British European Airways

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side of a white tail as well as near the front and rear passenger doors on the left fuselage and near the service door on its right side, where it interrupted an otherwise continuous, thick black cheatline across the cabin windows on each side of the fuselage. The cheatlines on each side of the fuselage converged on the nose, with the space in-between painted black (matte finish) as well to reduce glare for the pilots and shield sensitive navigational equipment housed in the nose from radiation. The upper part of the fuselage (above the thick black cheatline) was all-white while its lower part (below the thick black cheatline) was in natural metal finish or painted light-grey. The engines retained their natural metal finish as well while the wings were red, both on the upper and underside, with the BEA logo featuring the three-letter abbreviation of the airline's name in upper case white in a square appearing on each wing's upper side and the aircraft registration in bold, white capital letters on each wing's underside. This livery, which was also known as the "red square" livery because of its prominent display of the red-square BEA logo in multiple locations on the aircraft, featured the Union flag near the front passenger door on the silver/light-grey lower fuselage. It furthermore had the aircraft type on/near both front passenger/forward service doors in white letters on a black background (cheatline) and the aircraft registration in white capital letters on a black background each side of the tail (a thin, black horizontal strip at/near the top of the fin).

4163: 1514: 1570: 4957:) in white letters on a dark-blue horizontal strip on each of their bare metal engines. This livery furthermore differed from its two immediate predecessors by only having the tip of the nose cone painted black (matte finish). All aircraft wearing this livery also featured the three-letter abbreviation of the airline's name in upper case white framed with a red border to emphasise the shape of the letters, which appeared above the dark-blue cheatline near the passenger/forward service doors each side of the white upper fuselage. In the case of regional feeder aircraft, the three-letter abbreviation of the airline's name was followed by the respective operating division's name in lower case dark-blue letters (e.g. 11303: 4978: 2448:, continued to exist alongside a British Airways Overseas, a British Airways Regional and four other divisions until 1 April 1977 when these were replaced by a unified operating structure organised into a number of departments, including commercial operations, flight operations, engineering, planning, catering and personnel. These organisational changes were accompanied by the adoption of a single, two-letter, IATA airline identification code for the entire airline, i.e., BA, the old BOAC/Overseas Division code. Until then, each of the three main airline divisions had its own two-letter, IATA airline identification code, BA for Overseas, BE for European and BZ for Regional. 1545:

by independent airlines seeking to be licensed as competitors to the state airlines. Each application by an independent airline for a scheduled route licence was heard by the newly established Air Transport Licensing Board (ATLB), the new UK government body in charge of air transport economic regulation that succeeded ATAC. At these hearings, the independents needed to convince the ATLB that there were sufficient passengers to justify the proposed scheduled services, that these stood a reasonable chance of becoming profitable and that they opened up new markets rather than divert traffic from the corporations to overcome the latter's objections. Although the ATLB granted

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separated by two thin, white lines above the cabin windows. In BEA service the Herons were known as "Hebridean" class aircraft seating 14 passengers on regular commercial flights. The Heron operated its first air ambulance service on 4 March 1955 while BEA crews were still undergoing conversion training on the new type. This was followed by a naming ceremony for both aircraft held at Glasgow's Renfrew Airport on 18 March 1955, when each aircraft was named after a Scottish medical pioneer (G-ANXA, the second aircraft to be delivered on 23 February 1955, was named

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airline claimed to have started the latter in the UK as well. BEA, whose frequencies were not restricted, responded to the challenge on its three most important domestic routes by scheduling additional flights that departed and arrived at the same time or within 10 minutes of its rival's scheduled departure and arrival times. This had the effect of "sandwiching" British Eagle's flights. BEA's response also included the introduction of trickle loading and subsequent introduction of full onboard catering as well as a separate first class cabin.

5057: 11577: 4891: 1206: 5133: 1133: 4781: 713: 11291: 40: 2066:, which assumed the role of the "Second Force" in November 1970. To enable the new "Second Force" to become viable and to redress the competitive imbalance between it and the corporations, the Heath government ordered a limited route transfer from the latter to the former. For BEA this entailed the loss of the Heathrow – Le Bourget route, which was transferred to its newly formed independent rival to accommodate the newcomer's Gatwick – Le Bourget service within the constraints of the 3263: 12060: 2817:

These were operated with "Leopard" class DC-3 freighters. The same year, BEA furthermore terminated its association agreement with Jersey Airlines as both airlines had become competitors on the prime London–Jersey and London–Guernsey trunk routes as a result of the Civil Aviation (Licensing) Act that had been enacted the year before. This had abolished the corporations' statutory monopoly on principal domestic and international scheduled routes.

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stage length: 230 mi (370 km)) given the high fuel consumption of the Comet, especially when operating at the mandatory 10,000 ft (3,000 m) altitude inside the Allied air corridors. This measure was therefore only a stopgap until most of BEA's Berlin fleet was equipped with 97-seat, single-class BAC One-Eleven 500s. BEA's re-equipment of its Berlin fleet with new One-Eleven 500 jets was central to the airline's

1446: 294: 11327: 2462: 11315: 4961:). The only aspect of the previous livery that was retained for all mainline aircraft were the red wings (both upper and undersides), with the aircraft registration in bold, white capital letters on each wing's underside. Following the merger with BOAC, many former BEA aircraft retained their basic "Speedjack" livery with just the name changing from red-framed, white 4713:, the aircraft next to it, Trident 1C G-ARPI, was subsequently repaired and re-entered service. (The latter aircraft would be involved in the worst accident in BEA's history as well as the worst involving a Trident, in terms of fatalities, on 18 June 1972.) As at the time of the accident both Tridents were empty and not being attended to while parked on the 1984:, simultaneously launched daily BAC One-Eleven jet services from Gatwick to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast, which indirectly competed with the corporation's London–Scotland and London – Northern Ireland trunk routes from Heathrow. This allowed BUA to steal a march on BEA by becoming the first scheduled all-jet operator on UK domestic trunk routes. 4493:, a Vickers Viscount 701 (G-ALWE, "RMA Discovery"), crashed on approach to Manchester Airport due to a flap failure caused by metal fatigue. All 20 occupants on board died along with two on the ground. A bolt that held the bottom of the number two starboard flap unit broke, causing the aileron to become locked; this led to a loss of control. 3414:

trained for the flight crews, which had previously been made up of British expatriates from BEA. Cyprus Airways still relied on BEA for aircraft and in 1961 BEA began introducing Comet 4B jets on all Cyprus Airways routes through a joint aircraft pool arrangement that included Greece's Olympic Airways. On 5 April 1960, BEA introduced

286: 4743:, a Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C (G-ARPI), the aircraft that had been repaired and returned to service after being struck by BKS Air Transport Ambassador G-AMAD at Heathrow on 3 July 1968, crashed two minutes after takeoff from Heathrow Airport, killing all 118 passengers and crew. The accident occurred close to the town of 7076: 6081: 5095:

In 1974, British Airways withdrew the Central London check-in facilities it had inherited from BEA because of declining demand and closed the West London Air Terminal. This resulted in disposal of the dedicated fleet of Routemaster buses, some of which had already been repainted in the new red, white

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From the late-1960s, BEA's aircraft began to appear in the "Speedjack" livery. This was the airline's final livery. Like the previous red, black and white livery, it was uniformly applied to its entire fleet. It consisted of a dark-blue cheatline across the cabin windows on each side of the fuselage,

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Following independence for Cyprus in 1960, the government of newly independent island became the majority shareholder in Cyprus Airways, with a 53.2 per cent holding, while BEA's stake was reduced to 22.7 per cent. Private individuals held the rest. Thereafter, Cypriot nationals began to be hired and

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BEA ceased operations on 1 April 1974 when it merged with BOAC to form British Airways. A BEA Trident operated the airline's final flight from Dublin to Heathrow on 31 March 1974. Following the late-night arrival at Heathrow at 23:30 hrs of flight BE 943 ("Bealine 943"), BEA passed into history as of

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The Channel Islands Airways division assumed responsibility for all of BEA's services to and from the Channel Islands other than those to and from Heathrow, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool and Newcastle. It also operated domestic and international routes from Birmingham, using a dedicated

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The Super One-Eleven division was headquartered in Manchester. It assumed responsibility for BEA's entire BAC One-Eleven 500 fleet and all of the airline's Manchester operations other than those to and from the Channel Islands, as well as all of its Berlin operations, with at least six aircraft based

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configuration with minimal onboard catering, British Eagle provided full catering on all flights. British Eagle furthermore differentiated itself from its state-owned competitor by introducing assigned seating and "trickle loading". The former was a first for a UK scheduled domestic carrier while the

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In its 1962-63 annual report, BEA estimated that introduction of both the Comet 4B and Vanguard had cost it more than £6 million over a two-year period. The airline considered this "a heavy financial burden" in support of British aircraft manufacturers, which adversely impacted its ability to compete

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buses. These initially wore a blue and white livery, before being repainted in a white/grey livery, a white/blue livery incorporating BEA's "red square" logo and, finally, a white/red livery with Speedjack-style BEA lettering. The London Routemasters carried BEA's passengers from the West London Air

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From the late-1950s to the late-1960s, BEA's aircraft wore its red, black and white livery, which was uniformly applied to the entire fleet from September 1959. It consisted of a prominent BEA logo featuring the three-letter abbreviation of the airline's name in upper case white in a red square each

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for the "coolness" that had characterised his deportment, throughout the incident: "In the face of this very grave emergency the action of Captain Harvey is worthy of the highest praise. The complete loss of the aircraft and all its company was avoided only as a result of his courage, high skill and

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Following establishment of British Air Services as BEA's new holding company for its two loss-making regional airline subsidiaries, BKS Air Transport and Cambrian Airways, in March 1970, the corporation acquired a two-thirds majority shareholding in British Air Services in the autumn of that year to

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from the UK government to compensate it for having been directed against its commercial judgement to order British aircraft with a lower earning potential and later delivery dates. The UK government responded to BEA's plea by agreeing to transfer £25 million from the airline's existing borrowings to

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all commercial and private flying within the UK had been severely restricted by the government due to the possibility of civil flights encountering enemy aircraft. To offset this halting of civilian air traffic limited aerial services were instead carried out from 1940 onwards by the state-owned and

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to have jet airplanes. The Comets flew in the BEA livery, but had the Cyprus Airways logo and title above their doors. In 1965, Cyprus began leasing its own Viscounts from BEA for regional routes. The Comet and Viscount aircraft were replaced with five Trident jets, three of them acquired from BEA.

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with BEA. This arrangement entailed the latter taking over the former's two remaining German domestic routes to Frankfurt and Munich and operating these with its own aircraft and flightdeck crews from Tempelhof. It also entailed repainting the fins of the BEA One-Eleven 500s in a neutral, dark-blue

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From August 1968, BEA supplemented its Tempelhof-based Viscount fleet with de Havilland Comet 4B series jetliners. Although these aircraft could operate from Tempelhof's short runways without payload restrictions, they were not suited to the airline's ultra short-haul operation from Berlin (average

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On 28 April 1950, BEA launched a summer service from Gatwick to Alderney, the airline's first scheduled route from Gatwick as well as its first scheduled service from there to the Channel Islands. Additional scheduled services from Birmingham and Manchester to the islands began the following month.

