Instone Air Line
Instone Air Line was one of the first UK airlines. It was established in 1919 by the Cardiff- based shipping company S. Instone & Company Limited . In 1924 Instone Air Line merged with three other companies to form Imperial Airways , the forerunner of British Airways .
It should not be confused with Instone Airline (1987) , which operated the Bristol 170 and Douglas DC-6 from 1981 to around 1996.
history
Since the shipping documents sent by post often reached customers late and ships could not be unloaded immediately, the shipping company Instone & Company set up a private airmail connection via London to Paris at the end of 1919 . The first aircraft was an Airco DH.4 .
Since April 1920 Instone operated the London – Paris section under the name Instone Air Line as a public airline. The air fleet then grew to ten passenger and cargo planes, which were stationed at London-Croydon Airport. On January 1, 1922, Instone was the first aviation company to introduce uniforms for its pilots and other employees.
In May 1922, the company started the liner service between London and Brussels . Due to the fierce competition with the French, the British airlines agreed to leave the traffic to Paris from October 1922 to Handley Page Transport . To compensate, Instone extended the Brussels route to Cologne .
In 1923, a commission set up by the British government called for the unification of the main British airlines to create a financially strong company for the expected changes in air transport. Based on this investigation report, Instone Air Line, Handley Page, Daimler Airway and British Marine Air Navigation merged on April 1, 1924. Together they formed Imperial Airways .
fleet
| Aircraft type | number | in service | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airco DH.4 | 1 | 1919 | 1924 to Imperial Airways |
| Airco DH.18 | 4th | 1921 | one aircraft to Daimler Airway in 1922, the rest to the British government in 1923 |
| BAT FK26 | 1 | 1920 | used until 1922 |
| Bristol Type 47 Tourer | |||
| Bristol Type 62 ten-seater | 1 | 1922 | to Handley Page Transport, 1924 to Imperial Airways |
| De Havilland DH.34 | 4th | 1924 to Imperial Airways | |
| Vickers Vimy Commercial | |||
| Vickers Vulcan | 3 | 1922 | two aircraft returned to the manufacturer in 1922, the third to Imperial Airways in 1924 |
| Westland limousine | 2 |
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Klee, Ulrich & Bucher, Frank et al. jp airline-fleets international 1982 ff. Zurich Airport, 1982.
- ↑ Maurice J. Wickstead: Airlines of the British Isles since 1919 . Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., Staplefield, W Sussex 2014, ISBN 978-0-85130-456-4 , p. 273.
Airlines from the United Kingdom , British Overseas Territories and the Crown possessions of the British Crown
