BRITISH SOUTH AMERICAN AIRWAYS, LTD./BRITISH SOUTH AMERICAN AIRWAYS CORPORATION: United Kingdom (1944-1949). Capitalized at ?10,000 and with J. W. Booth as chairman, British Latin American Air Lines, Ltd. is formed at London in January 1944. The new carrier is a cooperative venture between the shipping concerns Blue Star Line, Ltd., Booth Steamship Company, Ltd., Lamport and Holt Line, Ltd., Royal Mail Lines, and Pacific Steam Navigation Company. In October, the name of the enterprise is changed to British South American Airways, Ltd. During the summer of 1945, D. C. T. Bennett is appointed managing director and a small fleet of Avro 691 Lancastrians is assembled following V-J Day.
Piloted by Managing Director Bennett, the Avro 691 Lancastrian 1 Starlight departs London on January 1, 1946 on the first of six proving flights to Buenos Aires via Lisbon, Bathurst, Natal, and Montevideo. Bennett’s departure is the first aircraft movement from what will be London’s new civil airfield, Heathrow Airport. During the same day, which is the first for postwar U. K. civil operations, the unfinished airport is turned over by the Air Ministry to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Regularly scheduled London-Buenos Aires service—the first by a British airline to South America—is inaugurated on March 15. The Lancastrian Star Glow on April 5 cuts the scheduled flight time from 77 to 56 hours and on June 27, the Buenos Aires route is extended to Santiago.
On August 1, under the Civil Aviation Act, the company becomes a wholly owned state corporation, similar to BOAC, at which time its fleet consists of 2 Lancastrians and 4 Avro 685 York Is. On September 2, every-two-weeks London-Caracas via Azores, Bermuda, Jamaica, Lancastrian flights are begun by the Star Glow.
An Avro 691 Lancastrian 1 with five crew and six passengers fails its takeoff from Bathurst, Gambia, on August 30; although the aircraft must be written off, there are no fatalities.
On September 7, the Avro York Star Leader with 4 crew and 24 passengers and scheduled to fly from London and Lisbon to South America, crashes on takeoff from Bathurst, Gambia (24 dead); Dakar replaces Bathurst as a stop on the Buenos Aires run as of September 23. On October 12, London-Rio de Janeiro Avro York service is begun via Lisbon, Dakar, and Natal.
On January 18, 1947, the Caracas route is extended to Lima/ and Santiago. On March 31, it is announced that, in the period since start-up, the company has earned a surplus of ?20,507. The Avro York Star Speed with six crew and nine passengers crashes in fog at Dakar on April 13 (six dead).
Employing Lancaster bombers, the carrier starts a series of in-flight refueling tests over its South American routes, beginning on May 28. On June 5, weekly London-Azores, Bermuda, Nassau, and Jamaica flights commence. Multistop London to Lima flights begin on July 7.
On August 2, the Avro 691 Lancastrian 3 Star Dust crashes on Bermuda in bad weather (11 dead). Six days later, Sao Paulo replaces Rio de Janeiro as a stop on the Santiago frequency. After having held for a weather improvement over Bermuda on September 5, the Lancastrian Star Trail with 5 crew and 15 passengers and nearly out of fuel, hits an aerial mast at the 300-ft. level and crash-lands; amazingly, no significant injuries are reported.
The first Avro 688 Tudor 4, Star Lion, is delivered on September 29 and is flown by Managing Director Bennett on a South American proving flight the next day.
On October 1, the remaining shares of British West Indian Airways, Ltd. (1) —47% was taken in August—are purchased and the new subsidiary is renamed British International Airlines, Ltd. The Caribbean route is pushed to Havana on October 31 as the Star Lion begins commercial service. An Avro 691 Lancastrian 3 with three crew is involved in a landing accident at Heathrow Airport on October 23; although the aircraft must be written off, there are no fatalities.
Required to shut down an engine, the Lancastrian Star Light with 4 crew and 12 passengers makes an emergency crash landing at Bermuda, its point of origin, after dark on November 13; although the aircraft must be written off, there are no fatalities.
Two additional Tudor 4s, Star Aerial and Star Tiger, are delivered late in the year as orders are placed for 6 de Havilland DH 106 Comet I jetliners.
On January 29-30, 1948, the Tudor 4 Star Tiger disappears somewhere between the Azores and Bermuda (31 dead). On February 1, second-class mail is initially transported on the South American route, making the carrier the first U. K. airline to carry subsidy mail on scheduled service; the same day, an Avro York Nassau-Miami route is begun.
