Following its formation in early 1947, Air Charter Limited started operations from London's old Croydon Airport with two Dragon Rapides.[3][5] In early 1948, these were joined by an Airspeed Consul to operate light passenger and freight charters. Operations with these twin-engined aircraft continued until February 1951.[5]
Freddie Laker followed up his acquisition of bankrupt Surrey Flying Services in February 1951 with the purchase of loss-making Air Charter later the same year. Before the end of the year, in late November, he bought Don Bennett's Fairflight, another struggling independent airline. Laker's main motivation to take over these airlines was his eligibility to use those companies' tax losses to offset Aviation Traders' profits as a convenient way to reduce his taxable earnings. The Fairflight acquisition enabled Laker to take over that company's lucrative Government contract to transport refugees, goods and raw materials between West Berlin and West Germany as part of the second "Little Berlin Airlift".[6] Within a year of assuming that contract, Laker ran 70 flights a week linking Berlin with Hamburg and Hanover.[7]
This stretched Avro 689 Tudor 2 served Air Charter during the mid-1950s
From July 1952, Air Charter assumed sole responsibility for all of Laker's flying operations to and from Berlin. This move coincided with the adoption of a new logo for the airline, consisting of an "A" and a "C" curving together with a wing flaring out behind.[7]
Air Charter gradually became the dominant UK independent airline on the second "Little Berlin Airlift". Air Charter's expanded Berlin operation in turn allowed it to service and organise the operations of rival airlines.[7]
During that time, Air Charter acquired several Avro York and Avro Tudor aircraft as freighters, mainly for use on freight charter contracts awarded by the War Office.[4] Laker purchased 17 of the latter between 1953 and 1959. Eleven of these were restored to an airworthy condition, supported by the spares cannibalised from the remaining six aircraft. By the end of that period, they accumulated 46,000 profitable flight hours while in service with Air Charter. During that time, Air Charter's Tudor fleet produced a cash flow of £1m a year between 1954 and 1958.[8]
The February 1953 crash of a Skyways Avro York trooping charter over the Atlantic with the loss of all 39 lives on board[nb 2] presented an opportunity for Laker to break into the lucrative trooping market that was dominated by Airwork, Eagle, Hunting and Skyways. Prior to the Skyways crash, the War Office always favoured the lowest bid although the award of trooping contracts had been dependent upon inspection of the aircraft the bidder proposed to use. As a result of that crash, the Government's attitude towards safety standards of the independent airlines that were to be contracted for its trooping business changed. Until then, all trooping flights were conducted with ex-wartime aircraft and early post-war designs derived from wartime bombers such as the Avro York and Handley Page Hermes. The flights were uncomfortable and prone to long delays due to the aircraft's poor reliability.
Unlike Laker's established rivals in the trooping business, the Yorks Air Charter proposed to use on trooping flights offered unprecedented safety standards and a hitherto unknown level of comfort, including rear-facing seats with headrests. These were industry-firsts in the trooping business. In addition, Air Charter proposed to place spare parts along the routes to be flown – another industry-first. These innovations secured Air Charter its first trooping contract. For Laker, Air Charter's owner, the new contract was a goldmine. The £90 per flying hour the War Office was contracted to pay Air Charter made flying troops in cheap, second-hand planes a very profitable business, given the fact that Laker could easily amortise the cost of each York for about £5,000 as a result of the massive spares stockpile he had purchased at rock-bottom prices in government surplus sales on behalf of Aviation Traders.[9][10]
The fatal Skyways crash in February coincided with Laker's acquisition of his first brand-new aircraft, a Bristol 170 Freighter. The aircraft was nicknamed the "Gold Brick". It went into service on Air Charter's Berlin freight run. Air Charter acquired its second Bristol Freighter a year later for use on trooping flights. Another seven were added over the following three years. However, most of these were transferred to Channel Air Bridge, a sister airline of Air Charter Laker started on an experimental basis in 1954.[11]
