Spongthrush

12. I'm led to this one as the (ex-) fire trainer not far away from me at Exeter, Devon, England is in a bit of a sorry state and I was looking up its history (ex- China, J8-VBB and flybe) the other day whilst I was trying to persuade my wife that a part of it it would be a nice addition to our garden.

Carib Express BAe146-100, I'll guess at the stops as DOM (Dominica) and UVF (St Lucia) as they are at least geographically logical...

jlemon

12. Carib Express operating a British Aerospace BAe 146-100 is correct!

However, the routing was just a bit different and here's the sched...

IM 035: St. Kitts (SKB) 7:00a - 7:50a Dominica (DOM) 8:20a - 8:55a St. Lucia Vigie (SLU) 9:25a - 10:00a Barbados (BGI)
Freq: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays only
Service class: S
Meal service: None (but I hear the rum & orange juice breakfast cocktail was quite nice...)
Equip: 146

So as you can see, Carib Express took advantage of the short runway characteristics of the BAe 146-100 and thus served the close-in and compact little Vigie Airport (SLU) located in Castries, the capital of St. Lucia, rather than Hewanorra (UVF), the old and somewhat remote former U.S. Air Force base located on the southeast side of the island (and BTW, there was scheduled daily air service between SLU and UVF at this time operated by LIAT with a DHC-6 Twin Otter and also by Helenair with a Beechcraft 99).

And here's what Flight International said about Carib Express following its shut down...

Carib Express, the Caribbean regional in which British Airways (BA) held a 20% stake, has been wound up and its aircraft returned to British Aerospace. The airline started operations in February 1995 with three BAe 146-100s leased from BAe's Asset Management Organisation (AMO), operating regional services from Barbados. Other than BA, shareholders included local investors holding 70% of the airline and five Caribbean governments holding 10%. The principal investor is understood to have been Trident Holdings. As well as its shareholding, BA also provided its airline-management expertise. When Carib Express started, its ambitious business plan envisaged its fleet expanding to include turboprops, and additional routes. Co-operation with other carriers in the region was also planned. Sources indicate that the airline had good load factors, but despite this, one of the three BAe 146s was returned "by mutual agreement" this year. Continuing financial troubles at the airline resulted in discussions being held with shareholders about restructuring and the infusion of fresh capital. Operations were suspended on 18 April (of 1996) when a plan could not be agreed upon. BA met half the costs of repatriating stranded passengers with Trident Holdings putting up the remainder. The two remaining BAe 146s have since been ferried to maintenance company FFV's plant in Nashville, and the leases terminated. British Airways says that it regrets the demise of Carib Express, but it will "...continue to look actively at the feasibility of further expanding its presence in the region".

Sounds like Carib Express was trying to give LIAT a run for its money. Oops....

Toshbaf

4. Also in 1972, National Airlines was pursuing a possible merger with another air carrier. However, at the end of that same year, National terminated discussions concerning the proposed merger and then blamed the CAB for its decision to do so. What airline was National planning to merge with?

Northwest Orient

OOPS: I was looking at the question list about 4 pages earlier, which showed this question unanswered but a few posts up shows this question was answered.

TPJ

OK - I have 2 more candidates. Let me start with the one less obvious:

Somewhere in Pakistan-Somewhere in Europe-JFK-YYZ - PK (Pakistan International)

jlemon

15. Correct! And here are the New York to Toronto scheds for both VASP and Pakistan International....

VP 888: New York Kennedy (JFK) 8:30a - 10:15a Toronto Pearson (YYZ)
Freq: Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays only
Service classes: F/C/Y
Meal service: None listed
Equip: MD-11

PK 795: New York Kennedy (JFK) 11:20a - 12:45p Toronto Pearson (YYZ)
Freq: Fridays only
Service classes: C/Y
Meal service: None listed
Equip: 747

jlemon

Just one more to go here....and here's a hint: the new start up carrier in question was operating a B727-200 on this service....and now ANSWERED.

WHBM

I'm surprised at this.

Air Austral at the time just had a couple of 737s, let alone operating a 747 from an obscure little Indian Ocean island into one of the most obscure and little used airports in Africa.

Now French airlines had a habit of code-sharing with others, not indicating on certain combinations that they were doing so (for example all the Air France outbound long-hauls that picked up somewhere in southern France and appeared on the domestic leg just as Air Inter flights).

So was this an Air France (or other French carrier) flight operating Reunion-Kilimanjaro-Paris ?