Herbert G. Brackley succeeds D. C. T. Bennett as managing director on April 1. Bennett’s time as managing director will be well remembered by Alan Bramson in his Master Airman: A Biography of Air Vice Marshal Donald Bennett, CB, CBE, DSO (Shrewsbury, Eng.: Airlife, 1985).
On June 24, British International Airlines, Ltd. (1) reverts to its purchase name of British West Indian Airways. Nassau-Havana Avro York service commences on August 21. During the month, Bahamas Airways, Ltd. is acquired. Weekly London-Havana flights are inaugurated on December 6 via Lisbon, Azores, Gander, and Nassau.
An Avro 685 York I with six crew and nine passengers is lost at Brazil’s Caravellos Bay on January 5, 1949 (three dead). The Tudor 4 Star Aerial disappears between Bermuda and its destination of Kingston, Jamaica on January 17 (20 dead). The Airways Corporation Act becomes law on July 30 and BSAAC is merged into British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).
BRITISH UNITED AIR FERRIES, LTD.: United Kingdom (19621967). On October 1, 1962, the closely coordinated vehicle ferry divisions of Silver City Airways, Ltd. and Channel Air Bridge, Ltd. are
Merged into this single entity. Operations are conducted from both of the bases, Southend and Lydd, employed by the merger partners. A total of 29 aircraft, mostly Aviation Trader ATL-98 Carvairs and Bristol 170 Freighters are in the combined fleet. On December 28, the Carvair Pont de L 'Europe is destroyed in a Rotterdam crash. Passenger boardings for the year of merger partner Channel Air Bridge, Ltd. exceed
300.000.
During the first full year of combined work in 1963, the company breaks all previous ferry records, combined or single; during the summer season 4,762 cross-Channel flights are made carrying 51,269 passengers and 12,150 automobiles. Additionally, charter flights are made as far inland as Basel, Geneva, and Strasbourg.
The Bristol 170 Mk. 32 City of London is destroyed in a crash on Guernsey on September 24. In October and November, 3 more Bristol 170 Mk. 21s, the City of Exeter, City of Bath, and City of Carlisle, are withdrawn. Meanwhile, 2 ATL Carvairs, Pont du Rhin and Massburg, are purchased in March and July and, in December, 1 makes the first landing at Lydd Airport.
In January 1964, ferry routes are granted by the Air Transport Licensing Board (ATLB) for services to France from the Midlands. As a result, flights are soon in operation from Coventry to Calais, Le Tou-quet, Cherbourg, Lege, Geneva, and Rotterdam and from Lydd to Mimes. Two more Carvairs, the Channel Bridge and Pont d’Avignon, are added in February. On June 6, it is announced that since the creation of Silver City Airways in 1948, a million cars have been flown from the U. K. to Europe. Jersey to Hurn roundtrips commence on October 31.
Cross-Channel and Continental flights continue in 1965, as do several governmental contract flights to the Middle East. In December, 2 ATL Carvairs are leased to Air Ferry, Ltd. for use in the Rhodesian crisis. During the year, 2 additional ATL Carvairs, the Menai Bridge and Big John, are added while 3 Bristol 170 Mk. 32s, the Venture, Voyager and City of Durham, are withdrawn. Enplanements total 366,454.
The preexisting joint freight service flown with Sabena Belgian World Airlines, S. A. to Ostend ends in 1966, with BUAF maintaining the route alone. An ATL Carvair is acquired, but 2 more Bristol 170 Mk. 32s, the CityofLeicesterand City ofYork, are retired. New routes added include London (LGW) to Coventry and Le Touquet; Le Touquet to Os-tend; Southampton to Cherbourg, Jersey, and Guernsey; Manchester to Rotterdam; and Jersey to London (LGW). The vehicle ferry network is stretched into the north of England with a total of 23 routes flown systemwide. Despite this expansion, the number of vehicles ferried drops to
90.000.
The Coventry-Calais route is closed on February 28, 1967. At this point, the company elects to discontinue all flights to destinations other than those just across the Channel. The first ATL-98 Carvair, Golden Gate Bridge, acquired by predecessor Channel Air Bridge, Ltd. at the beginning of the decade, makes its final flight in March and will be sold in May. The Bristol 170 Mk. 31 Victory, together with the Mk. 32s, City of Salisbury, City of Edinburgh, Vigilant, and Valour, are also grounded. On October 1, the carrier becomes a separate Air Holdings, Ltd. division and is renamed British Air Ferries, Ltd.
World History
