Northeast Airlines (UK)

Northeast Airlines
IATA code :	NS
ICAO code :	NS
Call sign :	NORJET
Founding:	1952 (as BKS )
Operation stopped:	1976
Seat:	Newcastle upon Tyne , UK
Turnstile :	Leeds Bradford London Heathrow
Home airport :	Newcastle Airport
Fleet size:	9
Aims:	Europe
Northeast Airlines ceased operations in 1976. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation.

Northeast Airlines , known as Northeast , was a British airline that emerged from the renaming of BKS Air Transport in November 1970 . The company operated flights under its own name until March 1974 and was completely absorbed by British Airways in 1976 . The company was originally founded in 1952 as BKS Aero Charter .

history

BKS Aero Charter

BKS put their fifth Douglas DC-3 ( G-ANAF ) into service in June 1953

The charter airline B.KS Aero Charter was founded on February 7, 1952 in Southend . Its name was derived from the surnames of the founders James B arnby, Thomas K eegan and Cyril S tevens, who had owned the Southend-based maintenance company BKS Engineering Ltd. a month earlier . had opened. Operations from Southend-on-Sea Airport started with a Douglas DC-3 , which was initially used to transport cattle to Milan and Florence . The company replaced this aircraft in April 1952 with two identical types from the inventory of the Royal Air Force . Both machines were used on occasional flights ( ad hoc charter ) in the Mediterranean area as well as to Aden and Singapore . In the winter of 1952/53, flights for winter sports enthusiasts were mainly offered to Innsbruck .

In the course of 1953 BKS Aero Charter put three more Douglas DC-3 into service, with which, among other things, the first IT charter flights for the tour operator Horizon Holidays between Southend and Corsica took place. In addition, BKS transported freight within Europe and the Middle East . On May 18, 1953, the company began its first national liner services between Hartlepool and Northolt ( London ). The company carried a total of 7,717 passengers in the same year. At the end of 1953, BKS Aero Charter received approval to set up additional routes and was then renamed BKS Air Transport .

BKS Air Transport

From 1964, BKS Bristol Britannia started using scheduled services and charter flights

In 1954, the company set up scheduled connections from Leeds , Newcastle and Southend to the British Isles of Jersey , the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Man , and opened its first international line between Southend and Ostend . At the same time there were charter flights to Basel , Paris and Lourdes and via Corsica to Mallorca . In addition, BKS carried out military contract flights for the Royal Air Force and newspaper transports to Germany. In 1954 the company carried 17,696 passengers. Airspeed Consul and Vickers Viking machines acquired second-hand increased the fleet from 1955. The Newcastle Airport was in the following years the most important location of the company, most of which emanated compounds, including from 1956 a line route to Dusseldorf . On April 17, 1957, BKS was the first private British airline to open a scheduled connection to Dublin , on which Airspeed Ambassador machines were also used from August 9, 1957 . In 1959 the company carried 58,358 passengers on national scheduled services and a further 25,519 passengers on international routes.

Bristol 170 freighter aircraft joined the fleet from 1958

BKS put its first Bristol 170 into service in 1958 , operating on fixed freight routes between Belfast , Edinburgh , Leeds, London and Newcastle. From April 1960 these machines were also used to transport motor vehicles in the ferry service between Liverpool and Dublin. In the same year, the company ordered five Avro 748 turboprop aircraft , which were operated on the scheduled routes from 1962. In the summer of 1963, BKS offered international scheduled services from Newcastle, Leeds and London to Amsterdam , Basel , Bergen , Biarritz , Bilbao , Dublin, Düsseldorf, Ostend and Stavanger . In 1964, the company took over its first two Bristol Britannia , which were used for the tour operator Skytours on IT charter flights in the Mediterranean region as well as on national routes.

On September 14, 1967, BKS Air Transport was completely taken over by the state airline British European Airways ( BEA ), which had owned a minority stake in the company since June 1964. The company remained as an independent division of BEA and together formed the new subsidiary British Air Services ( BAS ) of Cambrian Airways, which was acquired at the same time , in which BEA held 70 percent and the owners of BKS and Cambrian Airways each held 15 percent. After the takeover, the aircraft carried the British Air Services logo on the fuselage, but retained their unchanged BKS logo on the tail unit . From 1967 machines of the Vickers Viscount type were put into service, which gradually replaced the Douglas DC-3, Airspeed Ambassador and Avro 748 in passenger traffic.

In 1968, BKS British Air Services deployed four Bristol Britannias, eight Vickers Viscounts and an Airspeed Ambassador converted into a horse transporter. In the same year around 600,000 passengers and around 5000 tons of cargo were carried. In March 1969 she took over two Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident jet aircraft . It was launched on March 28, 1969 between London and Newcastle. The second machine was first used on April 9, 1969 on a charter flight from Newcastle to Palma de Mallorca . As of April 1969, BEA ceded some of the scheduled routes departing from London Heathrow Airport to BKS British Air Services , including routes to Bordeaux , Klagenfurt and Luxembourg .

Northeast Airlines

From April 1974, the aircraft of the Northeast carried the fuselage inscription British Airways . The machine pictured had an accident in Bilbao in 1975 .

On November 1, 1970, BEA renamed its Newcastle-based division BKS British Air Services to Northeast Airlines . At the same time, the aircraft were given a yellow livery in the company's newly designed corporate identity . Northeast Airlines continued to operate national and international scheduled flights and, to a lesser extent, charter flights.

After the merger of British European Airways and British Overseas Airways Corporation to form British Airways on March 31, 1974 , Northeast remained as its regional division ( Northeast Regional Division ), but subsequently ceased to appear under its own name. The aircraft were initially labeled British Airways and were successively painted in their corporate colors. On March 31, 1976, the Northeast Regional Division was completely absorbed by British Airways and ceased operations.

