丹尼士長矛 Dennis Lance (龍運LWB)

丹尼士長矛 Dennis Lance (龍運LWB)

編號 Class：901 - 910

為競投及營運東涌新市鎮及位處赤鱲角的新機場路線，九巴成立了全資附屬公司龍運巴士，並向丹尼士訂購一百五十架全新的丹尼士三叉戟雙層低地台巴士，當中包括了二十五架客車版配置版本，這意味著當時行走啟德機場路線，只有五年多車齡的長矛不會過渡至新機場服務抵港旅客。當啟德機場於一九九八年七月五日關閉後，原有機場路線亦隨即成為一頁歷史，而用作行走這些路線的機場巴士，丹尼士飛鏢獲調派行走機鐵接駁路線M1及M2，以及稍後連接青衣站的248M及249M；丹尼士獵鷹聯同三菱MK則在拆除行李架後，被安排行走不同路線，只有丹尼士長矛未有被作進一步安排，除了間中支援九龍灣廠原有使用長矛的路線外，就一直留在車廠。

好景不常，新機場投入運作後遇上亞洲金融風暴，令到使用機場的旅客人數遠低於預期，亦影響了接駁機場的公共交通服務需求。面對如此經營環境，龍運除了將十架開國功臣富豪奧林比安十二米轉售予同系的九巴外，亦向九巴購入十架長矛，成為車隊當時首款同時亦是唯一一款的單層巴士。轉往龍運巴士的長矛全屬行走啟德機場路線的單門版本，除了被翻鬆龍運巴士標準色彩外，車廂內的行李架亦被拆除，但未有裝回座位，並且貼有一張「不准擺放行李」的標貼，至於載客量則維持四十一個座位及二十四個企位。全數長矛完成改裝工程後，於一九九八年年底陸續投入服務，主要被派往行走客量低的機場穿梭路線，及後因應路線重組，主要被派往行走S1，S64及S64P，期後因應非典型肺炎疫情影響，更曾被安排行走機場路線A33。到了二零零三年，四架長矛(901，902，904及905)再次接受車廂改裝工程，拆除座位增加企位數量，載客量因此改為三十三個座位及四十二個企位，以配合營運需要，至於908(FU5072)則再度被轉售回九巴，並重用本身的車隊編號AN23。

隨著東涌新市鎮發展以及新機場抵港旅客數目不斷上升，令到長矛開始滿足不到需求，加上車齡漸高及故障頻頻，所以龍運巴士由二零零七年開始陸續把隊中的長矛淘汰，直到二零零九年十一月，只餘下907及910兩架長矛行走迪士尼路線R8，員工巴士及後備車。為了紀念這款曾服務本港兩機場的車型，九巴於二零一零年六月向傳媒召開記者招待會，宣佈到了同年十月所有長矛巴士便會從車隊中退下，不過龍運的長矛卻早於二零一零年八月二十九日全數退役，龍運巴士亦由該天開始全線車隊皆由雙層巴士組成，直到二零一七年，比亞迪K9R電動巴士加入為止。

To tender bus service serving Tung Chung New Town together with the new international airport located at Chek Lap Kok, KMB set up a new wholely-owned subsidiary company Long Win Bus and a purchasing order for 150 Dennis Trident (25 coach version was included) was made. The Airbus service of the Kai Tak Airport was ceased to operation along with the Airport closure on 5 Jul., 1998 and the fleet of the Airbus service was allocated to different service: The Dennis Dart was allocated to the feeder service M1 and M2 linking the Airport Express Kowloon Station; Dennis Falcon and the Mitsubishi MK were deployed on different routes after the removal of the luggage racks while the Dennis Lance was mainly stored at depot and seldom seen on the road.

The outbreak of the Asian Financial Crisis serious affected the number of visitors using the airport and hence, less demand for the public transport. To response the adverse operation environment, Long Win Bus sold the first 10 buses of the fleet, the Volvo Olympian 12m to KMB and acquired 10 single door version Dennis Lance which was the first and the only single decker in the fleet. The luggage racks was removed with no additional seats but a "No Luggage" notice was placed. The carrying capacity remained no change (41 seatings plus 24 standees) and they were re-entered service in the end of 1998. Long Win Bus deployed the Lance on shuttle routes with relatively low demand and after routes reorganization, they were mainly seen on S1, S64, S64P and A33x during the SARS. In 2003, modification works of compartment was carried out on 901, 902, 904 and 905 with new carrying capacity of 33 seatings and 42 standees to cope with operation need. In addition, 908 (FU5072) was transferred back to KMB and it original KMB fleet no. AN23 was used again.

Dennis Lance cannot meet with continuous growing demand along with the town development and they were getting old with frequent broke down, Long Win Bus started to dispose them since 2007. Only two of them (907 and 910) were left in the fleet in Nov., 2009 for Disneyland route R8, staff bus and reserve bus. To commemorate Dennis Lance serving Kai Tak and Chek Lap Kok Airport (The Hong Kong International Airport), KMB held a press conference and told the public all Dennis Lance would be retired in Oct., 2010, however, Lance in Long Win Bus was fully withdrawn on 29 Aug., 2010 and Long Win Bus was operated a fully double decker fleet starting from that day until the introduction of BYD K9R in 2017.

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