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(詳細はBritish Caledonian (BCal) during the 1980s. BCal suffered a series of major setbacks as a result of several geopolitical events that occurred during that decade. These events significantly weakened BCal operationally and financially. They were the main factors that contributed to the airline's demise during the second half of that decade. ==Network expansion== BCal took delivery of three more McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 widebodied aircraft in 1980.〔(''747/DC-10 battle intensifies'', ''Flight International'', 26 August 1978, p. 603 )〕〔(''Airliner market'', ''Flight International'', 22 March 1980, p. 889 )〕〔(''B.CAL capacity will double by 1984'', ''Flight International'', 19 April 1980, p. 1176 )〕 These planes enabled the launch of new routes - to Atlanta on 1 June, and to Hong Kong on 1 August, though in the latter Cathay Pacific and Laker Airways were also permitted without restriction on frequency or fares.〔〔''High Risk: The Politics of the Air'', Thomson, A., 1990, p. 378〕〔("Nott overturns CAA ruling and sanctions Hong Kong free-for-all" ), ''Flight International'', 28 June 1980, p. 1441]〕 Routes to San Juan, Puerto Rico's Isla Verde International Airport, and Dallas/Ft. Worth followed on 26 October. It also enabled the airline to replace the Boeing 707s, with which it had inaugurated another new route to St. Louis in April of that year, with its newly delivered DC-10 widebodies at the end of October when St. Louis became a stop on the new Dallas route.〔〔(''B.CAL drops bid for Gatwick—Miami'', ''Flight International'', 29 March 1980, p. 972 )〕 During that year, the company also added Tangier to its North African network. This accelerated pace of growth made BCal the fastest growing member airline of the Association of European Airlines (AEA) in both 1980 and 1981.〔''High Risk: The Politics of the Air'', Thomson, A., 1990, p. 392〕 BCal received a boost during 1980, when the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approved carriers (BCal, Cathay Pacific and Laker - subject to ratification) on the London - Hong Kong route to be able to pick up and put down passengers at intermediate stops in the Gulf states as the Hong Kong route was not otherwise expected to generate enough revenue for four carriers. For BCal this meant using their Dubai refuelling stop to carry passengers, cargo and mail between London and Dubai and Dubai and Hong Kong, despite objections from British Airways (BA) which already had such rights for Dubai and Bahrain.〔("Gulf rights for Hong Kong" ), ''Flight International'', 25 October 1980, p. 1551〕〔("Short hauls ..." ), ''Flight International'', 31 January 1981, p. 274〕 BCal's 10th anniversary on 30 November 1980 coincided with the completion of its new corporate headquarters — aptly named ''Caledonian House'' — in Crawley's Lowfield Heath area close to the airline's Gatwick base. It was the first purpose-built headquarters in the company's history, which was designed to accommodate all 1,100 office-based staff at the airline's Gatwick base under one roof.〔''High Risk: The Politics of the Air'', Thomson, A., 1990, pp. 360/1〕〔''Gatwick Airport: The first 50 years'', Woodley, C., The History Press, Stroud, 2014, p. 125〕 The high oil price during that period was a mixed blessing for BCal. It helped the airline fill its premium cabins on its oil-related business routes to Nigeria, Libya and Texas. On the other hand, the escalation of the jet fuel price and the fact that the high price of oil had considerably worsened the severe recession in Britain at that time significantly increased the company's operating costs, while at the same time reducing overall demand for its flights. BCal therefore decided to reduce off-peak frequencies on most of its short-haul routes from the start of the 1980/81 winter timetable period. This also included combining week-end, off-peak flights from Gatwick to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester by converting non-stop flights into one-stop operations. Among the set-backs BCal suffered at that time were the CAA's rejection of its application to serve Manila (Philippines) from Hong Kong or Singapore route,〔(''BA to start Manila service'', World News, ''Flight International'', 29 March 1980, p. 966 )〕 and BA's successful lobbying of the Government to revoke BCal's long-standing Gatwick—Bahrain—Singapore exempt charter licence in return for having granted it permission to launch a fully fledged scheduled service to Hong Kong.〔 BCal ended the 1979/80 financial year with a healthy profit of £9.7 million.〔''High Risk: The Politics of the Air'', Thomson, A., 1990, p. 390〕 BCal received another new DC-10-30 widebody in 1981.