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and by 1962, took over approximately half of the flights previously operated by Viscounts on the airline's UK domestic trunk routes, where they operated in a 132-seat, single-class configuration. The Vanguards' introduction on BEA's Heathrow–Scotland trunk routes increased traffic by more than 20%.

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respectively, these airlines were unable to use them without actual traffic rights. For example, lack of traffic rights prevented BUA from running direct London (Gatwick) – Paris (Le Bourget) scheduled flights although it held a licence for that route, which the ATLB had awarded it in late 1961. In

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BEA and BOAC had enjoyed on principal domestic and international scheduled routes since the beginning of the post-war era. In theory, this gave independent airlines equal opportunities to develop scheduled routes in their own right; however, in reality, the corporations would object to applications

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high-capacity turboprops it had ordered the year before would remain competitive against jets on trunk routes as a result of lower operating and seat-mile costs. BEA's insistence on building the Trident smaller with less powerful engines and a lower fuel capacity than originally proposed was also a

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Despite the previous year's nationalisation of several private airlines and their absorption into BEA, the government-owned carrier continued to contract its private sector counterparts to operate a limited number of regional feeder services on its behalf via "associate" agreements. These needed to

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titles on a white upper fuselage and a larger Union flag, as well as the aircraft registration each side of a white tail and the aircraft's name prominently displayed in a white field on the left side of the nose and a coat of arms on its right side. When applied to BEA's Elizabethans, this lacked

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in 1950. In 1952, BEA established a base at Gatwick on the site of the airport's old Beehive terminal. On 1 January 1964, BEA formed BEA Helicopters as a separate helicopter subsidiary, which established its administrative headquarters and engineering base at Gatwick. Following retirement of BEA's

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prices led to a further drop in demand. This in turn resulted in a major contraction of BEA's – and subsequently British Airways' – (as well as Pan Am's) internal German operations, necessitating a reduction in the Berlin-based fleet and workforce in an attempt to contain growing losses these once

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at the beginning of 1960 due to Tempelhof's operational limitations that made it unsuitable for its Caravelles, was worst affected by the equipment changes at the latter airport during the mid- to late-1960s. To reverse growing losses on its Berlin routes resulting from load factors as low as 30%,

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on the bulk of its internal German services from/to West Berlin, its market share rose from 58% to 68% while BEA's declined from 38% at the beginning of this period to 27% at its end. The lower seat density in BEA's re-configured Viscounts combined with higher flight frequencies, superior catering

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Pan Am's move put BEA at a considerable competitive disadvantage, especially on the busy Berlin–Frankfurt route where the former out-competed the latter with both modern jet planes as well as a higher flight frequency. BEA responded to Pan Am by increasing the Berlin-based fleet to 13 Viscounts by

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During the early-to-mid-1950s, BEA leased in aircraft that were bigger than its Tempelhof-based fleet of DC-3/Pionair, Viking and Elizabethan piston-engined airliners from other operators to boost capacity, following a steady increase in the airline's passenger loads. (BEA continued to augment its

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The launch of a new BEA summer weekend service from Aberdeen via Edinburgh to Jersey in 1957 was followed by the transfer of most of the corporation's London–Jersey and London–Guernsey flights from Heathrow to Gatwick when the latter reopened as London's second airport on 9 June 1958, in line with

2523:). Scheduled operations commenced on 18 April 1955, following which one aircraft was exclusively used on scheduled services while the other was kept on stand-by for air ambulance duties. An expansion of BEA's scheduled activities within the Scottish mainland as well as between the mainland and the 1372:

on short routes such as London–Paris were lower than the Viscount's, the piston type could not match the turboprop's passenger appeal. Unlike the Pionairs and Leopards, which continued serving regional feeder and freight routes, Elizabethans were deployed on trunk routes where passenger appeal was

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BOAC formed a British European Airways division on 1 January 1946 in anticipation of that year's Civil Aviation Act. Following its formation, BOAC's new division began taking over Transport Command's operations from 4 March 1946. On that day, it inaugurated a weekly Dakota service from Northolt to

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exhaust. The upper part of the fuselage (above the dark-blue cheatline) was all-white while its lower part (below the dark-blue cheatline) was light-grey. Unlike the earlier bare metal/white tail, liveries worn by BEA aircraft, the new livery featured a dark-blue tail with a prominent display of

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on a training flight due to a loss of power in two engines; all five crew on board survived, but the aircraft was written off. The training captain was simulating a number four engine failure and had pulled the high pressure cock on the number three engine by mistake and throttled back the number

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shortly after takeoff on a flight from RAF Northolt to Renfrew Airport. The accident killed 28 passengers and crew, leaving only 1 survivor, flight attendant James McKissick. The crew had shut down the No.2 engine after it developed problems, leaving the aircraft without sufficient power to clear

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and Cambrian to BEA, it left the former's identities and local managements in place. This effectively gave BEA the final say in all major policy matters and delegated the day-to-day running of the two smaller airlines to their respective managements. BEA subsequently increased its shareholding in

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Tempelhof's short runways with a full commercial payload as only light fuel loads were required on the short internal German services. Compared with BEA, Pan Am's 727s carried 20% more passengers than the British carrier's Comet 4Bs and up to 2½ times as many passengers as the latter's Viscounts.

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The Scottish Airways division was headquartered in Glasgow and assumed responsibility for all of BEA's Scottish internal routes, as well as all of the airline's Glasgow–Belfast, Aberdeen–Heathrow and Inverness–Heathrow services. In addition to its Viscount mainline aircraft, Scottish Airways also

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services from Heathrow to Edinburgh and Belfast the next day. This was also the first time a scheduled airline had offered a separate first class cabin on a domestic route in the UK. As British Eagle was restricted to a single daily round-trip on each route, it sought to differentiate itself from

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from the UK government. The first Viking revenue service departed Northolt for Copenhagen on 1 September 1946. Compared with the Dakota, the Viking took 35 minutes less to reach Copenhagen from London. Following their introduction on the London–Copenhagen route, Vikings began replacing Dakotas on

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to enable the introduction of Viscounts, which were too heavy for the former's grass runways. On 21 March 1961, BEA launched year-round Viscount services from Bournemouth to Jersey and Guernsey. 1961 also saw BEA's first dedicated pure freight services from both London and Southampton to Jersey.

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in 1971. Glasgow-headquartered Scottish Airways became financially accountable for BEA's Scottish internal routes. It also assumed financial responsibility for the airline's services from Glasgow to Belfast, as well as from Aberdeen and Inverness to Heathrow. While it was initially operationally

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On 24 April 1969, BEA formed BEA Airtours as a wholly owned, non-IATA subsidiary to provide it with a low-cost platform to participate in the then rapidly growing IT holiday flights market, which until then had been the exclusive domain of the independent airlines. On 6 March 1970, BEA Airtours

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On 11 March 1964, a BEA Trident 1C operated the Trident's first commercial service, standing in for a Comet 4B that had been scheduled to fly 79 fare-paying passengers from Heathrow to Copenhagen. BEA's regular commercial Trident operations commenced on 1 April 1964. Initially, BEA operated its

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insistence on a very narrow interpretation of the post-war agreement on the Western powers' access rights to Berlin meant that until the end of the Cold War air transport in West Berlin continued to be confined to the carriers of the Allied Control Commission powers. Aircraft had to fly across

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The introduction of Pan Am's 727s to the Berlin market represented a major step change because of the aircraft's ability to carry more passengers than any other contemporary aircraft type used by scheduled carriers in the short-haul Berlin market, and its ability to take off from and land on

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aircraft to replace "Islander" class Rapides on its Glasgow–Barra route as it was well-suited to serving restricted airfields in difficult weather conditions. Both aircraft were delivered in February 1955, wearing BEA's contemporary bare metal finish livery incorporating a burgundy cheatline

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began the following month. These aircraft introduced the airline's passengers to new standards of comfort and speed. Compared with BEA's older piston types, the Ambassador's flight time from London to Milan, for example, reduced by two hours. In June 1952 BEA re-launched the pre-war mid-day

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On 12 August 1953, Vickers Viking 1B G-AIVG landed wheels-up after a landing gear tire blew out, all on board survived. Although the aircraft was written off and withdrawn from use, it was moved to the Musée National de L'automobile de Mulhouse around 1970 and then moved to EuroAirport for

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However, it was only following the recommendations of the 1969 Edwards Report, that a new British Airways Board, combining BEA and BOAC, was constituted on 1 April 1972. This event coincided with the establishment of the CAA, the UK's new, unified regulator for the air transport industry.

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British Air Services to 70%. BEA's amalgamation with BOAC to form British Airways on 1 April 1974 resulted in the dissolution of British Air Services and the merger of its constituent members with BEA's Scottish and Channel Islands divisions into a new British Airways Regional Division.

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BEA's withdrawal from Alderney, as well as from Southampton–Guernsey, Jersey–Dinard and Guernsey–Dinard, on 20 April 1956 coincided with the airline's last Rapide service in the Channel Islands. 1956 was also the year that saw Viscounts supplementing DC-3s/Pionairs on the corporation's

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name by adopting it as its new trading name to reflect JEA's UK-wide expansion and growing partnership with Air France. This also included the prefixing of all JEA flights with the former BEA two-letter, IATA airline identification code BE, which continued in use when JEA rebranded as

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As this necessitated the purchase of a greater number of aircraft with fewer seats and less range that needed to be inducted into the fleet over a shorter period of time due to later availability compared with the originally chosen American aircraft, BEA had made both its £32 million

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In 1953, BEA began receiving the first 16 Viscount 701 turboprops it had ordered in August 1950. The first of these "Discovery" class aircraft entered service with 47 mixed-class seats in April 1953, and the first production aircraft (G-AMAV) went on to win the transport class of the

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when a French passenger was suspected of making a suicide attempt after a bomb exploded in the rear toilet compartment, tearing a hole 8 ft (2.4 m) tall by 4 ft (1.2 m) wide in the fuselage. The flight returned to Northolt and landed safely. The passenger and a

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In April 1963, most of the corporation's London – Channel Island flights transferred back to Heathrow as a result of the new competitive relationship between BEA and its former associate Jersey Airlines. The following month, BEA launched a London–Guernsey Argosy freighter service.

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on mainline routes from Birmingham and regional routes from Newcastle and Leeds/Bradford respectively. Together with the ongoing Trident 3B deliveries, this additional Trident purchase would bring the total number of Tridents in BEA's fleet to 67, making the type its most numerous

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Following its commercial debut on 1 September 1968 on BEA's internal German routes, the airline's new One-Eleven 500s began regular scheduled operations on 17 November 1968, respectively replacing Vanguards and Viscounts on the corporation's Heathrow–Manchester and Berlin routes.

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From October 1966, BEA operated only Viscounts and Herons on its Scottish network. It used the former on the busier, longer routes while it utilised the latter on short feeder routes to/from restricted airfields serving remote communities as well as on the air ambulance service.