Subsidiary BKS Air Survey

The subsidiary BKS Air Survey Ltd. founded in 1957 offered survey flights and aerial photography. These contract services were previously carried out by the parent company. The company used machines of the types Airspeed Consul , Avro Anson and Douglas DC-3 as well as various small aircraft. The BKS Air Survey was not from the BEA adopted and is now a subsidiary of the Dutch group Fugro . The registered office of Fugro-BKS Ltd. is located in the Northern Irish town of Coleraine .

Incidents

This Airspeed Ambassador (G-AMAD) , converted into a horse transporter, had an accident while landing in London in 1968

• On October 17, 1961, a Douglas DC-3 of BKS Air Transport ( registration : G-AMVC ) crashed in poor visibility before landing in Carlisle for an unknown cause. The machine that took off from Leeds was on a transfer flight. All four occupants were killed in the accident.

• On April 9, 1963, an Avro Anson (G-ALXH) of the BKS Air Survey developed smoke in the aircraft and engine failure shortly after take-off from Leeds. When attempting to land outside, the aircraft collided with a high-voltage line, hit and had to be written off as a total loss. The three occupants survived the accident.

• On July 3, 1968, an Airspeed Ambassador (G-AMAD) had an accident while landing at London Heathrow Airport . The cargo plane carried eight horses from Deauville . Shortly before touchdown, the flap on the left wing retracted due to material fatigue, which triggered an uncontrollable rolling movement. The aircraft swerved to the left, with the wing tip touching the ground. The machine collided with two parked Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident of the BEA and then hit a terminal building. There were eight crew members on board the cargo plane, only two of whom survived the accident.

• On July 26, 1969, the nose landing gear of an Airspeed Ambassador (G-ALZR) broke on landing at London Gatwick Airport . Due to the amount of damage, the cargo aircraft was recorded as a total loss; the eight people on board were not injured.

• On September 15, 1975, a Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident 1E (G-AVYD) of the Northeast Regional Division had an accident while taking off at Bilbao Airport . The plane on the flight to London Heathrow was written off as a total loss.

fleet

BKS used the Avro 748 from 1962 to 1968 in national regular service

• Airspeed Ambassador (operated by BKS from 1957 to 1967, used for cargo flights until 1969)
• Airspeed Consul (operated from 1955 to 1960 by BKS and BKS Air Survey )
• Avro 748 (operated from 1962 to 1968 by BKS )
• Avro Anson (operated by BKS and BKS Air Survey from 1952 to 1964 )
• Bristol 170 (operated by BKS from 1958 to 1966 )
• Bristol Britannia (operated by BKS from 1964 to 1970 )
• De Havilland DH.104 Dove (operated by BKS from around 1955 to 1960 )
• Douglas DC-3 (operated from 1952 to 1967 by BKS Aero Charter , BKS and BKS Air Survey )
• Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident (operated by BKS and Northeast from 1969 to 1976 )
• Vickers Viking (operated by BKS from 1955 to 1958 )
• Vicker Viscount 700 and 800 (operated from 1967 to 1976 by BKS and Northeast , previously rented for a short time)

In addition, BKS and BKS Air Survey use single-engine machines for training purposes , banner towing and aerial photography.

IATA and ICAO codes

An overview of the IATA and ICAO codes and call signs used by the various companies:

Period	Companies	IATA code	ICAO code	Callsign
1952 to 1953	BKS Aero Charter	(without)	BK	BEEKAYESS
1953 to 1970	BKS Air Transport	BK	BK	BEEKAYESS
1970 to 1974	Northeast Airlines	NS	NS	NORJET
1974 to 1976	BA Regional Division Northeast	NS	NS	NORJET

See also

• Former Airlines List (Europe)

Web links

Commons : Northeast Airlines (United Kingdom)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Leisure Airlines of Europe, K. Vomhof, 2001
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} BKS History
3. ↑ Flight International, August 21, 1953 (PDF)
4. ↑ Flight International, May 21, 1954 (PDF)
5. ↑ Flight International, March 1, 1955 (PDF)
6. ↑ Flight International, April 19, 1957 (PDF)
7. ↑ Flight International, August 16, 1957 (PDF)
8. ↑ Flight International, November 11, 1960, p. 757 (PDF)
9. ↑ Flight International, November 11, 1960, p. 762 (PDF)
10. ↑ Flight International, November 11, 1960, p. 764 (PDF)
11. ↑ Flight International, April 8, 1960 (PDF)
12. ↑ BKS route network, summer 1963
13. ↑ Flight International, November 9, 1967 (PDF)
14. ↑ Flight International, August 28, 1969 (PDF)
15. ↑ Flight International, October 24, 1968 (PDF)
16. ↑ Flight international, October 16, 1969 (PDF)
17. ^ Fugro-BKS Ltd., homepage
18. ^ Accident report DC-3 G-AMVC , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on June 9, 2020.
19. ^ Accident report Avro Anson G-ALXH , Aviation Safety Network WikiBase , accessed on June 9, 2020.
20. ↑ Tony Merton Jones: British Independent Airline since 1946, Vol. 3 . Merseyside Aviation Society & LAAS International, Liverpool & Uxbridge 1976, ISBN 0 902 420 09 7 , p. 330.
21. ^ Accident report Airspeed Ambassador G-AMAD , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on June 9, 2020.
22. ↑ Accident report Airspeed Ambassador G-ALZR , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on June 9, 2020.
23. ^ Accident report Trident 1E G-AVYD , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on June 9, 2020.
24. ↑ JP aircraft markings and JP airline-fleets international, various years
25. ↑ Flight International, various years