While building up its fleet to meet growing commitments in the trooping as well as general passenger and freight charter markets, Air Charter was often under financial pressure.[12]
1953 was also the year Air Charter became really profitable. During that year, the airline carried nearly 28 million pounds of cargo and almost 10,000 passengers, while its planes flew 750,000 revenue miles. In terms of cargo carried, Air Charter was second only to Silver City Airways among the UK's contemporary independent airlines. Laker used part of Air Charter's retained profit to purchase additional Tudor aircraft.[13]
On 14 February 1954, Air Charter put its first improved Tudor 4 into service between Stansted and Hamburg on the second "Little Berlin Airlift". The second example joined Air Charter's fleet the following month. Both aircraft were configured with 42 seats. Apart from carrying refugees out of Berlin under contract to British European Airways, they were used on a West African colonial coach-class passenger service[nb 3] between Stansted, Idris and Lagos as well as on trooping flights. As a result of the Army's refusal to allow its troops to be flown in Tudors following two unexplained British South American Airways crashes over the Atlantic during the late 1940s,[14][15] the War Office insisted that this aircraft type be no longer used on trooping flights. This forced Air Charter to convert its revamped Tudors into freighters. The Tudor's great disadvantage as a cargo carrier was its small passenger doors. The problem was solved by replacing the passenger doors with double doors that opened outwards to give an opening 6 feet 10 inches wide and 5ft 5 in high. This modification entailed strengthening of the fuselage around the cut-out and stiffening of the floor. It was implemented at Aviation Traders. Following Air Registration Board approval, the modified Tudor freighters re-entered service as Supertraders.[16]
In February 1955, Air Charter imported its first Douglas DC-4 into the United Kingdom. This aircraft was a C-54B Skymaster, the DC-4's US military version. Laker had acquired the aircraft second-hand from World Airways, a US supplemental carrier.[nb 4] The aircraft was intended for use on internal German services, general charter work and trooping flights.[4][17]
In April 1955, Air Charter inaugurated its first vehicle ferry service between Southend and Calais using Bristol Superfreighter Mark 32s. The service, which Air Charter operated on behalf of Channel Air Bridge, was successful. In June 1957, a joint service with Sabena began between Southend and Ostend, which operated six times a day each way using three dedicated Superfreighters in full Sabena livery. The airline also operated vehicle ferry services between Southend and Rotterdam.[2][11][18][19]
In September 1956, an Air Charter Supertrader performed the airline's first round-the-world flight via Christmas Island.[20]
1956 was also the year the War Office invited new tenders for trooping flight contracts to Europe and the Far East, as a consequence of the Government's growing dissatisfaction with the operational performance and high costs of the aging Hermes fleet that was contracted from Airwork, Britavia and Skyways to operate most of these flights. The War Office specified exclusive use of state-of-the-art Bristol Britanniaturboprops on the Far Eastern route as it had calculated that this would save the Government £1.75m each year compared with continuing use of the Hermes. The War Office offered the successful bidder the option of purchasing three new Britannias from the Government as part of a five-year contract or the alternative to lease these planes under a three-year contract. The contracts were to become effective from 1958. Hunting-Clan won against competition from Air Charter and Airwork.[21]
During that time, the cash flow Air Charter and Aviation Traders generated also financed the design and construction of the prototype of the ill-fated Accountant, which was completed early in 1957.[22][23]
The end of the second "Little Berlin Airlift" in 1957 resulted in Air Charter redeploying Supertraders used on that run to carry "Black Knight" and "Blue Streak" rockets to the Woomera rocket-testing range in Australia under contract to the UK government. Air Charter's Supertraders were among the few older aircraft big enough to carry such bulky loads.[20]