Seat 2A

jlemon

Source for this quiz item was the Oct. 27 - Nov. 30, 1996 OAG Pocket Flight Guide for Europe/Africa/Middle East. I used the actual hard copy publication and thus not information found online. This OAG does not list any service between Kilimanjaro and Paris. In fact, the only service from Europe to JRO at this time according to this OAG was a twice weekly nonstop from Amsterdam operated by KLM with an MD-11. Looking at schedules for St. Denis De La Reunion, where Air Austral (UU) is based, the airline was also operating nonstop 747 service from RUN to Mauritius on the weekends. Other Air Austral flights at this time were operated with B737-300 and/or B737-500 equipment nonstop from RUN to Antananrivo, Durban, Dzaoudzi, Nossi-Be and Tamatave with direct 733 and/or 735 service to Johannesburg, Mahe Island, Moroni in the Comoros, and Nairobi. This OAG does not list any Air Austral service between St. Denis De La Reunion and Paris. Nonstop service between CDG and RUN was being operated by Air France with a 747 while nonstop and direct service between ORY and RUN was being operated by AOM and Air Liberte with both carriers operating DC-10 equipment. There was also no reference in the OAG concerning a code sharing arrangement with regard to the weekly roundtrip Air Austral 747 nonstop service between RUN and JRO as these flights appear to have been solely operated by UU.

jlemon

11. Responding to Seat 2A.....

Liberty Airlines is correct! And the source for this quiz item was a North American edition desktop OAG guide dated April 2, 1995. Here's the complete sched....

L7 27: Fort Lauderdale (FLL) 12:40p - 3:40p St. Kitts (SKB) 4:10p - 5:00p Dominica Melville Hall Airport (DOM) 5:30p - 6:20p St. Lucia Hewanorra (UVF)
Freq: Thursday only
Service classes: F/Y
Meal service: Lunch FLL-SKB
Equip: B727-200

Liberty Airlines was also operating Orlando (MCO) - St. Kitts - St. Lucia Hewanorra service on a weekly basis at this time with a 72S.

YVR Cockroach

A few years (or ~a decade later), the Europe stop was MAN though the flight terminated in YYZ.

WHBM

PIA were required by the FAA to process all passengers on Pakistan-USA flights through an approved airport security, as the ones in place in Pakistan were not acceptable to the FAA. PIA chose Manchester as the point for this to take place, and westbound flights were routed through there for some time.

Currently there are no PIA flights to Europe/USA as they have been prohibited from all European airspace following issues with how pilots' licences have been issued.

The PIA service to Europe (and elsewhere) has always been characterised by all sorts of odd intermediate stop combinations, no two days in the week being the same, and indeed the flight times at London Heathrow being all over the place. In 1980 they sent everything to London on different days - 747s, DC-10s, 707s, and still 720Bs. Probably the most atmospheric description of their operations (and of the country) is in Alex Frater's "Beyond the Blue Horizon" trip from the UK to Australia, in 1984, where he devotes a considerable chapter to his experiences in Pakistan.

jlemon

I seem to recall that Pakistan International served Houston Bush Intercontinental at one point and that PIA's IAH service routed via Manchester.

Seat 2A

Good morning from snowy Fairbanks. It's a nice toasty 10°F, good weather for shoveling the path to the outhouse but terrible for driving. When it gets warm like this, the roads become skating rinks. They're driveable, but with an abundance of care. As for more questions, it'll probably be a week to ten days before I get a set out. I've got a lot of irons in the fire right now so we're probably looking at closer to 10 days. In the meantime, what an excellent opportunity for any one or more of you to demonstrate your question formulation prowess. Oh I know... you're shy... you're worried that your questions won't be up to snuff. Balderdash! If you wanted to, any one of you could compose questions far more intelligent and relevant than someone of my limited intellect. G'wan! Throw your hat in the ring and impress us with a set of even ten questions. There are plenty of resources over at departedflights.com and timetableimages.com - and those two are just for starters. You can do it and the whole FlyerTalk community will applaud you. Can't you just see yourself beaming with pride as the assembled cognoscenti struggle (initially) with your clever queries... But you'll never know until you try. What's stopping you? G'wan now. Make us proud!

jlemon

Now, now, gentlemen.....let's not all crowd in here with a raft of new questions while we await the next set from the illustrious and intrepid Seat 2A.....

However, on the other hand, yours truly is now prepared to submit fifteen more new ones which shall hopefully tide us over until our man in Alaska is ready.

So here we go. As usual, please limit your response to two quiz items per day. And as always, please be as specific as you can when identifying aircraft types.

