British Caledonian Airways
| British Caledonian Airways | |
|---|---|
|
|
| IATA code : | BR |
| ICAO code : | BCA |
| Call sign : | CALEDONIAN |
| Founding: | 1970 |
| Operation stopped: | 1988 |
| Seat: |
Crawley , UK
|
| Home airport : | Gatwick Airport |
| Fleet size: | 25th |
| Aims: | National and international |
| British Caledonian Airways ceased operations in 1988. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation. | |
British Caledonian Airways (also known as BCal , originally Caledonian / BUA ) was a British airline based in London and based at Gatwick Airport . It was at times the second largest airline in Great Britain and was part of British Airways in 1988 .
history
The British Air Transport Licensing Board (ATLB) allowed private companies to operate long-haul scheduled flights in competition with the state-owned airline BOAC from the late 1960s . The country's largest private airline at the time, British United Airways (BUA), had an extensive European route network, but did not have the financial means to take up long-haul flights. On November 30, 1970, the economically troubled BUA was bought by Caledonian Airways, founded in 1961, and merged with them. The company operated under the name Caledonian / BUA until September 1, 1972 and then took on the name British Caledonian Airways .
The first long-haul flights started in April 1971 from London-Gatwick to Rio de Janeiro , São Paulo , Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile as well as to the African cities of Accra , Freetown , Kampala , Kano , Lagos , Lusaka , Monrovia and Nairobi . Scheduled flights to Los Angeles , New York and the Seychelles began in April 1973. In 1980 the company received route rights to Atlanta , St. Louis , Dallas and via Dubai to Hong Kong . From the beginning of the 1980s, scheduled flights via San Juan and Caracas to Bogotá were also offered. In addition, the company applied for route rights to Australia in 1981, but was not awarded these. With the outbreak of the Falklands War , the connections to Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile were no longer served from 1982.
On March 31, 1977, British Caledonian its first widebody aircraft of the type McDonnell Douglas DC-10 into service. From the beginning of the 1980s, the company used leased Boeing 747-200s . In 1983 the company ordered wide- bodied Airbus A310-200 aircraft , which were delivered from the spring of 1984. In addition, British Caledonian was one of the first airlines to order seven Airbus A320s in 1983 and signed three additional purchase options for this type. The machines were to be delivered from April 1988 and replace the BAC 1-11 on short and medium-haul routes.
British Caledonian ran into economic difficulties from the mid-1980s. British Airways bought the company on July 16, 1987 and came into possession of the base in London-Gatwick and the ten A320-100s that British Caledonian had ordered. The company's scheduled flight network was gradually taken over by British Airways from December 1987 . The dissolution of British Caledonian Airways took place on 14 April 1988. Previously named British Airways its charter subsidiary British Airtours on 1 April 1988 in Caledonian Airways to.
Subsidiaries
British Caledonian had several subsidiaries and corporate divisions. These include British Caledonian Helicopters , founded in April 1979 , which operated supply flights to the drilling rigs in the North Sea from Aberdeen , and the charter airline Cal Air International , founded in December 1982 , in which British Caledonian held a 50 percent stake. The company had scheduled flights on less frequented routes as well as feeder flights operated by various British regional airlines , including Genair and Connectair, under the name British Caledonian Commuter . In addition, a tour operator , an international hotel group and several maintenance centers belonged to the group.
Destinations
British Caledonian Airways flew to destinations in Europe , Africa , South America , the USA as well as Dubai and Hong Kong .
fleet
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British Caledonian Airways operated a. a. the following aircraft types:
- Airbus A310-200
- BAC 111-200, 111-300 and 111-500
- Boeing 707-300C
- Boeing 747-200B
- McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 and DC-10-10 (two leased DC-10-10 operated on charter flights in 1982 )
- Vickers VC10
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Aero, edition 201, year 1987
- ↑ Caledonian / BUA, route network map, April 1971
- ↑ a b c Aero, issue 34, year 1984
- ↑ Leisure Airlines of Europe, K. Vomhof, 2001
- ^ Aero, issue 204, year 1987
- ↑ jp airline fleets international, from 1970
Airlines from the United Kingdom , British Overseas Territories and the Crown possessions of the British Crown