In 1958, Laker ordered two new Bristol Britannia turboprops direct from Bristol Aircraft on behalf of Air Charter. These were to replace the airline's aging Tudors on long-distance charter flights to Australia under contract to the Government. Air Charter took delivery of its first Britannia on 12 September 1958. This occasion marked the second time a brand-new aircraft joined its fleet. Revenue-earning flights began on 1 October 1958. On that day an Air Charter Britannia operated a trooping flight from Stansted to Christmas Island in the western Pacific with 124 passengers on board. Air Charter's Britannias subsequently launched non-stop Stansted—Entebbe flights as well, thereby proving British Overseas Airways Corporation's assertion that this was beyond the Britannia's range wrong. Hunting-Clan's successful bid to take over the UK—Singapore trooping contract from Airwork had been priced too low to leave any room for the depreciation of that airline's two new Britannias. Hunting was also facing unexpected problems meeting the War Office's contractual requirements. This necessitated subcontracting a significant part of its newly won business to Air Charter at a loss. Although this arrangement made Air Charter Hunting-Clan's subcontractor, Laker managed to persuade Hunting-Clan to agree to a new deal regarding the sharing of business. This effectively transferred the management of these flights to Air Charter.[24]
In August 1958, another Air Charter Supertrader embarked on a memorable long-distance journey, when it flew to Christchurch in New Zealand to collect spares for a Bristol Freighter.[20]
1958 was also the year Laker decided to put Air Charter's sister airline Channel Air Bridge solely in charge of all vehicle ferry services.[nb 5][4] During that year, Laker furthermore announced his decision to sell both Air Charter and Aviation Traders to Airwork for £600,000 cash plus a further £200,000.[nb 6][25] The deal became effective in January 1959, when Air Charter and Aviation Traders joined the Airwork group.[3]
Following a rationalisation of Air Charter's flight crew and ground staff in February 1959, Laker implemented his decision to transfer Air Charter's vehicle ferry services and Bristol 170 fleet to Channel Air Bridge.[3]
In July 1959, Air Charter retired its last two Supertraders due to wing sparfatigue. These were the last flying operations of the type, which had been employed on charter runs as far afield as Christmas Island during its career with Air Charter.[11][26]
Air Charter's operations were absorbed into the newly formed BUA, as a result of the Airwork – Hunting-Clan merger in June 1960.[4][27]
23 April 1959: An Avro Super Trader IV registered G-AGRH crashed in eastern Turkey with the loss of the 12 crew.[29] Until this accident, Air Charter had suffered another two total losses of aircraft, one of them fatal.[8][30]
↑ holder of supplemental air carrier certificate authorised to operate non-scheduled passenger and cargo services to supplement the scheduled operations of certificated route air carriers; an airline holding supplemental air carrier certificate is also known as a "nonsked" in the US
↑ including those previously operated by Air Charter
Dean, W.P.; O'Callaghan, M. (2008). The ATL-98 Carvair: A Comprehensive History of the Aircraft and All 21 Airframes (1: Corporate History - Air Charter, p. 13). Jefferson, N.C., USA: McFarland & Co.ISBN978-0-7864-3670-5.
Aviation Traders Limited (ATL) was a war-surplus aircraft and spares trader formed in 1947. In 1949, it began maintaining aircraft used by some of Britain's contemporary independent airlines on the Berlin Airlift. In the early 1950s, it branched out into aircraft conversions and manufacturing. During that period it also became a subcontractor for other aircraft manufacturers. By the end of the decade, it was taken over by the Airwork group.
Sir Frederick Alfred Laker was an English airline entrepreneur, best known for founding Laker Airways in 1966, which went bankrupt in 1982. Known as Freddie Laker, he was one of the first airline owners to adopt the "low cost / no-frills" airline business model that has since proven to be very successful worldwide with companies such as Norwegian Air, Ryanair, easyJet, AirAsia and WestJet.
Court Line was a 20th-century British tramp shipping company that was founded in 1905. In the 1960s it diversified into shipbuilding and charter aviation. Its merchant shipping interests were based in London. Its shipyards were at Appledore in Devon and Sunderland in Tyne and Wear. Its airline was based at Luton Airport in Bedfordshire. It also provided bus services in Luton and surrounding areas.
The Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair is a retired large transport aircraft powered by four radial engines. It was a Douglas DC-4-based air ferry conversion developed by Freddie Laker's Aviation Traders (Engineering) Limited (ATL), with a capacity generally of 22 passengers in a rear cabin, and five cars loaded in at the front.
Caledonian Airways was a wholly private, independent Scottish charter airline formed in April 1961. It began with a single 104-seat Douglas DC-7C leased from Sabena. Caledonian grew rapidly over the coming years to become the leading transatlantic "affinity group" charter operator by the end of the decade. During that period, passenger numbers grew from just 8,000 in 1961 to 800,000 in 1970. The latter represented 22.7% of all British non-scheduled passengers. It also became Britain's most consistently profitable and financially most secure independent airline of its era, never failing to make a profit in all its ten years of existence. By the end of 1970, Caledonian operated an all-jet fleet consisting of eleven aircraft and provided employment for over 1,000 workers. At that time, its principal activities included group charters between North America, Europe and the Far East using Boeing 707s, and general charter and inclusive tour (IT) activities in Europe utilising One-Elevens. This was also the time Caledonian merged with British United Airways (BUA), the largest contemporary independent airline and leading private sector scheduled carrier in the United Kingdom, and formed British Caledonian.
Laker Airways was a private British airline founded by Sir Freddie Laker in 1966. It was originally a charter airline flying passengers and cargo worldwide. Its head office was located at Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England.
British United Airways (BUA) was a private, independent British airline formed as a result of the merger of Airwork Services and Hunting-Clan Air Transport in July 1960, making it the largest wholly private airline based in the United Kingdom at the time. British and Commonwealth Shipping (B&C) was the new airline's main shareholder.
Airwork Limited, also referred to during its history as Airwork Services Limited, is a wholly owned subsidiary company of VT Group plc. It has a long and rich history in providing a variety of defence support services to the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm and overseas air forces, as well as having played an important role in the development of civil aviation – both in the United Kingdom and abroad.
British Eagle International Airlines was a major British independent airline that operated from 1948 until it went into liquidation in 1968. It operated scheduled and charter services on a domestic, international and transatlantic basis over the years.
Lloyd International Airways Ltd was a private, British independent airline formed in 1961 to operate worldwide charter flights. It commenced operations with a single Douglas DC-4 piston airliner from Cambridge Marshall Airport. Lloyd International concentrated on passenger and cargo charters with four-engined, long-range aircraft. It also had links in Hong Kong since its inception and flew to the Far East regularly. During the mid-1960s, the airline began re-equipping its fleet with Bristol Britannia and Canadair CL-44 turboprops, all of which featured large cargo doors and palletised freight systems. Long-range Boeing 707 jets joined the Lloyd International fleet during the early 1970s for use on affinity group passenger and freight charters to North America and the Far East. Lloyd International ceased operations in June 1972.
Alan Hellary was a British pilot who co-founded British Atlantic Airways, which would later become Virgin Atlantic.
Airflight Limited was a British charter, and cargo airline from 1948 to 1950.
Channel Air Bridge was a private British independent airline specialising in cross-Channel vehicle-cum-passenger ferry services. Freddie Laker started Channel Air Bridge as a sister airline of Air Charter on a provisional basis in 1954. Operations commenced in 1955. In 1958, Channel Air bridge took over Air Charter's vehicle ferry services. In 1959, both Channel Air Bridge and its sister airline Air Charter became part of the Airwork group. In 1960, Airwork joined with Hunting-Clan to form British United Airways (BUA). In 1962, BUA reorganised its vehicle ferry operations by merging Channel Air Bridge with Silver City Airways. This resulted in the creation of British United Air Ferries in 1963.