1. It's 1960 and you are in St. Louis. You need to travel to Denver and have found a direct flight departing every morning from MKC which will make two stops en route. What airline will you call to make your travel arrangements, where will your flight stop and what type of aircraft will you be flying on? ANSWERED

2. In 1966, this airline ran a print ad with the following headline:

WOULD THE AIRLINE YOU FLY TO AMERICA SCRAP 17,592 COMFORTABLE SEATS TO PUT IN MORE COMFORTABLE ONES?

Name the air carrier that ran this print ad. Hint: this airline is no longer in operation

3. Also in 1966, this airline was operating a Sunday only flight with a new aircraft type from St. Louis to Minneapolis/St. Paul which made two stops en route. Identify the air carrier, both stops and the equipment. ANSWERED

4. In 1969, this air carrier ran a print ad entitled "America's greatest ski run" which featured a caricature of a snow skier getting ready to launch off the tail of one its aircraft. Name the airline and the aircraft type. Hint: the equipment we are looking for is a Boeing aircraft

5. If you wanted to fly on board a McDonnell Douglas DC9-30 nonstop from Miami to Houston in 1973, what airline would you call and what airport in the Houston area would you arrive into? Hint: the airline in question had ceased flying this route by the fall of 1974

6. It's 1974 and you are in Montreal. You are on your way to San Andres Island in the Caribbean Sea. You'll be flying with two different airlines on your journey with a connection being made between your two nonstop flights and different aircraft types being operated on each flight. You'll have just over three hours to make your connection. Identify both air carriers, the connecting airport and the respective equipment. Hint: the connection was made at an airport located in the U.S.

7. Time to head back to the states! It's 1979 and you are in Buenos Aires. You've found an interesting direct flight to Miami which makes three stops en route and promises to be quite scenic. This flight only operates once a week every Monday. Identify the airline, all three stops in order and the aircraft type. ANSWERED

8. Now it's 1980. You've just finished a business meeting in Oslo and are preparing to depart from close-in Fornebu Airport to Dublin for your next meeting. A connection will be required but you will be flying with the same air carrier with the same aircraft type being operated on both of your nonstop flights. Name the air carrier, the connecting airport and the equipment. ANSWERED

9. You're back in Montreal in 1981. You need to travel to Salt Lake City and have found a direct one stop flight which operates daily. Identify the airline you'll be flying with as well as the stop and the aircraft type. ANSWERED

10. It's 1985. You've thoroughly enjoyed a leisurely dinner on a Saturday night with old friends in Montauk on the east end of Long Island. However, you need to get back to work and this means you'll be heading west to San Diego the next morning. You've found a direct flight from the closest airport to Montauk which has jet service with this flight making three stops en route. This service only operates on Sundays. Identify the airline you'll be flying with, the airport you will depart from, all three stops in order and the equipment. ANSWERED

The next two quiz items both have a time line of 1989....

11. You are in Manchester, England and are preparing to travel back to Oslo where you will arrive into close-in Fornebu Airport. One airline can get you there via a quick 40 minute connection. You'll be on the same aircraft type on both nonstop flights. Name the air carrier, the connecting airport and the equipment. ANSWERED

12. Now you are in Maastricht in The Netherlands and are on your way back to Dublin via a connection with both nonstop flights being operated by the same airline using the same aircraft type. Your first flight operates three days a week and your second flight is a daily service with a 45 minute connecting time between the flights. Name the air carrier, the connecting airport and the equipment. It wasn't AirUK, the aircraft wasn't a Fokker F27 and the connection was not made at LGW. Hint: the equipment was a turboprop

13. You are heading back to Salt Lake City in 1995 from San Juan. Your direct flight operates daily with two stops being made en route between SJU and SLC. And of course, you are in first class. Identify the airline, both stops and the aircraft type. ANSWERED

14. It's 1996 and you are in Kuwait City where you've just completed a short term project assignment. Now it's time for some fun....and that means a sailing adventure in the Caribbean. Your old sailing buddy has his catamaran moored in the marina in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic so that's where you are headed. One airline can get you from Kuwait to the DR via two nonstop flights with a leisurely connecting time of three hours and 15 minutes between the flights. You'll also be in business class on board two different but similar aircraft types. Identify the air carrier, the connecting airport and both aircraft types. ANSWERED

15. What airline was operating Fokker F.28 Fellowship service for British Airways via a code sharing agreement in 1999 with these flights not being operated in Europe? ANSWERED