approval to operate additional capacity on the Canada/Australia route. From late August Qantas was able to offer 877 seats per week to Canada (up from 696) while from late October this year an additional 173 seats per week have been approved, bringing the total to 1050. Qantas services to Canada are currently operated in conjunction with Canadian Airlines International under a joint services agreement. The airlines sell capacity and set prices independently of each other and there is no revenue pooling. Qantas flies from Australia to Hawaii where Canadian takes over for the services to Canada.

In other international air services news, Emirates — the Dubai based airline of the United Arab Emirates — will start operating services to Australia possibly from April next year following discussions between the two governments. The airline’s point of entry into Australia is still to be decided, although the Victorian Government has been strongly lobbying Emirates to use Melbourne as its Australian base. Malaysia Airlines has meanwhile released schedule details of its new weekly Sydney/Melbourne/Kuala Lumpur service which will be operated as a codeshare with Ansett Australia. It will depart Sydney on Saturday evenings at 9.30pm and Melbourne at 12.10am (Sunday), arriving in Kuala Lumpur at 6.00am. The inbound service will be a Saturday daylight nonstop Kuala Lumpur/Sydney flight with an extension to Melbourne, arriving at Sydney at 7.25pm and Melbourne at 11.55pm before heading back to Malaysia.

Fac Jobs Safe

Plans to ensure the job security of most of the Federal Airports Corporation’s 1200 staff after privatisation of the airports have been put in place by the Federal Government. Most will be transferred to airport companies once these are granted leases and will be employed under the same terms and conditions which exist at the time of the transfers. One area of ongoing concern for the Government is dealing with the FAC’s debt of about $670m. A range of options is being considered — including a possible debt-for-equity swap — and the draft legislation has provision for $670m in Euro and domestic bond issues which will enable the Government to appropriate funds to the FAC to cover the debts or for the Government to assume them.

Melbourne Airport Plans

The Federal Airports Corporation and Victorian Government Draft Master Plan for Melbourne Airport has called for considerable long term development of the site, including the building of two new runways. If built, the runways would bring the airport’s total to four, making it capable of handling 350,000 movements annually. Other developments mentioned in the plan include building a new freight complex incorporating depots and transport terminals, a dedicated airport maintenance area and a public transport link. One development — expanding and improving the international terminal — has already been completed at a cost of $253m, while a new road system and freight export area will be completed by the end of this year. The Geelong business community is meanwhile pushing Avalon to take over as Melbourne’s second airport should Essendon be closed. Avalon is seen as becoming a major freight hub. Strangely, a recent Victorian Government study into the development of airfreight opportunities (‘Freightway Melbourne’) ignored Avalon completely, concentrating instead on the Melbourne area only. Avalon’s case is to be presented to the Government by Geelong business and government bodies.

Cairns Projects

Cairns Airport will be subject to further upgrading and improvement, the latest projects involving operational and passenger service improvements. AirServices Australia has begun work on a major project which will see the airport’s existing instrument landing system (ILS) replaced with the latest technology at a cost of over $1m. The airport will have no ILS service while the work is being performed (until mid October) but this is not considered to be a major problem unless adverse weather conditions are encountered. Other navigation aids will remain available during the upgrade period. Cairns’ international and domestic passenger terminals are also to undergo redevelopment. The Cairns Port Authority plans to spend $42m on extending and refurbishing the international terminal and another $14.5m on the domestic building. Work is due to be completed in March 1997 and the result will be a doubling of space for departing passengers. International passenger movements at Cairns have trebled in the last decade.

Airports Rules Revealed

The latest version of the cross ownership rules which will apply to the airports privatisation has been unveiled by the Federal Government. The idea is to prevent monopoly control of the major gateways but private operators will be able to own more than one of the four airports in question — Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. Airport operators will be offered 50 year leases on Australia’s 22 public airports; foreign ownership will be limited to 49% of any one airport and airlines will be restricted to a maximum 5% interest in an airport. The cross ownership rules will allow an operator to own 100% of two of the major airports and up to 15% of the other two. This represents a considerable watering down of the original much more restrictive plans but reflects commercial realities. The less stringent ownership requirements will probably be balanced to some extent by the Government retaining strong control over airport regulation once privatisation comes into effect.