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appeared in bold, upper case on the upper left and lower right wing while the aircraft registration appeared in bold, upper case on the upper right and lower left wing. Later adaptations of this livery used on DC-3s/Pionairs featured an unbroken cheatline with large, upper case

2757:–Jersey route launched, which BEA contracted to its new independent associate Jersey Airlines. Two months later, a new paved runway opened at Jersey, which enabled the introduction of bigger, heavier aircraft types on BEA's (and other airlines') services to and from the island. 1195:, Belfast and the Channel Islands which by that time were mainly operated by 36-seater "Admiral" class Vikings, these were wound down in favour of concentrating all of BEA's London flights at Heathrow. A Jersey-bound Pionair in October 1954 was BEA's final flight from Northolt. 2801:

BEA's acquisition of minority stakes in its independent associates Jersey Airlines and Cambrian Airways in 1956 and 1958 respectively resulted in the former's withdrawal from a number of mainly secondary routes serving the Channel islands, which were transferred to the latter.

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in 1961; its second repeat-order for Tridents launched the 3B series, a more powerful, aerodynamically enhanced, stretched version of the earlier Trident models already in service with/ordered by the airline. The 3B had an unusual (and noisy) feature, a small fourth engine (a

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In September 1957, with the political situation deteriorating in Cyprus, Cyprus Airways entered into a five-year agreement with BEA for the latter to operate services on its behalf. As a result, BEA took over the operation of all Cyprus Airways services from 26 January 1958.

2311:, principally all of the corporation's domestic and international services from and to Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool, Newcastle and the Isle of Man, as well as selected international regional services from Heathrow such as Bordeaux, Cork, Luxembourg and Rimini. 2902:

took over BEA's remaining routes to and from the Isle of Man as well as all of the corporation's services between Liverpool and Belfast. This route transfer also resulted in Cambrian's acquisition of six ex-BEA Viscount 701s, its first turboprop aircraft, to serve the Welsh

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also honoured Harvey and his crew with an award. An official inquiry confirmed that a bomb had been detonated in the Viking's lavatory, but there was no evidence of how it had been done. The investigation revealed no motive for the attack. Material relating to it in the

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On 31 October 1971, BEA operated its last scheduled service from Heathrow to Le Bourget, marking the end of 25 years' continuous operations by the airline at the historic Paris airport. This move was necessitated by the Anglo-French bilateral air treaty to make room for

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DC-3 conversion featuring British instrumentation and an increased seating capacity of 32. In addition to having 38 DC-3s converted to Pionair passenger carriers, BEA had a further 10 DC-3s modified as "Leopard" class freighters. The same year, BEA introduced its first

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in the area at the time. As a result of the collision, the Viking spiralled out of control and crashed 1.9 mi (3.1 km) from the airport on East German territory killing all 14 on board. The Soviet fighter pilot was also killed. The accident happened during a

7072: 6077: 3236:'s relaxation of border controls affecting all surface transport modes between West Berlin and West Germany across its territory from 1972 onwards resulted in a decline of scheduled internal German air traffic from/to West Berlin. This was further compounded by the 906:-owned Vickers Viscount 630 prototype G-AHRF. By that time, BEA's main operating base at Northolt was the busiest airport in the UK; however, the airline was losing money, which resulted in replacing former BOAC director, Gerard d'Erlanger, who was BEA's first 2730:

Following the transfer of BEA's London–Jersey route from Croydon to Northolt on 21 April 1947, DC-3s began replacing Rapides on most services. By 2 November 1947, all of the corporation's London–Guernsey flights had moved from Croydon to Northolt as well.

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in 1971. BEA's Channel Islands Airways division assumed financial and operational responsibility for all of its routes serving the Channel Islands except those serving the islands from Heathrow, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool and Newcastle.

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The Dragon Rapides BEA had inherited from Scottish Airways and other former independent airlines it had taken over in early-1947 initially operated the corporation's Scottish routes, including services to remote communities in the Highlands and Islands.

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ordered by BEA had a range of 1,150 mi (1,850 km) and were configured for 97 passengers in a single class while the Trident 3Bs entered service with the airline either in a 152-seat, single-class or a 130-seat, two-class configuration. BEA's

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1956 was also the year BEA began using Viscounts for nightfreight operations to increase cargo capacity as well as the aircraft's utilisation. While BEA continued taking delivery of Viscount 701s, it placed its first order for 12 larger 66- to 68-seat

1973:. It also offset (to some extent) the additional costs of customisation to attain commonality with the Trident 3B. Although unique in the context of the 500 series, the absence of forward airstairs was a characteristic BEA's 510EDs shared with BUA's 2688:

assumed responsibility for the Scottish Air Ambulance Service on 1 April 1973, the Skyliners had yet to enter service. This turn of events therefore marked the end of BEA's air ambulance services in Scotland after 25 years' continuous operation.

1187:. By that time, BEA had shifted its main operating base to Heathrow, which became the London terminal for all international flights. Although it continued to use Northolt as a London terminal for domestic flights serving Manchester, Edinburgh, 2142:

In its 1970–71 financial year, BEA carried 8.67 million passengers at an average load factor of just over 54%. During that period it employed just under 25,000 people, revenues totalled £133 million and the operating loss stood at £780,000.

623:. On each of these flights, half of the Dakota's 16 seats were reserved for UK government officials. Initially, crews continued to wear BOAC uniforms. Although some services still used Croydon for some time, the main operating base moved to 3405:

on their scheduled service from London to Rome and Athens. The continuing sector from Athens to Nicosia was operated by BEA under charter to Cyprus Airways. This route from London to Nicosia was the world's first regular turboprop service.

2261:. From 1 April 1973, it also began replacing Viscounts and Tridents plying the Aberdeen–Heathrow route on behalf of BEA's Scottish Airways division with One-Eleven 500s, as the latter were more efficient and had greater passenger appeal. 4338:

when Soviet military aircraft frequently "buzzed" Western commercial aircraft inside the Allied air corridors. A British inquiry determined that the Soviet pilot's action, which contravened all accepted rules of flying and the specific

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of freight each year. That year, it also opened a new cargo centre at Heathrow, which it jointly operated with BOAC. To cope with increasing amounts of air freight, it began replacing its nine Argosy freighters with the same number of

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titles, the latter debuted on BEA's Scottish internal services from Glasgow to Barra and Campbeltown. BEA's Skyliners were intended to replace the airline's Herons as air ambulances as well; however, when Glasgow-based independent

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The British Air Services division assumed responsibility for Cambrian Airways and Northeast Airlines, BEA's two majority-owned regional airline subsidiaries. This included all services operated by these airlines on behalf of their

5001:. Before World War II, this facility had been used by Imperial Airways. When wartime restrictions on civil aviation in the UK were lifted, BEA began sharing it with BOAC. Once passengers had checked-in, they boarded one of the 4657:

began action in 1969 against the manufacturer of the indicator. The manufacturer stated they would defend the action and show that the cause was the pilot suffering a heart attack and the crew being negligent with flightdeck

3131:-type first-class seats in a four-abreast layout instead of 66 five-abreast economy seats. In addition, BEA sought to differentiate itself from its main competitor by providing a superior in-flight catering standard. (BEA's 685:

The first flight operated by the newly constituted British European Airways Corporation departed Northolt for Marseille, Rome and Athens on the day of its formation at 8:40 am. This was followed by further route launches to

2745:

In 1951, BEA launched a Glasgow–Jersey summer service with DC-3s, the airline's first direct service between Scotland and the Channel Islands. During that year's second half, it also successfully trialled de Havilland's

3328:

with a fleet of seven second-hand ex-BEA de Havilland Comet series 4B aircraft seating 109 passengers in a single-class high-density configuration. On that day, BEA Airtours' first revenue flight departed Gatwick for

4804:

titles above the cabin windows on each side of the fuselage, the aircraft registration in bold, black capital letters on each side of the rear fuselage as well as on the underside of each wing, and a contemporary BEA

5355:

section 57 of the Civil Aviation Act 1971 was the legal basis for the dissolution of BEA and BOAC on 31 March 1974 while the Air Corporations (Dissolution) Order 1973 transferred BEA's and BOAC's property rights and

2444:

00:00 hrs the following day. However, even after the merger, a British Airways European Division, which incorporated the former BEA Mainline operation, the erstwhile Super One-Eleven and Cargo divisions, as well as

1464:

On 7 November 1959, BEA took delivery of its first Comet 4B (G-APMB), nearly two months ahead of the contracted delivery on 1 January 1960. This was followed by the official handover ceremony of the airline's first

3042:

restrictions on the carriage of local civilians on commercial airline services from/to West Berlin and Tempelhof's central location. This enabled the airline to expand its Berlin-based fleet to six Douglas DC-3s.

2845:

On 1 April 1966, BEA resumed Southampton–Jersey services following the replacement of Southampton's grass runways with a paved runway suitable for bigger, heavier aircraft types such as the Viscount and Vanguard.

11687: 2891:

In July 1954, BEA operated a proving flight from the mainland to the island using a Vickers Viscount turboprop. In summer 1955, BEA began supplementing DC-3s with Viscounts on its Manchester – Isle of Man route.

3088:

By 1964, BEA operated up to 20,000 flights each year from and to Berlin. These represented approximately half of the airline's total yearly flights to/from Germany and generated profits of £1 million per year.

2138:

In its 1969–70 financial year, BEA's revenue from ticket sales was £126 million resulting in a profit of £6.5 million, almost twice the previous year's and the biggest in the airline's history until that time.

2412:

In its 1973–74 financial year, BEA's last, the airline carried 8.74 million passengers and – excluding losses on its Scottish and Channel Islands operations – recorded its highest-ever profit of £6.7 million.

1589:), only the "Big Four" US airlines – American Airlines, United Airlines, Pan Am and TWA – carried more. By that time, BEA served most major European cities, with the network stretching as far east as Moscow, 2915:

Following the inauguration of scheduled services between Land's End in Cornwall and St Mary's in the Isles of Scilly in 1947, BEA continued serving this route with Dragon Rapides due to a lack of a suitable

2945:

From 1946 until 1974, BEA operated a comprehensive network of high-frequency, short-haul scheduled services between West Germany and West Berlin. This had come about as a result of an agreement between the

2535:

necessitated the acquisition of a third aircraft to provide adequate cover for the air ambulance service. This resulted in an order for a third Heron 1B, which was delivered on 13 April 1956. This aircraft

1799:

for these requirements, favouring the former two seating up to 166 and 111 passengers in single-class configuration respectively. In June 1966, BEA requested UK government permission to place an order with

1635:

On 1 April 1961, BEA moved some flights to Paris (Le Bourget) and other European destinations from Heathrow to Gatwick in accordance with the wishes of the British government to develop the latter airport.