〔〔〔 The delivery of this aircraft enabled the airline to increase frequencies on the prime long-haul routes to West Africa from seven to 10 weekly round-trips.〔(''Airbus A320 impresses BCal'', ''Flight International'', 26 December 1981, p. 1882 )〕 It also permitted a frequency increase on the Gatwick—Dubai—Hong Kong route from four to five weekly round-trips. At the start of the 1981/82 winter timetable period, BCal added Douala (Cameroon) to its network.〔(''Short hauls ...'', ''Flight International'', 3 October 1981, p. 984 )〕 Also in 1981, BCal opened a new engine overhaul plant at Prestwick Airport near Glasgow in Scotland.〔''High Risk: The Politics of the Air'', Thomson, A., 1990, p. 353〕〔(''Caledonian engine facility on time'', ''Flight International'', 17 March 1979, p. 816 )〕 The new engine overhaul plant was owned and run by Caledonian Airmotive, a dedicated, wholly owned subsidiary of the airline, which had been set up with technical support from GE.〔〔(''B.CAL forms engine-overhaul subsidiary'', ''Flight International'', 28 October 1978, p. 1546 )〕〔(''Caledonian Airmotive starts work'', ''Flight International'', 5 July 1980, p. 7 )〕 BCal's search for a more fuel-efficient replacement for its ageing BAC One-Eleven fleet — especially, the range-limited One-Eleven 200s — acquired a new sense of urgency during 1981 against a backdrop of further escalating fuel prices. The airline was evaluating both the new BAe ATP turboprop for entry into service during 1986 and the BAe 146, the UK aircraft manufacturer's new, four-engined regional jet that was due to enter service in 1983, in addition to the McDonnell Douglas MD-80〔 and the new Boeing 737-300.〔 Both British Aerospace types were rejected because it was felt that they had insufficient range to permit non-stop flights from BCal's Gatwick base to some of the more distant points BCal already served or planned to serve in Europe and North Africa. Moreover, BCal felt that operating a turboprop on trunk routes would meet with passenger resistance as by that time most people had become accustomed to travelling on jets on these routes. In 1981, BCal applied to the UK and Australian authorities for permission to launch a fully fledged, three-class scheduled service〔(''British Caledonian seeks Australian rights'', World News, ''Flight International'', 18 October 1980, p. 1490 )〕 between Gatwick and Brisbane (via Colombo and Melbourne), and between Gatwick and Adelaide (via Perth), at a frequency of two flights a week each, in both directions. BCal proposed to inaugurate what would have been the first ever scheduled operation "Down Under" by a wholly private, British independent airline with McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30s. BCal wanted this to be a joint operation with Ansett Airlines, one of Australia's two leading contemporary domestic airlines, and held out the prospect of placing an order for brand-new, higher capacity Boeing 747-200SUDs〔Stretched Upper Deck〕 to replace the DC-10s on that route as soon as this was justified by increased demand. It also promised to give a major boost to Australia's inbound tourism from the UK and to deliver a steady stream of international transfer passengers to Ansett.〔(''Laker and BCal bid for kangaroo route'', ''Flight International'', 7 February 1981, p. 330 )〕 BCal's application did not succeed, mainly because of British Airways's and Qantas's determined opposition to any move by the authorities in the UK and Australia to dilute the lucrative BA-Qantas duopoly on the "kangaroo route".〔(''BCal kangaroo bid hits snag'', ''Flight International'', 4 April 1981, p. 955 )〕 The CAA turned down BCal's application although it considered it superior to a rival application by Laker Airways as it felt that there was no realistic chance of obtaining reciprocal approval for the proposed service from the relevant Australian authorities, as long as there was no desire on their part to license a second Australian carrier as well. It did promise to look favourably on the application if BCal re-submitted it with specific proposals for a joint Anglo-Australian operation, once Australia no longer opposed licensing additional carriers on that route.〔(''CAA refuses to license new UK—Australia operators'', ''Flight International'', 16 May 1981, p. 1366 )〕 BCal ended its 1980/81 financial year with a £6.2 million loss as a result of high fuel prices, a major recession on both sides of the Atlantic and heavy route development costs.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「British Caledonian in the 1980s」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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