The temptation to force airlines to move out of Sydney Airport to Sydney West at Badgery’s Creek appear to have been resisted, despite the political considerations involved. Instead, airlines will be encouraged or even pressured to do so, but market forces will ultimately determine the division of traffic between the two airports. Badgery’s Creek will be a 24 hour airport when it opens, which in itself will generate traffic, particularly in the air freight industry. Not forcing the airlines to move is simply facing up to reality, as Qantas has already said it has no intention of moving its enormous investment in Sydney Airport to Badgery’s Creek and others undoubtedly feel the same. The merchant bank BZW has been appointed as the Government’s business advisor for the sale. Despite all this activity on the airports sale front, it appears the key legislation involved in it will now probably not reach the Senate until early next year. The delay is seen as a pre-election ploy by the Prime Minister, the sale reportedly sitting uneasily in his strategy to make the Opposition’s planned privatisation of national assets such as Telstra a major election issue. Privatisation en masse is traditionally seen as something which Liberal governments do, not Labour ones! The three ex RNZAF Fokker F27 navigation trainers at Brisbane while on their delivery flight to new owner Loag International Airlines in the Philippines in late July. (Wally McLeod)

Top Bureaucrat Resigns

The Government’s most senior aviation bureaucrat — Vanessa Fanning — has resigned, reportedly following problems in her working relationship with Minister for Transport Laurie Brereton. The head of the Department of Transport’s aviation division since June 1992, Ms Fanning is now working with TNT as a group public policy manager. Her recent achievements include leading the Government team during negotiations dealing with the Hong Kong/Qantas dispute. Mr Paul Merner has been appointed acting head of the aviation division in anticipation of a restructuring of the organisation which will probably result in it being divided into two new components: a policy division and an aviation infrastructure division. It is expected that Mr Merner will head the infrastructure division and that Mr John Kerr (currently assistant secretary) will be in charge of the policy division.

Safeskies Conference

One of the more important aviation conferences for your calendar is the biennial SafeSkies event, the 1995 version of which will be held at Canberra’s National Convention Centre between October 24 and 26 this year. The conference includes a full programme of workshops conducted by a veritable ‘who’s who’ of aviation including representatives of industry, government, airlines, general aviation, the armed forces and the media. Included is an extensive ‘Technology Improving Safety’ exhibition. SafeSkies 95 is run by the Chartered Institute of Transport in Australia and details can be obtained from the SafeSkies 95 Secretariat on (06) 241 1325/1239 or fax (06) 241 1975. Australian Aviation October 1995

Hazelton in the Red

Leading regional carrier Hazelton Airlines has recorded an after tax loss of $2.35m for the 1994-95 financial year compared with a profit of $3.54m in the nine months of 1993-94 it operated as a public company. The result includes losses from abnormal items, the sale of one Shorts 360 aircraft ($680,000), the write down in book value of another 360 ($3.41m) and a tax credit of $821,000. Operating profit after interest and before tax and abnormals was $918,000. Revenue grew by 14% to $55.6m in 1994/95 but costs increased markedly to $54.7m, up from $41.5m. Passenger traffic increased by 13% to 376,000 and the average load factor was 60%. The company reports that “expansion costs including the cost of establishing and operating the short lived Geelong service (which cost the company nearly $2m) and continuing delays at Sydney Airport (including extra fuel and maintenance plus peak charges of a further $2m) and the acquisition and introduction of additional aircraft, has substantially impacted on profitability”. A programme of market development, productivity improvement and cost reduction is currently being undertaken throughout the company. Its core business activities continue to be strong and efficiency will improve with what is now basically a two type main aircraft fleet of six Saab 340Bs and four Metro 23s. Two Piper Chieftains also remain in service.

Airports News

There are various things happening with some of the regional airports around Australia, a summary of which follows: Ballina on the NSW north coast has had its new $2m terminal opened ahead of schedule. Ballina is currently subject to speculation as to which carrier will take over services to the holiday centre if Ansett withdraws following the decision to retire its Fokker F28 Fellowship and ultimately Fokker 50 propjet fleet. A review of services is currently being conducted by the Airport Council of NSW which has sought expressions of interest from operators. Qantas subsidiary Eastern Airlines is one possibility, along with Flight West which has stated its intention to enter the NSW market. Flight West has ordered Embraer EMB-145 jets partly for this reason, the first of which arrives late next year.

Parkes, in the NSW central west, is planning to develop an international airport, a move supported by the local community. The proposal is part of an idea for a $40m ‘inland marketing concept’ designed to export products from inland NSW to Asian markets. According to those behind the move: “Through its historic links and rail, road and air position, the opportunity is here for Parkes. It is central to the huge export catchment in this State”. Meanwhile, Bundaberg City Council in Queensland is planning to establish an aviation park incorporating a light aircraft manufacturing and training base at the city’s airport. The move was prompted by the success of Jabiru Aircraft which already operates from Bundaberg airport. A feasibility study into the idea has revealed it has merit and should be investigated further.