2696:

turboprops for delivery to British Airways in 1975. These were intended to replace ageing Viscounts on the Scottish routes the new airline would inherit from BEA the following day, as well as for use on

11675: 2367:. The Chairman of BOAC, Miles Thomas, was in favour of the idea as a potential solution to a disagreement between the two airlines as to which should serve the increasingly important oil regions of the 1713:

on a commercial flight with fare-paying passengers. Another BEA Trident performed the world's first fully automatic landing in fog by a civil aircraft in zero visibility at Heathrow in November 1966.

3167:

seating configuration. On the other hand, BEA's reduced capacity in the domestic air travel market between West Berlin and West Germany enabled it to attain higher load factors than its competitors.

3443:

jet was introduced in September 1969. Cyprus also leased a BAC 1-11. The faster planes allowed more European trade centres (Frankfurt, Manchester, Brussels, and Paris) to be added to the timetable.

3370:

that included Rome, London (via Athens), Beirut, Athens, Cairo, Istanbul, and Haifa. During the next three years the airline purchased an additional three DC-3 aircraft and introduced services to

1771:. Compared with the Trident, these were more economical, in terms of range, revenue generation and seat-mile costs. Of particular concern to BEA in this context were Air France's plans to replace 1558:

that case, BUA's failure to obtain traffic rights was mainly the result of the French authorities' refusal to grant these without a corresponding reduction in BEA's share of London–Paris flights.

4852:

for the pilots and shield sensitive navigational equipment housed in the nose from radiation. There was a contemporary BEA logo on each side of the forward fuselage featuring a stylised wing and

4848:

titles in the middle. The bottom, burgundy part of this cheatline extended below the flightdeck windows to converge on the nose, with the space in-between painted black (matte finish) to reduce

2770:

aircraft for use on its Channel Island feeder routes. These differed from the pair of 1B series Herons used on the airline's Scottish feeder network and air ambulance services in terms of their

10827:, Vol. 45, No. 6, pp. 44/5 (1964 Heathrow image depicting assorted BEA aircraft: Viscount 802 in foreground with Trident 1C and Vanguard in background), Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 2024:

creation of a majority privately owned "Second Force" airline to counterbalance the near-monopoly of the corporations, which provided 90% of all UK scheduled air transport capacity at the time

654:) and transferred primary responsibility for scheduled air services from the UK to Europe (including the British Isles) to BEA. To fulfill its role as the new short- and medium-haul British 1533: 1491:

with an initial, five-strong Comet fleet. By June, this fleet grew to seven (out of an eventual 18) aircraft, enabling the launch of additional jet services to Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm,

987:

on Viking services. This entailed re-configuring a total of 49 aircraft in a 36-seat, single class layout. BEA referred to its re-configured, all-tourist class Vikings as "Admiral" class .

3201:

G-AVMX in the modified BEA-Air France livery featuring a neutral, dark-blue fin instead of the "Speedjack" tail motif. The aircraft is seen here at an unidentified airfield in August 1971.

2809:

On 1 August 1960, a new paved runway opened at Guernsey, which enabled the introduction of bigger, heavier aircraft types on BEA's (and other airlines') services to and from the island.

2763:

Following the departure of BEA's last flight from Northolt to Jersey in October 1954, the airline's London – Channel Islands flights served the British capital exclusively via Heathrow.

1553:(BUA), BEA's and BOAC's two biggest independent competitors during the 1960s, licences to operate rival international scheduled services on several trunk routes from London Heathrow and 971:, including off-peak fares on late-evening flights and high-frequency services on the London–Paris route. BEA's new commercially aggressive approach soon resulted in monthly earnings of 3979:

The early helicopters of all types were collectively known as the "King Arthur"-class. Dates are for service with BEA Helicopters, those still in service in 1974 subsequently passed to

3100:

demonstrator aircraft for evaluation by BEA. A week later, on 29 January, BEA began evaluating the BAC One-Eleven's suitability for its Berlin operations, with the start of a series of

682:

and British Channel Islands Airways on 1 August, these independents continued to ply their scheduled routes under contract to BEA until they were absorbed into the corporation in 1947.

4383:

killing all 14 passengers and crew on both aircraft. Neither aircraft had seen the other despite clear weather, and the accident was blamed on neither maintaining an adequate look out.

1969:

powering BEA's Trident 2Es and 3Bs. To compensate for the 510ED's lower rated engines, no forward integral airstairs were fitted. The resulting weight saving permitted an increase in

4534:. Both crew members survived. (There were no passengers on board the aircraft as this was an all-cargo flight.) The cause was a malfunction of the anti-icing system on the aircraft. 1834:

engines, for service entry in the early 1970s. The UK government's refusal to let BEA order American aircraft, as well as its subsequent decision to stop funding the development of

4941:) on each side. The arrow-shaped part of the Union flag symbolising an aircraft became known as the "Speedjack" motif. Tridents wearing this livery also displayed the type's name ( 4504:, Islay, in bad weather. The three occupants, two crew and one nurse (a volunteer from Glasgow's Southern General Hospital) were killed. One of the remaining two Herons was named 3287:

Dragon Rapides, BEA Helicopters took over the scheduled service between Land's End and the Isles of Scilly on 2 May 1964. On 1 September of that year, the service transferred from

2966:

from having its own airlines and restricted the provision of commercial air services to and from Berlin to air transport providers headquartered in these four countries. Rising

1816:

plus six options in January 1967, for delivery from autumn 1968, to meet BEA's requirement to replace Vanguards/Viscounts on its Heathrow–Manchester and internal German routes.

422:

During 1952, BEA carried its millionth passenger, and by the early 1960s it had become the Western world's fifth-biggest passenger-carrying airline and the biggest outside the

2864:

On 31 March 1969, BEA withdrew its Jersey–Guernsey inter-island service, which was taken over by Alderney-based independent air taxi, charter and regional scheduled operator

1144:

in bare metal finish livery incorporating a burgundy cheatline, a white roof and fin at Manchester in 1953. This aircraft crashed on approach to the airport on 14 March 1957.

12338: 3077:, which featured a more spacious, 66-seat single-class seating arrangement, soon replaced the older series 701 aircraft. The greater range and higher cruising speed of the 2406:

widebodies on BEA's behalf, with an option on six more for either BEA or BOAC. BEA was to take delivery of its first widebodied aircraft during the fourth quarter of 1974.

10996: 864:

were the first two airlines to be given associate status by BEA in May 1948. These arrangements enabled the latter to contract the operation of a new feeder route between

2827:

On 1 June 1964, Vanguards made their debut on BEA's Heathrow–Jersey route. BEA subsequently introduced the type on selected services from Heathrow as well as Manchester.

2363:

The first attempt at a merger of BEA and BOAC arose in 1953 out of inconclusive attempts between the two airlines to negotiate air rights through the British colony of

2177:

1971 was also the year BEA underwent a major reorganisation under its then chairman Henry Marking entailing the establishment of 10 divisions that were meant to act as

10132: 3163:

and increased promotion proved insufficient to counter the appeal of Pan Am's new jets, despite these being laid out in a comparatively tight, 34 in (86 cm)

1409:

of 1956. At that time BEA's chairman, Anthony Milward, had insisted that a launch order from BEA depended on scaling down the original design, in the belief that the

806:

On 1 February 1947, the process of merging the wholly private, independent airlines operating in the UK under the AAJC umbrella into BEA began. Railway Air Services,

4277: 12219: 12096: 2587:. However, BEA operated its Heralds, which wore the red, black and white livery, only for a few years because of high crew training, maintenance and spares costs. 5464:

from nine to seven BAC One-Eleven 500s (following on from an earlier reduction from 12 to nine in response to the termination of the BEA-Air France joint venture)

2154:'s Gatwick – Le Bourget service, which began the following day. This in turn resulted in all of BEA's Heathrow–Paris flights exclusively using Orly from then on. 419:

in April 1950; by late 1954, all Northolt operations had moved to Heathrow, which remained the airline's main operating base until the merger with BOAC in 1974.

4813:

in capital letters on each side of the nose. Additionally, Vikings featured a name given to individual aircraft in black capital letters each side of the nose.

4680:

G-APEE on a flight from Edinburgh crashed onto the runway during an approach in bad weather at London Heathrow Airport due to pilot error. All 36 on board died.

4343:

flying rules to which the Soviets were party, was the cause of the accident. The Soviets rejected these findings and blamed the British flightdeck crew instead.

3205:

Air France, West Berlin's third scheduled carrier, which had suffered a continuous traffic decline ever since the transfer of Berlin operations to more distant

2076:

On 15 February 1968, BEA took delivery of its first Trident 2E. This was followed by entry into service on the airline's routes from Heathrow to Milan, Madrid,

11359: 2820:

On 31 March 1962, BEA disposed of its minority holding in Jersey Airlines. The following month, Argosies replaced Leopards on BEA's London–Jersey freight run.

1619:

On 1 March 1961, BEA began commercial Vanguard services following a delay to the aircraft's entry into service, as a result of major defects discovered in its

10731: 12289: 11079: 5008:

On 31 May 1948, BEA moved its Central London check-in to Kensington Air Station, the first purpose-built facility for the exclusive use of BEA's passengers.

4751:. This was the worst accident in BEA's history as well as the worst involving a Trident, in terms of fatalities. It was also the worst on British soil until 4709:. The Ambassador's impact cut the stationary Trident in half and severed the tailfin of another Trident parked next to it. While this made G-ARPT a complete 3230:

By 1971, BEA carried 2 million passengers each year on its Berlin routes. 1971 was also the year the airline's last Berlin-based Viscount departed the city.

2636:

responsible for its entire network as well as the Scottish Air Ambulance Service, operational responsibility for the Aberdeen–Heathrow route passed to BEA's

6722: 6062:"Gone but not forgotten ... BEA: Inner-city terminals – Going by Commando and Routemaster", Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 48, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 5966:

BEAline to the Islands: The Story of Air Services to Offshore Communities of the British Isles by British European Airways, Its Predecessors and Successors

5005:

buses the airline provided to take them to Northolt. These 1½-deckers featured a raised seating area at the back, which increased the baggage space below.

1788: 11045: 2567:

turboprops. These had originally been ordered in 1959 through the Ministry of Supply, which leased them to the airline. BEA operated its first commercial

1779:

on most of its London–Paris flights. BEA also had a requirement for a jet to replace Vanguards on the Heathrow–Manchester route to regain traffic lost to

12259: 5795: 799:

operated by independent airline Railway Air Services on the fledgling corporation's behalf. The following month, BEA's Belfast operations transferred to

674:

as the sole short-haul scheduled British airline. Due to BEA's inability to take over the UK domestic flights of independent scheduled operators such as

10101: 1475:

On 1 April 1960, BEA began commercial jet operations with its new Comet 4Bs. On that day, the airline commenced jet operations from Heathrow to Athens,

3191:, operated its first scheduled service from Berlin on 1 September 1968. It began replacing the airline's Berlin-based Viscounts from 17 November 1968. 1627:

during testing in early 1960. Following their delayed entry into service, BEA's Vanguards began flying to international destinations such as Malta and

11692: 4844:

separated by two thin, white lines above the cabin windows on each side of the fuselage. This cheatline was in turn separated by upper case, burgundy

12363: 12189: 2046:(CAA) to combine the separate regulatory functions of the UK Air Registration Board (ARB), ATLB and BOT in a new statutory body with enhanced powers. 1383:

G-ARPC in BEA's red, black and white livery of the late-1950s to late-1960s. Built in 1962, the aircraft was destroyed in a fire at Heathrow in 1975.

