British United Airways
British United Airways | |
---|---|
IATA code : | BR |
ICAO code : | BR |
Call sign : | British United |
Founding: | 1960 |
Operation stopped: | 1970 |
Seat: | London |
Home airport : | London Gatwick Airport |
Fleet size: | 21st |
Aims: | National and international |
British United Airways ceased operations in 1970. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation. |
British United Airways (BUA) was a British airline . It was created in July 1960 through the merger of Airwork (UK) , Air Charter (UK) and Hunting Clan Air Transport .
history
BUA began its service with a fleet of Vickers Viscount , Douglas DC-3 / C-47 , DC-4 and DC-6 . The main target of the activities was Africa, from where the British state airlines had increasingly withdrawn for reasons of profitability. There was also a scheduled service to Gibraltar , Rotterdam , Le Touquet and the Channel Islands. Between 1960 and 1965 it was run by Freddie Laker , who later founded Laker Airways . Under Laker, British United became the UK's largest privately owned airline.
In 1961, the first Bristol Britannia entered service. Shortly thereafter, a new vehicle transport to the Channel Islands was started, which was carried out with Aviation Traders ATL-98 (also known as "Carvair").
In 1962, two other airlines ( Jersey Airlines and Silver City Airways ) were acquired through the British United Group, the BUA holding company, and incorporated into the holding company as British United (CI) Airways (BUA (CI)), with CI for Channel Iceland stood. When the BUA group was reorganized in 1968, it was incorporated into British United Island Airways (BUIA). When BUA was absorbed by British Caledonian Airways in 1970, BUIA was not affected and was renamed British Island Airways .
In 1964, two Vickers VC-10s were commissioned for the Africa routes, followed by BAC 1-11 the following year . This enabled the BUA to compete with the state-owned British European Airways (BEA) in medium- haul traffic to Europe. The last C-47 could be replaced in 1968 by the modern Handley Page Dart Herald .
After BUA ran into financial problems, the merger with Caledonian Airways was announced in November 1970 . The airline British Caledonian Airways emerged from the merger .
fleet
The BUA group operated u. a. the following aircraft types:
- ATL-98 Carvair
- BAC 1-11
- Bristol 170 Freighter
- Bristol 175 Britannia
- De Havilland DH.114 Heron
- Douglas DC-3 / C-47
- Douglas DC-4
- Douglas DC-6
- Handley Page Herald
- Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer
- Vickers Viscount
- Vickers VC10
Incidents
During its existence from 1960 to 1970 British United Airways suffered three total aircraft losses, including one with fatalities.
- On October 30, 1961, the Vickers Viscount 736 with the aircraft registration G-AODH was irreparably damaged on the flight from Berlin-Tempelhof . During a go- around attempt at Frankfurt Airport in poor visibility, the machine hit next to the runway. All 4 crew members and 16 passengers survived the accident.
- On April 14, 1965, the Douglas DC-3 (version C-47B) coming from Paris-Orly with the registration number G-ANTB had an accident shortly before Jersey Airport . Although no approach was permitted under the prescribed weather conditions in the case of very low clouds and poor visibility, the flight captain decided to make another approach even after a go-around. The aircraft collided with the outermost mast of the approach lights , which was only 18 m high , just under 1 km from the runway, crashed and went up in flames. Of the 27 inmates, only the stewardess survived.
- On January 14, 1969, the pilots of the BAC-111-201AC (registration G-ASJJ) on the way to London-Gatwick at Milan-Linate airport broke off after the plane had already taken off. The plane was destroyed, but all 7 crew members and 26 passengers survived.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ jp airline fleets international, from 1967
- ↑ Accident Statistics British United Airways , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 21, 2016.
- ^ Accident report Viscount 736 G-AODH , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 21, 2016.
- ^ Accident report DC-3 G-ANTB , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 21, 2016.
- ^ Accident report BAC-111 G-ASJJ , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 21, 2016.