The Tweed Shire Council has been told by Federal Transport Minister Laurie Brereton to rezone residential land near Coolangatta Airport to nonresidential use or risk losing its planning powers. The Council has approved the building of nearly 200 home units on the land which is in an area deemed by Australian Standards as having unsuitable noise levels for human habitation. Noise monitoring equipment is to be set up in the Coolangatta-Tweed Heads area at a cost of $540,000. Plans to establish an airfield for light aircraft at Port Douglas in north Queensland will depend on the results of a full investigation by Douglas Shire Council. Building an airfield would involve rezoning land and the proposed site will be studied for its suitability in relation to aircraft flight paths and noise, the maximum size of aircraft to use it and whether the facility should be available for public use or restricted to specific operators. Estonian Air has become the first Baltic state to take delivery of a new build Boeing airliner. The carrier is leasing two 108 seat 737-500s from ILFC to replace Tupolev Tu-134 on routes between Tallinn and Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Stockholm. (Boeing)

Still in Queensland, Hervey Bay Council has released plans for a new terminal at its airport, which when built in conjunction with a new taxiway and apron, will be capable of handling regional turborops and jets up to the size of the BAe 146. Tenders for the work were due to be called in late September. The work will take between four and six months to complete. Finally, in NSW, passenger movements through Newcastle Airport at Williamtown have more than doubled in five years. The 1994/95 financial year saw 111,493 passengers use the airport, itself a 44% increase over the previous 12 months. A $3m terminal upgrade earlier this year has contributed to the growth, this in turn resulting from the increased number of passengers generated by Eastern Australia’s and Impulse Airlines’ links with Qantas and Ansett, respectively.

Adelaide Runway Extension Approved

Adelaide Airport’s long awaited runway extension will go ahead following agreement by the Commonwealth and South Australian Governments on funding of the project. The project will cost an estimated $44m of which the SA Government will contribute $20m to meet initial expenses. This will be refunded by the Federal Government. The work involves extending the airport’s main runway by 572m (1875ft) to 3100m (10,170ft), constructing a parallel taxiway and diverting one of Adelaide’s busiest roads, Tapley’s Hill Rd, around the extended runway. Roadwork is due to start in March next year and the project is scheduled for completion in mid 1998.

Tasman Customs Talks

Officials from the Australian and New Zealand Governments have met in Canberra in an attempt to solve problems associated with the planned fast tracking through Customs of trans Tasman air passengers. Australia has been promoting a preclearance scheme designed to reduce delays upon arrival, but after three years of negotiations, nothing has been resolved. New Zealand is concerned that any rapid clearance system should be structured to allow for the different immigration policies, with Australia operating a visa based system. Australia wants an electronic transfer of data from the departure point to the destination, but New Zealand apparently remains to be convinced that this system will give maximum benefit to travellers.

Why Is It So?

Your editor flew into Sydney’s KSA on August 16 and had several hours to kill while awaiting an international connection. Whilst that is hardly news what he saw certainly raises some logical questions. The morning was typical of a perfect late winter’s day — wall to wall sunshine and absolutely no wind. Yet every single aircraft was taking off to the north, even little J31s and Dash 8s were forced to make the long trek out to the end of the 34/16 runway to deliberately make their takeoff into the north. Through several hours of this it was also apparent that the third runway was not even being employed despite ideal weather conditions for arrivals at the least.

One could be forgiven for thinking that somebody somewhere had conspired to deliberately operate every single departure to the north where each aircraft would cause the maximum amount of irritation to the greatest number of people. Hopefully, this time next year, or even earlier, KSA will be run as a proper real world three runway airport rather than as a political joke. The noise issue will have largely gone away, as will have the airport’s congestion problems and the third runway will be utilised professionally and logically to make KSA Australia’s preeminent airport as it deserves to be. We live in hope!

Aviation Psychology Symposium

The Third Australian Aviation Psychology Symposium will be held at Manly between November 20 and 24 this year. The primary objective of the symposium is to expand the contribution of aviation psychology and human factors within the Asia Pacific region. The Symposium’s programme has been oriented toward developing practical solutions for the current and future challenges facing the industry. Speakers will include Dr Kathy Abbott from NASA Langley and the chair of the FAA’s Human Factors Study Team, Rebecca Chute from the NASA Ames Research Centre, Dr Curt Graeber from Boeing, BASI’s Dr Rob Lee and Captain Dan Maurino from ICAO’s human factors programme. The Symposium will also feature special training seminars on the first day. For more information phone the Australian Aviation Psychology Association on (02) 357 2600, or fax (02) 357 2950.