10971: 10887: 10535: 9887: 9568: 8434: 8362: 8180: 8076: 7951: 7003: 6455: 6422: 6372: 6343: 6120:(Gone but not forgotten ... BEA and the Airspeed Ambassador – Elizabethan elegance), Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 50, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 5861: 1173: 856:

be approved by the Air Transport Advisory Council (ATAC), the contemporary UK government department in charge of air transport economic regulation.

11046:"OST-01-10451: British European and Delta Air Lines, Inc. (Joint Application for Exemption and Statement of Authorization U.S. – U.K. Codesharing)" 10942: 10506: 10009: 9655: 9626: 9597: 9539: 9510: 9463: 9442: 9410: 9383: 9339: 9304: 9283: 9256: 9220: 9033: 8971: 8880: 8818:

Berlin Airport Company – Airline Portrait – British Airways, February 1975 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports

8797: 8761: 8702: 8463: 8151: 8047: 7922: 7844: 7748: 7621: 7587: 7558: 7505: 7461: 7432: 7385: 7344: 7288: 7237: 7208: 7176: 7106: 6948: 6919: 6890: 6849: 6820: 6764: 6677: 6644: 6611: 6581: 6540: 6502: 6314: 6251: 6213: 5827: 5729: 4829:

in bare metal finish livery incorporating a burgundy cheatline separated by two thin, white lines above the cabin windows on static display at the

1878:

account as required. This arrangement furthermore permitted a subsequent transfer to BEA of an additional £12.5 million in case this was required.

1616:

all-cargo aircraft. These were the airline's first dedicated freighters; the first aircraft was delivered and entered service later the same year.

2146:

On 18 February 1971, BEA received its first Trident 3B. Commercial operations began on 1 March of that year on the airline's Heathrow–Orly route.

12333: 8488: 8002: 7976: 7802: 7773: 7698: 7660: 7642: 6476: 5244: 1199: 911: 265: 8915:– World Transport Affairs, "B.E.A. leases B.O.A.C. DC-7Cs for Berlin flights", Vol. 104, No. 2669, p. 11, Temple Press, London, 13 December 1962 12358: 12309: 5171: 9808: 4611:, when it departed the runway after landing following a loss of hydraulic pressure. Although the aircraft came to rest against the airport's 4463: 1442:. Shrinking the original design also reduced seating capacity from 111–130 to 79–90, in mixed- and single-class configuration respectively.) 11680: 1113:

Ambassadors. The Ambassador was BEA's last major piston-engined type. It referred to the aircraft as "Elizabethan" class to commemorate the

580: 12089: 3446:

British Airways finally divested itself of its former BEA stake in Cyprus Airways in 1981, selling its shares to the Government of Cyprus.

3143:

of the two main protagonists plying the internal German routes from Berlin – estimated to be worth £15–20 million in annual revenues – the

2812:

The withdrawal of Pionairs from BEA's Channel Islands services on 20 March 1961 resulted in the transfer of operations from Southampton to

10705: 10664: 10638: 10612: 10586: 10560: 10476: 10450: 10424: 10398: 10372: 10346: 10288: 10262: 10236: 10210: 10184: 10035: 9977: 9951: 8941: 8248: 7033: 1561:

In its 1960–61 financial year, BEA carried 3.99 million passengers at an average load factor of 65% and recorded a loss of £1.75 million.

1278:

of 69.4%. During that period, it recorded a profit of £603,614, mainly as a result of revenue growth accounted for by the Viscount fleet.

8845:

Berlin Airport Company – Airline Portrait – Pan Am, January 1975 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports

8562: 6166: 5980: 4415: 10158: 8621: 8405: 8301: 8220: 8121: 335:

from airports around the United Kingdom. The airline was also the largest UK domestic operator, serving major British cities, including

11352: 8992: 6011:"Gone but not forgotten ... Cargo carriers: unsung workhorses of BEA", Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 49, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 4953:

for Trident 3B) in white letters each side of the dark-blue centre engine while One-Eleven 500s wearing it displayed the type's name (

936:

in August 1950 for delivery from 1953. Also in 1950, BEA informed Vickers of its requirement for an aircraft with 10% lower costs per

11944: 5274:

whereby passengers take their seats in the aircraft after checking in instead of awaiting their departure inside the airport terminal

4452: 2043: 1076: 932:

Following the provisional introduction of the Viscount 630 prototype on the London–Paris and London–Edinburgh routes, BEA ordered 20

12348: 9783: 2790:

in its regional associate Jersey Airlines and a subsequent transfer of routes from the corporation to the independent in 1956, the

2291:

BEA's wholly owned charter subsidiary BEA Airtours assumed responsibility for all of its regular, non-IATA flying activities using

1981: 1890: 1640: 1550: 902:

BEA made aviation history in 1950 with the world's first turbine-powered commercial air service from London to Paris, using the UK

11273: 10912: 5046:. The Heathrow bus journey was now 20 minutes longer but an optional, more expensive, helicopter link was briefly operated from a 2055: 1670: 12082: 5081: 4622:

due to ATC error. A fire then developed and nearly burnt-out the fuselage. There were no casualties among the 59 people on board.

4519:

crashed after overshooting on approach to Belfast Nutts Corner Airport, killing all seven on board; the cause was not determined.

3115:(Pan Am), became the first airline to commence regular, year-round jet operations from Tempelhof with new 128-seat, single-class 2391:, BEA was able to continue to serve destinations ceded to BOAC, including Beirut and Cairo by using Cyprus Airways as its proxy. 2135:

converted the first two of these while BEA's inhouse engineering department converted the remainder using kits supplied by ATEL.

2036: 1080: 842: 10992: 4459:

after the aircraft struck the runway and went off the end of the runway and caught fire killing 28 out of 30 passengers and crew

4354:, Scotland. None of the 20 passengers and crew were killed in the accident but 13 were injured and the aircraft was written off. 3135:

service included complimentary hot meals on all flights whereas Pan Am only offered free on-board snacks. Sections of the local

2724:. It was also among the independents that were absorbed into BEA following their nationalisation which began earlier that year. 502:(BA) took effect. The name was revived by British Airways from 1991 to 2008 when it changed the name of an existing subsidiary, 12353: 12105: 4437: 11023: 4618:

On 7 January 1960, Vickers Viscount 802 G-AOHU was damaged beyond economic repair when the nose wheel collapsed on landing at

3471:

Dates below are for service with BEA and BEA Airtours, those still in service in 1974 subsequently passed to British Airways.

2598:

in the Outer Hebrides from 21 May, only two days after BEA's last-ever Pionair service from Islay via Campbeltown to Renfrew.

1581:

By the early 1960s, BEA carried just under four million passengers per year, more than any other airline in Europe (excluding

12343: 12063: 11345: 11134: 10124: 8615: 8399: 8214: 8115: 6160: 5974: 5455:

the temporary use of Comet 4Bs on BEA's Berlin routes enabled Viscount crews to undergo conversion training on the One-Eleven

4706: 4650: 4347: 2971: 2727:

BEA commenced its services in the Channel Islands in 1947, using Dragon Rapides inherited from its independent predecessors.

2230:, the Isle of Man, Berlin (including both non-stop and one-stop services) and certain regional European destinations such as 1422:

and slowdown in its growth rate. Meeting BEA's specifications for the Trident involved reducing the length of the aircraft's

963:

arrival as managing director (MD) in 1950 marked the beginning of BEA's commercialisation. This entailed introduction of new

61: 10803:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 47 (image depicting DC-3 and Elizabethan flying in formation), Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 4361:

G-AGIX flying from Edinburgh to London belly landed in a field near Sywell following engine problems. All on board survived.

1946:

was required to fly the former. Another notable difference between the 510ED and all other 500 series was that the former's

11660: 11557: 6973: 4590: 3108:

demonstrator. This included a number of takeoffs and landings at Tempelhof to test the aircraft's short-field performance.

2888:

in 1947. Operations in the island commenced the same year with Dragon Rapides inherited from its independent predecessors.

2219: 2063: 1513: 1274:

In its 1955–56 financial year, BEA carried more than two million passengers for the first time at an all-time high average

1150: 537: 386: 112: 4162: 2924:

took it over on 2 May 1964. On that day, BEA's remaining three Rapides were replaced with its helicopter subsidiary's new

2258: 880:(EAFS) was another early BEA associate. The association agreement between BEA and EAFS resulted in the latter operating a 11440: 11153: 7230:"..., British United use BAC One-Elevens exclusively on their Interjet domestic trunk services (image caption, top page)" 6712: 4740: 4721: 4490: 4335: 4254: 2716:

on 1 April 1947. Channel Islands Airways was the holding company and successor of pre-war independent scheduled airlines

2001:

appointed a committee of inquiry under the chairmanship of Professor Sir Ronald Edwards, at the time the chairman of the

1525:

Also in 1960, BEA took delivery of its final two Viscount 701s bringing its total fleet strength of this sub-type to 50.

1226: 666:

and the latter for all scheduled services within the British Isles. The Civil Aviation Act 1946 furthermore provided for

4705:

On 3 July 1968, Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C G-ARPT was destroyed on the ground at London Heathrow when BKS Air Transport

2510:

demonstrator G-ALZL on BEA's Channel Islands routes during the second half of 1951, the airline placed an order for two

2317:

Sovereign Group Hotels assumed responsibility for the management of all Sovereign hotels, BEA's associated hotel chain.

12167: 10728:"Report No: 4/1974. Viscount 802, G-AOHI. Report on the accident at Ben More, Perthshire, Scotland, on 19 January 1973" 4691:

and crashed into the sea with the loss of all 66 on board. The explosion was caused by a device under a passenger seat.

3059: 2982: 1125:

an associate to develop a network of routes within the Channel Islands and expand services between the islands and the

8456:"The first British Airways, Scottish Airways Division, Short Skyliner ... (image caption, bottom page), Air Transport" 5489:

titles instead of the BEA "Speedjack" for the duration of the BEA-Air France joint venture (spring 1969 – autumn 1972)

2861:

Following a successful proving flight on 18 July 1967, BEA introduced Vanguards on selected flights serving Guernsey.