Hunting-Clan Air Transport was a wholly private, British independent airline that was founded in the immediate post-World War II period. It began trading on 1 January 1946 as Hunting Air Travel Ltd. It was a subsidiary of the Hunting Group of companies, which had come from the shipping industry and could trace its history back to the 19th century. The newly formed airline's first operating base was at Bovingdon Airport in Southeast England. Its main activities were contract, scheduled and non-scheduled domestic and international air services that were initially operated with Douglas Dakota and Vickers Viking piston airliners from the company's Bovingdon base. A change of name to Hunting Air Transport occurred in 1951. By that time, the airline had emerged as one of the healthiest and most securely financed independent airlines in Britain. In October 1953, the firm's name changed to Hunting-Clan Air Transport, as a result of an agreement between the Hunting Group and the Clan Line group of companies to invest £500,000 each in a new company named Hunting-Clan Air Holdings Ltd, the holding company for the combined group's air transport interests. Apart from Hunting-Clan Air Transport itself, this included Field Aircraft Services Ltd, the Hunting group's aircraft maintenance arm. In 1960, Hunting-Clan Air Transport merged with the Airwork group to form British United Airways (BUA).
British Aviation Services Limited (Britavia) was an early post-World War II airline holding company and air transport operator that could trace its roots back to 1946. Its main activities included trooping, inclusive tour (IT) and worldwide passenger and freight charter services. British Aviation Services' first investment in a British independent airline occurred in 1946, when it acquired a minority interest in Silver City Airways. Silver City Airways operated the world's first cross-Channel air ferry service on 13 July 1948. It subsequently became British Aviation Services' biggest operating division. In 1953, British Aviation Services took over the independent airline Air Kruise. The same year, BAS Group also took control of Aquila Airways, the last commercial flying boat operator in the United Kingdom. The completion of these acquisitions by mid-1954 resulted in a reorganisation of the British Aviation Services group, with British Aviation Services Ltd becoming the group's holding company and Britavia one of its operating subsidiaries. By the late 1950s, BAS Group became Britain's largest independent airline operator. Its numerous operating divisions included Britavia's Hermes Division at Blackbushe Airport and Aquila Airways's Flying Boat Division at Hamble near Southampton. The former concentrated on trooping services and inclusive tours while the latter provided scheduled services to Portugal, the Canary Islands and Italy. In 1962, BAS Group merged with British United Airways (BUA), which by that time had replaced BAS as the UK's largest independent airline operator.
Transair Limited was an early post-World War II private, independent British airline formed in 1947. It began as an air taxi operator at Croydon Airport. In 1953, it started inclusive tour (IT) charter flights. By 1957, Transair became part of the Airwork group. The following year it shifted its operating base and headquarters to Gatwick Airport. In 1960, Transair was absorbed into British United Airways (BUA), as a result of the Airwork — Hunting-Clan merger.
Skyways Limited was an early post-World War II British airline formed in 1946 that soon became well-established as the biggest operator of non-scheduled air services in Europe.
Morton Air Services was one of the earliest post-World War II private, independent British airlines formed in 1945. It mainly operated regional short-haul scheduled services within the British Isles and between the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. In 1953, Morton took over rival independent UK airline Olley Air Service. In 1958, Morton became part of the Airwork group. Morton retained its identity following the 1960 Airwork — Hunting-Clan merger that led to the creation of British United Airways (BUA). The reorganisation of the BUA group of companies during 1967/8 resulted in Morton being absorbed into British United Island Airways (BUIA) in 1968.
Scottish Airlines (Prestwick) Limited was formed in 1946 as a subsidiary of Scottish Aviation Limited. The airline commenced worldwide passenger and cargo charter flights from bases at Prestwick and Stansted. It also participated in the Berlin Airlift, became a trooping carrier for the British Armed Forces, and began contract flights on behalf of Air France, British European Airways (BEA), Compagnie Belge des Transports Aériens, Iceland Airways and KLM.
Skyways Coach-Air Limited was the world's first low-cost airline.
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