2387:, and in return to leave all routes east and south of Cyprus to BOAC. Paradoxically, through its effective control of 12328: 12030: 11958: 11219: 11200: 11181: 11115: 11053: 8556: 8336: 8295: 5410: 5336: 4662: 3097: 2379:. However, opposition from the Treasury blocked the idea, and an agreement was reached instead to allow BEA to serve 2162: 2070: 2054:

as BEA's wholly owned charter subsidiary later the same year while subsequent adoption of its recommendations by the

1764: 1733: 1613: 1241:

On 31 March 1955, BEA completed its first profitable financial year, recording an operating profit of £552,314 and a

9734: 4634: 1248:

In July 1955, BEA became the launch customer for the Vanguard, Vickers' new high-capacity turboprop powered by four

11585: 10727: 7142: 6105:(Gone but not forgotten ... BEA means business), Vol. 45, No. 6, pp. 47/8, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 5357: 4556:

team, along with supporters and journalists. Twenty-three of the 43 passengers died. The accident is known as the "

1755:

In the mid-1960s, BEA's European rivals began placing orders for new "second-generation" jet aircraft, such as the

1569: 1529: 1198:

The Viscount's commercial success had made it the leading short-haul aircraft in Europe in the mid-1950s. This led

785: 11075: 4895: 4645:. The aircraft was destroyed in the crash killing 27 of 34 on board. The cause was attributed to a fault with the 3401:

that allowed nonstop routing avoiding a stopover in Athens. On 18 April 1953, BEA began using its newly delivered

3078: 3074: 3070: 3055: 2218:

BEA Mainline assumed responsibility for all of BEA's Heathrow operations other than those to and from Manchester,

1302: 1137: 941: 933: 12013: 12008: 11552: 4998: 4138: 3198: 3105: 2409:

On 1 September 1972, BEA became the British European Airways Division of the newly formed British Airways Group.

1939: 1912: 1907: 1882: 1862: 1839: 1820: 1813: 1812:(BOT) directed the airline to buy comparable British aircraft instead. This resulted in a BEA order for 18 firm 11655: 8695:"BEA Helicopters' Penzance-Scilly Isles service, operated with a Sikorsky S-6/N, ... (image caption, top page)" 4969:

pending repainting in the red, white and blue 1970s and early-80s Negus & Negus livery of British Airways.

4702:, as a result of loss of control. Although the aircraft caught fire on impact, all three crew members survived. 4340: 3355: 2975: 2482: 1804:

for 18 727-200s and 23 737-200s. Following the UK government's refusal to grant BEA permission to order an all-

1358: 1158: 937: 815: 11302: 10093: 9490:

Berlin Airport Company, November 1971 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports

9360:

Berlin Airport Company, November 1972 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports

5332: 4899: 2507: 1725: 1388: 1380: 469: 465: 11887: 11831: 11643: 5474: 4582:

On 16 May 1958, Douglas Dakota C.3 G-AGHP crashed at Chatenoy, France while flying in a storm as a result of

4387: 4365: 3244:. The resulting fare increases that were intended to recover higher operating costs caused by steeply rising 2249:

BEA Cargo assumed responsibility for all of BEA's freight activities, including all pure freighter aircraft.

1970: 659: 193: 5340: 4600:

and crashed at Anzio, Italy with the loss of all 31 on board; the F-86 pilot was able to eject and survived.

2659:

utility aircraft, to replace the ageing Herons. Following BEA's last scheduled Heron service from Barra via

2488:

In 1952, BEA began replacing Dragon Rapides with Pionairs across its Scottish network; however, the pre-war

1795:

on the internal German services. Therefore, in February 1966, BEA began evaluating the 727-200, 737-200 and

1717: 1646:

On 19 May 1962, Pionair G-ALTT operated the type's final service on BEA's Scottish internal network between

650:

and passed into law. This established BEA as a crown corporation in its own right (British European Airways

11368: 5232: 4201: 2563:

From 1962, BEA supplemented the Herons it used on its Scottish internal services with three new, 48-seater

1835: 1472:

In its 1959–60 financial year, BEA carried 3.29 million passengers and recorded a profit of £2.09 million.

488: 390: 243: 11244: 5422: 2403: 825:

1947 was also the year BEA operated its first scheduled all-cargo flight from Northolt to Brussels with a

11902: 11897: 11892: 11665: 11597: 11562: 11435: 4997:

air terminal at which check-in facilities for passengers and baggage were available was located close to

4937:

part of the Union flag in the shape of an arrow that symbolised an aircraft (composed of a fuselage with

4604: 4240: 4216: 4131: 4060: 3980: 3227:

motif. The Air France-BEA joint venture became operational in spring 1969 and terminated in autumn 1972.

3005:

BEA's first-ever internal German flight took to the air in September 1946 when one of its DC-3s departed

2372: 2200: 1919:

also featured common instrumentation to attain a high degree of commonality. This was achieved by having

1796: 1768: 1391:"second-generation" jets plus 12 options, making it the launch customer for the world's first commercial 1169: 11625: 10963: 10934: 10879: 10527: 10498: 9999: 9879: 9647: 9618: 9589: 9560: 9531: 9502: 9469: 9434: 9404: 9375: 9333: 9312: 9277: 9252: 9249: 9241: 9216: 9210: 9029: 8963: 8874: 8789: 8753: 8694: 8455: 8426: 8354: 8172: 8143: 8068: 8039: 7943: 7914: 7836: 7740: 7613: 7579: 7550: 7497: 7453: 7424: 7377: 7336: 7280: 7229: 7200: 7168: 7098: 6995: 6940: 6911: 6882: 6841: 6812: 6756: 6669: 6636: 6603: 6574: 6536: 6532: 6524: 6494: 6451: 6443: 6414: 6364: 6335: 6306: 6243: 6205: 5858: 5824: 5721: 4856:

in capital letters on each side of the nose. In addition to the aircraft registration, there was also a

3462:

in BEA "Speedjack" livery. Delivered new in 1971, it flew for BEA and British Airways, retiring in 1985.

2693: 1874:

a special account on which no interest was payable, including the option to transfer this amount to its

11987: 11882: 11877: 11867: 11602: 11281: 5344: 5016: 4977: 4687:

operated by BEA de Havilland Comet 4B G-ARCO on behalf of Cyprus Airways, exploded in mid-air over the

4273: 4177: 3650: 3112: 2590:

1962 was also the year BEA introduced Viscounts on its Scottish network. These took over the routes to

2428: 2158: 2006: 1916: 1866: 1854: 760: 702: 405: 11264: 8484: 7998: 7972: 7798: 7769: 7702: 7664: 7646: 6480: 4310:

On 5 April 1948, Vickers Viking 1B G-AIVP operating that day's scheduled flight from RAF Northolt via

3038:

BEA's move to Tempelhof resulted in a significant increase in passenger numbers due to the removal of

2605: 1691:

Tridents in a 79-seat, two-class configuration, comprising 15 first class and 64 tourist class seats.

1179:

Between February and April 1954, BEA's expanding Viscount fleet replaced Elizabethans between London,

438: 12074: 11872: 11765: 6525:"Britain's New Board – Plain Man's Guide to the Air Transport Licensing Board, World Airlines Survey" 4840:

By the early-1950s, the bare metal finish on most BEA aircraft had evolved to incorporate a burgundy

4684: 4572: 3343: 3127:

in a lower-density seating arrangement, as a result of which the refurbished cabins featured only 53

2779: 1958: 1699: 56: 51: 11982: 11704: 8938:"ASN Aircraft accident description Vickers Viscount 736 G-AODH – Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport (FRA)" 8590: 8427:"Two Short Skyliners, destined for British Airways, ... (image caption, bottom page), Air Transport" 2120: 2099: 1114: 157: 9800: 9305:"BEA's One-Eleven 500s ... have a modified livery ... (image caption, top page), Air Transport ..." 5073: 5061: 4933: 4568: 4428: 4266: 4194: 3740: 3175: 3082: 3032: 2995: 2885: 2760:

In Summer 1953, BEA introduced "Elizabethan" class Ambassador aircraft on its London–Jersey route.

2568: 2564: 2500: 2356: 819: 807: 165: 10854:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 51 (image depicting One-Eleven 500), Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 10609:"ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland DH-106 Comet 4B G-ARCO 21.9 mi (35 km) south of Demre, Turkey" 10073: 5195: 2871:

To improve the financial prospects of its loss-making Channel Islands operations, BEA established

2849: 1546: 1267:. This resulted in the latter launching new services from Liverpool and Manchester to Jersey (via 548:

restrictions on civil flying in the United Kingdom. Within Europe, this resulted in BOAC resuming

11939: 10842:, Vol. 45, No. 6, pp. 48/9 (image depicting Trident 2E), Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 10329: 10313: 10060: 9854: 8903:

Letters, "B.E.A.'s Berlin services", Vol. 104, No. 2649, p. 7, Temple Press, London, 26 July 1962

5899:"Gone but not forgotten ... BEA", Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 47, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 5027: 4319: 4184: 4167: 3824: 3793: 3780: 3758: 3440: 3312: 3210:

Air France decided to withdraw from the internal German market entirely and instead enter into a

2701: 2640:

on 1 April 1973 when the latter's One-Eleven 500s began replacing Scottish Airways Viscounts and

2436: 2338: 2166: 2132: 1974: 1886: 1406: 1402: 919: 630: 120: 10325: 10309: 10056: 9850: 5485:

except BAC One-Eleven 500s which wore a modified livery featuring a neutral, dark-blue fin with

5387:

Belfast – Isle of Man, Heathrow – Isle of Man, Liverpool – Isle of Man, Manchester – Isle of Man

4800:

in the late-1940s to early-1950s mainly consisted of a bare metal finish with upper case, black

4583: 4500:

G-AOFY, while operating a flight for the Scottish Air Ambulance Service, crashed on approach to

3020:, BEA co-ordinated the operations of the 25 British airlines that participated in the Airlift's 2791: 2783: 2775: 2767: 2747: 2664: 2648: 2511: 2466: 2087:

departed Heathrow; this resulted in splitting its Paris operations between Orly and Le Bourget.

1843: 1669:

became the first independent airline to compete with it on a main UK domestic trunk route, when

441: 379:

as part of the Cold War agreements regulating air travel within Germany. The company slogan was

12239: 12234: 11948: 11821: 11742: 11519: 10701: 10660: 10634: 10608: 10582: 10556: 10472: 10446: 10420: 10394: 10368: 10342: 10284: 10258: 10232: 10206: 10180: 10031: 9973: 9947: 8937: 8244: 7029: 5292: 5084:. This was a new, £5 million facility that was officially inaugurated upon completion in 1963. 4894:

Three BEA aircraft in the red, black and white livery at Heathrow in 1964. In the foreground a

4759: 4699: 4649:

giving the pilot a false indication and therefore leading him to put the aircraft in the wrong

4550: 3668: 3366:

aircraft. The aeroplanes, which carried 21 passengers each, flew on a route network centred on

3274:

The airline carried out trials with its Helicopter Experiment Unit, operating mail services in

3039: 2978: 1994:

for BKS Air Transport and Cambrian Airways, its two loss-making regional airline subsidiaries.

1772: 1716:

On 26 August 1965, BEA signed the contract for a follow-on Trident order. This covered 15 firm

1624: 1597:

as well as North Africa to the south, and it was furthermore a founder/minority shareholder of

1449: 1431: 1327: 1110: 877: 8546: 7716:

Aviation News incorporating Classic Aircraft (Versatile Vanguard: BEA Merchantman conversions)

6150: 5964: 4932:

extending in a straight line from the flightdeck windows to the tail cone/tail engine exhaust/

3342:

ensure its regional partners' survival. While this arrangement transferred overall control of

2284:

fleet and all of the airline's rotorcraft operations, including the scheduled service between

1662:

with overseas rivals whose choice of aircraft was not influenced by political considerations.

541: 11952: 11923: 11918: 11783: 11471: 11295: 10154: 8605: 8387: 8324: 8283: 8202: 8103: 5105: 5039: 5023: 4733: 4523: 4358: 4258: 3722: 3288: 3237: 3184: 3073:

turboprop aircraft in a high-density, 63-seat single class seating arrangement. Up to 10 new

2094: 2021:

creation of a British Airways Board to bring both BEA and BOAC under joint management control

1998: 1737: 1275: 968: 830: 569: 561: 360: 20: 10869:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 46 (image depicting Heron 1B), Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 10779:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 48 (Viscount prototype image), Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 8999: 7865:

Classic Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... BEA: Highlands and Islands – Never on a Sunday)

5555:

Classic Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... BEA: Highlands and Islands – Never on a Sunday)

4924: 3434:

routes. With the introduction of the Comets, Cyprus Airways became the first airline in the

1881:

BEA's first order for the BAC One-Eleven enabled BAC to proceed with the development of the

1257: 1253: 1222: 1202:

to believe that turboprops would continue to be the mainstay of BEA's fleet into the 1960s.

891:

1948 was also the year BEA's reservations department moved to new premises at Dorland Hall,

415:

Having established its main operating base at Northolt, BEA operated its first service from

12045: 10004: 5219: 4553: 4433: 3686: 3631: 3398: 3359: 3206: 3194: 3140: 2865: 2334: 1831: 1320: 675: 461: 260: 10635:"ASN Aircraft accident Armstrong Whitworth AW-650 Argosy 222 G-ASXP London Stansted (STN)" 5578:

Classic Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... BEA: Internal German Services – Berlin-bound)

4694:

On 4 December 1967, Armstrong Whitworth Argosy 222 G-ASXP crashed on a training flight at

3170: 3093: 2330: 1092:. These cost £3 million and featured a 49-seat mixed-class layout. BEA's first commercial 8: 12214: 12040: 12035: 12003: 11630: 11402: 10557:"ASN Aircraft accident Armstrong Whitworth AW-650 Argosy 222 G-ASXL near Piacenza, Italy" 7130:

Classic Airliner (The BAC One-Eleven – Britain's bus-stop jet: Stretching the one-eleven)

5143:

On a wreath of the colours in front of a sun in splendour rising Or a swift volant Sable.

4830: 4744: 4612: 4557: 4542: 4538: 4509: 4222: 3613: 3497: 3394: 2917: 2813: 2421: 2292: 2246:, as well as its Birmingham operations other than those to and from the Channel Islands. 2223: 2002: 1920: 1741: 1574: 1286: 1093: 1089: 1003: 995: 738: 716: 540:(BOAC) to a number of destinations, both European, and worldwide. On 1 January 1946, the 9780: 6078:"Commercial Aircraft Directory – Aircraft Specification: Vickers – Vanguard V.950-V.953" 5512:, Vol. 45, No. 6, pp. 44/5, 49 (Jet equipment), Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 3303: 3062:, which was damaged beyond repair on 30 October 1961 in a non-fatal landing accident at 2612:

in the "Speedjack" livery of BEA Scottish Airways (background). The aircraft is seen at

1639:

In 1962, BEA sold its 25% minority holding in Jersey Airlines. This was followed by the

12199: 11851: 10908: 10078: 8681:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 46 (Dragon Rapide image), Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 8578: 7867:, Vol. 45, No. 6, pp. 46, 52 (Hols and Helos), Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 4903: 4879: 4821: 4646: 4626: 4531: 4497: 4482: 4419: 4391: 4289: 4205: 3704: 3459: 3415: 3128: 2854: 2617: 2576: 2503:. The Scottish Air Ambulance Service continued to contract BEA Dragon Rapides as well. 2254: 2151: 2059: 1850: 1695: 1435: 1395: 1184: 990: 903: 896: 772: 726: 663: 557: 434: 204: 10661:"ASN Aircraft accident Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident 1C G-ARPT London Heathrow (LHR)" 5792: 5651:, Vol. 45, No. 6, pp. 45, 49 (Jet equipment), Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 5015:

1½-decker buses to carry its passengers from Central London to Northolt and Heathrow.

4116: 3454: 3111:

On 18 March 1966, BEA's main competitor on the internal German services (IGS) routes,

3035:, thereby concentrating all West Berlin air services at Berlin's city centre airport. 2925: 2835: 2734:

In 1949, BEA expanded its fledgling Channel Islands operations by inaugurating London–

2557: 796: 764: 12249: 11846: 11841: 11836: 11826: 11816: 11755: 11234: 11215: 11196: 11177: 11149: 11130: 11111: 8611: 8552: 8395: 8332: 8291: 8210: 8111: 6156: 5970: 5215: 5207: 4834: 4752: 4688: 4673:

due to a navigation error. Although the aircraft was destroyed, both pilots survived.

4603:

On 5 January 1960, Vickers Viscount 701 G-AMNY was damaged beyond economic repair at

4594: 4576: 4229: 3843: 3591: 3573: 3283: 3187:

to regain ground lost to Pan Am's 727s. The new One-Eleven 500, which BEA called the

3063: 2787: 2656: 2470: 2398:

One of the newly formed British Airways Board's first major decisions was to place a

2342: 2266: 1895: 1828: 1678: 1674: 1415: 1305:. These were delivered from February 1957. By 1958, BEA had 77 Viscounts in service. 1282: 979: 869: 737:

Between August and October 1946, BEA took delivery of the first 11 of an eventual 83

11576: 7055:

Classic Airliner (The BAC One-Eleven – Britain's bus-stop jet: What might have been)

5421:

an improved version of the original Trident 1C BEA already operated, which lacked a

5378:

using Heathrow and Gatwick as BEA's and Jersey Airlines' respective London terminals

4394:

due to a navigation error and pilot error, killing 24 out of 32 passengers and crew.

2067: 12294: 11709: 11458: 11319: 11019: 8245:"ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland DH-114 Heron 1B G-AOFY Islay-Glenegedale (ILY)" 4695: 4677: 4619: 4579:

by a margin of 10,000 ft (3,000 m). All five occupants on board survived.

4516: 4478: 4467: 4456: 4411: 4323: 4173:

The following aircraft are on public display in British European Airways markings:

4080: 3955: 3937: 3919: 3901: 3861: 3533: 3402: 3308: 2904: 2899: 2609: 2445: 2128: 2124: 2107: 2051: 1966: 1951: 1947: 1932: 1745: 1710: 1620: 1537: 1518: 1439: 1410: 1335: 1326:

for delivery from 1960. This was BEA's answer to the impending introduction of the

1313: 1294: 1290: 1264: 1249: 1218: 1210: 1192: 1126: 945: 926: 857: 811: 800: 781: 549: 416: 298: 183: 141: 116: 10032:"ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-47A-5-DK G-AHCY Manchester Ringway Airport (MAN)" 7030:"Orders of the Day – Air Corporations Bill: 24 Apr 1969: House of Commons debates" 6562:

Classic Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... CHANNEL AIRWAYS: Well-placed worries)

5072:

On 6 October 1957, BEA relocated its Central London air terminal once more to the

5022:

In late 1953, BEA's Central London air terminal was moved again to a new site the

4890: 4307:

after flying into trees in low visibility killing the pilot and injuring 8 others.

3092:

22 January 1966 marked the first appearance of a British trijet at Tempelhof when

2838:

on behalf of its parent company on the Jersey–Guernsey inter-island service while

1205: 12229: 12163: 12126: 11417: 11331: 11274:

Air corridor travelers to Berlin became pawns in 1970–71 Four-Power negotiations.

11268: 10791:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 47 (Pionair image), Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 9787: 8144:"Operation of Herons by B.E.A., ... (image caption, top page), Civil Aviation .." 5865: 5831: 5799: 5211: 5088: 5056: 4797: 4789: 4541:

crashed in a blizzard on its third attempt to take off from an icy runway at the

4402: 4369: 4351: 4311: 4027: 3876: 3773: 3566: 3367: 3358:

was established on 24 September 1947 as a joint venture between BEA, the British

3325: 3241: 3216: 3017: 3006: 2929: 2681: 2628: 2613: 2432: 2425: 2345: 2103: 1991: 1875: 1655: 1554: 1369: 1188: 1154: 1132: 1122: 1109:

service pioneered by Imperial Airways on the London–Paris route with 40-seat all-

964: 960: 915: 885: 881: 861: 846: 722: 667: 584: 576: 573: 565: 499: 397: 364: 198: 177: 171: 124: 24: 10767:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 46 (Viking image), Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 8272:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 46 (Herald image), Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 6969: 2519:

while G-ANXB, the first aircraft to be delivered on 12 February 1955, was named

1088:

In 1952, BEA carried its one-millionth passenger and introduced the first of 20

706: 285: 11760: 11466: 11337: 10343:"ASN Aircraft accident Airspeed AS.57 Ambassador 2 G-ALZU Munich Riem, Germany" 9676:

Classic Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... Cambrian Airways: Exit the dragon)

8667:

Airliner World (Cambrian Airways – The Welsh Dragon: New routes and turboprops)

7902:

Airliner World (Cambrian Airways – The Welsh Dragon: New routes and turboprops)

7073:"Commercial Aircraft Directory – Aircraft Specification: BAE Systems – Trident" 6275:

Classic Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... Cambrian Airways: A Welsh pioneer)

5132: 5043: 4994: 4986: 4849: 4780: 4350:, a Vickers Viking 1B (G-AIVE), crashed into Irish Law Mountain on approach to 4326: 4045: 3883: 3551: 3330: 3147:("Dinner or Jet?") battle.) Henceforth, the airline marketed these services as 3124: 3116: 2895:

On 31 October 1960, BEA operated its last Pionair services to the Isle of Man.

2839: 2721: 2717: 2713: 2620: 2580: 2572: 2553: 2524: 2399: 2388: 2314:

Travel Sales assumed responsibility for all of BEA's sales-related activities.

2308: 2296: 2032: 2028: 2013:'s air transport industry. The Edwards Committee published its report entitled 2010: 1955: 1928: 1824: 1809: 1756: 1541: 1453: 1263:

In mid-1955, BEA entered into a 10-year operating agreement with its associate

972: 745: 679: 671: 188: 10755:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 45 (DC-3 image), Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 10395:"ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-47A-25-DL Dakota C.3 G-AGHP Chatenoy, France" 6033:

Classic Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... Channel Airways: Going scheduled)

5265:

Heathrow–Glasgow, Heathrow–Edinburgh, Heathrow–Belfast and Heathrow–Manchester

2798:

Heathrow–Jersey route as well as a new summer service from Belfast to Jersey.

2712:

BEA acquired a presence in the Channel Islands as a result of the takeover of

2469:

G-ANXB in the "Speedjack" livery of BEA Scottish Airways on static display at

2269:. These served remote communities in Scotland's Highlands and Islands region. 1987:

In November 1966, BEA increased its shareholding in BKS Air Transport to 50%.

1962: 712: 12322: 12264: 12194: 11793: 11407: 11307: 11238: 10909:"Image of an AEC Regal IV 1½-decker bus operated by London Transport for BEA" 10702:"ASN Aircraft accident Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident 1C G-ARPI near Staines" 5092:

Terminal to Heathrow and towed their baggage in large, two-wheeled trailers.

5077: 4615:, there were no fatalities among the 51 occupants (five crew, 46 passengers). 4501: 4281: 3806: 3211: 3123:

winter 1966/7 to offer higher frequencies. This also entailed re-configuring

3052: 3028: 2947: 2545: 2499:

as no other contemporary type in BEA's fleet could take off from and land on

2300: 2178: 1899: 1805: 1683: 1666: 1586: 1419: 984: 955: 944:. This provided the impetus for Vickers to begin developing the four-engined 892: 741: 579:

flown by crews in RAF uniforms, and UK domestic air services operated by the

423: 356: 10259:"ASN Aircraft accident Vickers Viscount 701 G-AMOM Blackbushe Airport (BBS)" 3262: 1492: 852:

off the southwest coast of Cornwall, using "Islander" class Dragon Rapides.

662:

respectively, with the former responsible for all scheduled services to the

12254: 12224: 12209: 12136: 12131: 11714: 11430: 11425: 5191: 5035: 5012: 4982: 4857: 4785: 4714: 4654: 4423: 4398: 4397:

On 13 April 1950, Vickers Viking 1B G-AIVL "Vigilant" was on a flight from

4304: 4098: 3363: 3267: 3233: 3159: 2991: 2986: 2970:

tensions between the Soviet Union and the three Western powers resulted in

2959: 2955: 2771: 2738:

and inter-island scheduled services linking Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney.

2489: 2171: 2084: 1780: 1729: 1721: 1466: 1350: 1338: 1323: 1214: 998:("Elizabethan" class) in bare metal finish livery incorporating a burgundy 826: 655: 647: 635: 624: 553: 545: 532: 495: 457: 409: 401: 376: 328: 221: 146: 9105:, Vol. 116, No. 2972, pp. 4, 5, 6, 8, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968 6477:"History & heritage – Explore our past: 1960–1969 (27 September 1960)" 4364:

On 19 February 1949, Douglas C-47A G-AHCW flying from Northolt to Renfrew

2884:

BEA acquired a presence in the Isle of Man as a result of the takeover of

12173: 12158: 11514: 10583:"ASN Aircraft accident Vickers 951 Vanguard G-APEE London Heathrow (LHR)" 10473:"ASN Aircraft accident Vickers Viscount 802 G-AOHU London Heathrow (LHR)" 10207:"ASN Aircraft accident Vickers 610 Viking 1B G-AHPN London Airport (LAP)" 9726: 7999:"History & heritage – Explore our past: 1970–1979 (1 September 1972)" 7699:"History & heritage – Explore our past: 1960–1969 (17 November 1968)" 5019:

operated these on BEA's behalf, in white/grey (later white/blue) livery.

4293: 3435: 3275: 3101: 2368: 2235: 1943: 1847: 1651: 1354: 849: 372: 368: 332: 225: 133: 7799:"History & heritage – Explore our past: 1970–1979 (31 October 1971)" 7259:

Classic Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... Cambrian Airways: Into BAS)

7146: 3362:

and private interests. Operations commenced on 18 April 1948 with three

2652: 2273:

Trident 1E, as well as a mix of Scottish and Channel Islands Viscounts.

978:

In early 1951, BEA introduced its first "Pionair" class Douglas DC-3, a

12284: 12153: 12143: 11737: 11535: 11394: 10993:"History & heritage – Explore our past: 1950–1959 (6 October 1957)" 9948:"ASN Aircraft accident Vickers 610 Viking 1B G-AIVE Irish Law Mountain" 5065: 5047: 5031: 4938: 4861: 4763: 4597: 4372: 4330: 4285: 4262: 4188: 3515: 3371: 3164: 3136: 3047:

Berlin fleet with additional aircraft leased from other airlines on an

2376: 2281: 2277: 2239: 1792: 1606: 1602: 1331: 1252:

engines. The airline's launch order was for 20 aircraft, including six

1242: 873: 608: 340: 39: 12104: 10233:"ASN Aircraft accident Vickers 610 Viking 1B Paris-Le Bourget Airport" 10181:"ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-47A-1-DK Dakota C.3 G-AGIW Mill Hill" 9376:"British Airways Super One-Eleven Division – Internal German Services" 9115:

Aeroplane (Supplement: BEA's 20th anniversary) – BEA: German internals

8485:"History & heritage – Explore our past: 1970–1979 (31 March 1974)" 7498:"Airline Profile: Number Forty-Two in the Series – British Caledonian" 5425:

that would have made it suitable for the airline's Tempelhof operation

1853:, also resulted in another Trident order from the airline for 26 firm 1819:

In February 1967, BEA sought UK government approval to order up to 40

1740:, increased fuel capacity by providing an additional fuel tank in the 701:

Initially, BEA supplemented its ex-RAF Transport Command Dakotas with

12024: 11750: 11494: 11486: 11448: 10447:"ASN Aircraft accident Vickers Viscount 701 G-AMNY Malta Luqa, Malta" 7973:"History & heritage – Explore our past: 1970–1979 (October 1974)" 7944:"TriStars for British Airways; bigger RB.211 approved, Air Transport" 7770:"History & heritage – Explore our past: 1970–1979 (1 March 1971)" 7661:"History & heritage – Explore our past: 1960–1969 (1 April 1968)" 5406: 5002: 4919: 4841: 4748: 4710: 4444: 4315: 3010: 2698: 2595: 2591: 2227: 1783:

as a result of the electrification of the London–Manchester line and

1682:

BEA. While BEA served these routes with 132-seat Vanguards in an all-

1628: 1504: 1376: 999: 949: 829:

freighter. The same year, it inaugurated a scheduled service between

822:) were among the first independents merged into the new corporation. 793: 789: 750: 687: 616: 600: 596: 430: 348: 7685:, Vol. 45, No. 6, pp. 51/2, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 7643:"History & heritage – Explore our past: 1960–1969 (1 June 1968)" 6287:

Airliner World (Cambrian Airways – The Welsh Dragon: Change of name)

6188:

Airliner World (Cambrian Airways – The Welsh Dragon: Change of name)

5711:, Vol. 45, No. 6, pp. 50/1, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 5607:

Classic Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... BEA: Post-war pioneers)

4560:". The charter flight was operated by Airspeed Ambassador 2 G-ALZU, 4486:

four engine, causing a loss of power in both engines three and four.

3393:

In 1952, BEA took over the Cyprus Airways service to London with an

3066:

at the end of a passenger flight that had originated at Tempelhof.)

2692:

On 31 March 1974, the British Airways Board placed an order for two

2544:) crashed on 28 September 1957 while on an air ambulance service to 1720:

plus 10 options for delivery from spring 1968. The 2E series was an

1500: 12244: 12148: 12018: 11788: 11719: 11670: 10691:, Denham, T., Patrick Stevens Ltd, Sparkford nr Yeovil, 1996, p. 85 9197:, Vol. 116, No. 2972, pp. 5–6, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968 9069:, Vol. 108, No. 2773, p. 11, Temple Press, London, 10 December 1964 9057:, Vol. 111, No. 2834, p. 15, Temple Press, London, 10 February 1966 8925:

Airliner World (BUA – British United Airways – A Step back in Time)

8657:, Vol. 101, No. 2610, p. 539, Temple Press, London, 26 October 1961 4809:

on each side of the forward fuselage featuring a stylised wing and

4666: 4630: 4406: 4380: 4067: 3383: 3292: 3245: 2999: 2967: 2735: 2685: 2677: 2584: 2532: 2285: 2231: 1924: 1706: 1705:

On 10 June 1965, BEA Trident 1C G-ARPR performed the world's first

1598: 1582: 1476: 1445: 1427: 1423: 1373:

more important; this further hastened their demise in BEA service.

1230: 907: 834: 691: 473: 9153:, Vol. 112, No. 2878, p. 4, Temple Press, London, 15 December 1966 9141:, Vol. 111, No. 2842, pp. 16/7, Temple Press, London, 7 April 1966 8832:, Vol 42, No 1, p. 33, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2009 8728:, Vol 42, No 1, p. 34, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2009 5304:

Caledonian//BUA became British Caledonian (BCal) in September 1971

3174:

A BEA Comet 4B in the red, black and white livery seen landing at

2667:, which wore a modified BEA "Speedjack" livery incorporating dual 1364:

The arrival at Heathrow on 30 July 1958 of a BEA Elizabethan from

1013:

Revenue Passenger-Kilometers, scheduled flights only, in millions

872:

to both of the former, which respectively used Dragon Rapides and

670:

of private, independent British scheduled airlines and gave BEA a

293: 12204: 11648: 11476: 9678:, Vol. 45, No. 7, p. 70, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, July 2012 9532:"BAH is moving ... to Aberdeen, Rotary Briefs, Business Aviation" 9091:

Aeroplane – Commercial continued, Pan Am 727s take over in Berlin

8024:

Airliner Classics (BOAC throughout the 1950s and 1960s – The End)

7879:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 52, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 7877:

Classic Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... BEA: Hols and Helos)

7730:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 52, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 7261:, Vol. 45, No. 7, p. 69, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, July 2012 6717: 6404:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 51, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 6277:, Vol. 45, No. 7, p. 68, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, July 2012 5782:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 52, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 5699:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 48, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 5684:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 48, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 5636:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 47, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 5609:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 45, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 5580:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 51, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 5557:, Vol. 45, No. 6, p. 46, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, June 2012 5104:

Between June 2000 and July 2002, independent UK regional airline

5050: 4729: 4725: 4629:

4B (G-ARJM) operating on behalf of Cyprus Airways from London to

4546: 4527: 4515:

On 23 October 1957, Vickers Viscount 802 G-AOJA on a flight from

4329:

fighter which had been flying dangerously close while performing

4300: 4009: 3419: 3379: 3279: 2963: 2492: 2035:

market alongside the independents by establishing dedicated, non-

1870: 1776: 1760: 1736:

that resulted in a greater seating capacity, as well as a higher

1457: 1365: 1308:

On 7 February 1958, BEA acquired a 33⅓% minority shareholding in

1268: 1234: 865: 838: 730: 642:, between formation in 1946 and disposal of the last in May 1963. 484: 453: 352: 344: 317: 247: 239: 11193:

Air Ambulance, Six Decades of the Scottish Air Ambulance Service

10421:"ASN Aircraft accident Vickers Viscount 701 G-ANHC Anzio, Italy" 9468:, Flight International, 15 July 1971, p. 80, archived from 9170:, Vol. 116, No. 2972, p. 5, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968 9129:, Vol. 116, No. 2972, p. 4, Temple Press, London, 2 October 1968 9081:, Vol. 109, No. 2788, p. 14, Temple Press, London, 25 March 1965 9079:

Aeroplane – Order Book continued, Pan Am 727s to serve Tempelhof

7728: