Cardiff-based Cambrian Air Services, Ltd. is renamed Cambrian Airways, Ltd. on May 23, 1955. On July 20, weekly Cardiff-Nice scheduled flights begin.
En route from Cardiff to Paris on July 20 via Southampton, a de Hav-illand DH 104 Dove with six passengers and a pilot crashes at Fritham; pilot Robert Carson is killed in the company’s first fatal accident. A French traffic controllers’ strike forces cancellation of Paris service from November-December. The year’s bookings are 34,631.
Two DH 114 Heron 2s are acquired in March 1956 and one is employed to inaugurate twice-weekly Cardiff-Bristol and Belfast service. Flights also begin from Cardiff and Bristol to Nice. On May 9, a 10-year contract is signed with British European Airways Corporation (BEA) to provide support for the development of scheduled Cambrian services linking Wales and the west of England with London and Manchester, as well as a subsidized Liverpool-Channel Islands route.
The last Fairchild F24W, the Caernarvon, is retired in July and replaced by another Heron. Manchester-Cardiff-Bristol-Channel Islands flights via DC-3 transport commence on October 29. The company’s Douglas DC-3 transports participate in the Hungarian airlift between
November 16 and December 14, flying 500 refugees to Britain from Austria in 16 roundtrips, including the last flown by a civil airliner from the U. K. The contract for management of Staverton Airport is concluded. Enplanements for the year jump to 46,044.
A Dove is sold in June 1957 and simultaneously, three-times-per-week Swansea-Jersey flights begin. A company Heron is the first scheduled aircraft to operate from the new Lulsgate Airport at Bristol. Passenger boardings reach 57,765.
On February 7, 1958, British European Airways Corporation (BEA) takes a one-third minority interest and, on July 1, John Morgan is named to succeed John H. Watts as company chairman. No new routes are opened during the year, although a Heron 1B is leased for a year from Overseas Air Transport, Ltd. Heavy losses force the company to cease all operations during the winter except the Manchester-Cardiff-Bristol-Jersey service, which is flown by Jersey Airlines, Ltd. under contract.
Enplanements drop to 52,915 and a ?53,473 loss is reported for the year.
On January 1, 1959, Mr. Morgan takes up his duties as the new chairman and the carrier is reorganized. Two Herons are sold and 3 DC-3s are leased from British European Airways Corporation (BEA) in February and are employed, along with the company’s 1 Heron, to reopen services on March 2 from Liverpool to Jersey via Cardiff and Bristol and from Cardiff and Bristol to Paris via Southampton. In May, the last DH 89A, Flint, is sold, followed by the Percival Proctor 1 Denbigh in June.
The number of travelers carried dips to 45,045, but the ?40,025 net profit is reinvested in the company.
In January 1960, a DC-3 is purchased and christened Horatio Phillips; it is followed by a second but unnamed Douglas in February. On April 1, direct flights are started from Bristol and Cardiff to Belfast. The last Heron is sold in December.
Enplanements for the year are 56,031 and net gain dips to ?35,000.
Three more DC-3s are delivered in April 1961 and in September, Cambrian’s DC-3s become the first British aircraft to operate from the new airport at Cork. Passenger bookings increase 36% to 83,629.
On April 2, 1962 a route is opened Glasgow-Cardiff via Manchester and Bristol. A new engineering and headquarters facility is opened at Rhoose Airport in May. In September, the carrier takes over all BEA operations linking the Isle of Man with the rest of the U. K. The Horatio Phillips is sold in October. Enplanements jump to 119,362.
Airline employment in 1963 stands at 275. During the first half of the year, Cambrian purchases 5 Vickers Viscount 701s and a stock of spares from British European Airways Corporation (BEA) for just ?750,000. The first turboprop is placed in service on February 2 on a charter for Welsh rugby fans. Eighteen days later, the Viscounts are introduced on the scheduled routes, beginning with the Cardiff-Dublin via Bristol frequency.
The former BEA routes from Liverpool to Belfast and from Belfast to London via Liverpool and Manchester, are assumed on April 1. On behalf of a Cardiff-based travel agency, Cambrian undertakes its first inclusive charters during the summer to Nice, Rimini, and Valencia. An older DC-3 is sold in August to Gibraltar Airways, Ltd.; it is followed by two others sold to the King of Morocco. Enplanements reach 276,090.
During 1964, following the appointment of Leslie Castlemaine as commercial and sales manager in January, the company becomes a significant inclusive-tour operator, with flights to points as distant as Yugoslavia, and undertakes night freight services to Ireland. Many of the Continental tours are arranged with South Wales travel agents.
Also in January, the Isle of Man-Liverpool route is extended to London, while in February Champagne Flights are initiated to the Isle of Man for those traveling to the casino at the Castle Mona Hotel.
Passenger boardings jump 21% to 349,051 and turnover is ?1,481,620. The net profit is ?32,837.
Another ex-BEA Viscount 701 is delivered in January 1965.
A Vickers Viscount 701 freighter with two crew crashes while on final approach to Liverpool on July 20; both airmen are killed along with two people on the ground.
Shortly thereafter, Aer Turas, Ltd.’s DC-4 is contracted to take over the Cardiff-Liverpool service. Regularly scheduled all-cargo services are initiated during September from Liverpool to the Isle of Man.
Another Viscount 701, once flown by BEA as its Sir John Franklin, is acquired from British Eagle Airways, Ltd. in December. The Christmas period from December 20 to New Year’s is the busiest in the company’s history to date; 12,000 extra travelers are carried, many on replacement fights offered on behalf of British European Airways Corporation (BEA). Passenger boardings climb to 400,708.
An additional Viscount 701 is delivered in January 1966. Five more are purchased from Channel Airways, Ltd. for ?750,000. In April, a three-year replacement contract is begun on behalf of Air France over a route from London to Lille. During the year, four-times-per-week Swansea-Channel Islands Dakota services and weekly Swansea-Dublin flights are undertaken.
Bookings swell to 476,271 and revenues total ?3.25 million, but the net profit is only ?66,000.
Three former Channel Airways, Ltd. Viscount 701s enter service in January 1967. British Air Services, Ltd., a wholly owned British European Airways Corporation (BEA) subsidiary, is formed on February 7, to manage the affairs of the state carrier’s associated companies, including Cambrian Airways. John H. Davies succeeds John Morgan as company chairman on May 1.
During the year, the Air France service is expanded into two separate route structures: London to London via Lille, Lyon, Lille, and London to London via Lille, Geneva, Bordeaux, Geneva, and Lille. Swansea-Dublin services end on September 29. Upon the completion of the 1956 contract, the independent is purchased by British European Airways Corporation (BEA) and becomes, itself, a wholly owned subsidiary on October 1.
The year’s enplanements are 491,467.
Managing Director William Elwin resigns in March 1968. Although suspended over the winter, Swansea-Channel Islands is restarted on April 6. Bristol and Cardiff-Paris flights are suspended on September 4 and all services from Swansea on September 30. On October 31, the last DC-3 flight is made over the route and all of the Douglas transports are withdrawn and will be sold over the next year.
Elsewhere, the London-Liverpool service is advanced to five per day and a new aircraft livery is unveiled. Following the November collapse of British Eagle Airways, Ltd., Cambrian assumes its routes from Liverpool to Glasgow and London. James Callan is appointed the new managing director in December.
The year’s passenger boardings increase to 590,796.
The company’s route network is compacted during 1969. The Air France replacement service ends in March. During the first half of the year, the five DC-3s are sold to World Inter. On November 1, new service is, however, launched from Cardiff to London via Hawarden. In December, a BAC 1-11-408EF, previously operated by the Court Line, Ltd. as the Halcyon Cloud, is delivered along with a promise to turn over 3 BAC 1-11-416s. Bookings for the year dip to 589,111.
Airline employment in 1970 stands at 781. A Vickers Viscount 701 with 4 crew and 59 passengers is destroyed as the result of a bad landing at Bristol’s Lulsgate Airport on January 19; there are no fatalities.
The Christmas delivery of the carrier’s first jetliner is followed in January by the arrival of a second from the Court Line, Ltd., a BAC 1-11-416EK. The December unit is placed on the London-Liverpool run on January 15 and, on February 15, the Cardiff-London Viscount service is suspended for lack of traffic. The Dash-416ER is used to begin jetliner service from Cardiff on March 9. Both are painted in the company’s new livery.
Meanwhile during the first quarter, Managing Director Callan resigns and is succeeded by David Davies. The BACs also fly a variety of inclusive-tours from Bristol during the summer tourist season before one is leased to British European Airways Corporation (BEA) for its summer inclusive-tour schedule. Four Viscount 806s are delivered between July and October and 2 Viscount 701s are withdrawn.
Passenger boardings for the year reach 790,961.
Another Viscount 806 is delivered in January 1971, followed by an additional former Court Line, Ltd. BAC 1-11-416EK on February 15. Services similar to those of 1970 are again offered. George T. Cantlay becomes the new chairman on July 1.
The remainder of the Viscount 701s are retired and during the final quarter, four more Viscount 806s are placed in service. The world’s oldest surviving Viscount 701, once flown by British European Airways Corporation (BEA) as its Sir John Franklin, completes its final revenue flight on Christmas Eve; the machine has completed 25,938 and is estimated to have transported some 800,000 passengers over 7 million miles in the air.
Enplanements for the year jump to 910,527.
On April 1, 1972, Cambrian comes under control of the British Airways Board, the new and transitional owner of the two state carriers. Two of the unsold Viscount 701s are chartered to British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) to operate feeder services from Edinburgh and Belfast to Prestwick. A scheduled service, in cooperation with JAT (Yugoslav Air Transport), is started from London (LGW)-Dubrovnik on April 1. On April 12, the world’s oldest surviving Viscount 701, formerly flown by British European Airways Corporation (BEA) as its Sir John Franklin, is turned over to the Viscount Preservation Trust.
During the summer, one BAC flies inclusive tours from London (LGW) on behalf of BEA Air Tours. BAC 1-11s are introduced on the Cardiff and Bristol-Paris route and a Southampton-Paris route is started. In addition, Edinburgh-Prestwick feeder services are now undertaken on behalf of the British Airways Board.
Passenger boardings decline 4.7% to 892,607; however, freight traffic is up by 19%.
Airline employment in 1973 stands at 873. In April, Orly Airport becomes the new Parisian destination. Later in the same month and in cooperation with Air France, thrice-weekly jetliner return flights are started from London to Lyon. Cyril A. Herring becomes the final board chairman on May 1, succeeding Mr. Cantalay, while Managing Director David Davies is succeeded on July 1 by David Moscrop.
Also in midyear, BAC 1-11s are introduced on the Cardiff to Paris via Bristol service. To assist with this schedule, a BAC 1-11-408 formerly operated by Channel Airways, Ltd. is delivered on September 5; it is christened County of Gloucestershire. Two BAC 1-11-401s, first flown by American Airlines, are also received. They will operate as County of Shropshire and County of Worcestershire on routes to and in Scotland for over a decade.
ABAC 1-11-416EK is chartered out to Gulf Air, Ltd. in October; the wet lease includes four crews that will fly the jetliner between Jeddah, Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait, Ryat, Beirut, and Karachi. Although Gulf Air, Ltd. titles are painted on the aircraft in both English and Arabic, the basic Cambrian red colors and motifs are retained.
Customer bookings accelerate 8.9% to 911,804 and cargo traffic is up by 0.6%.
The Gulf Air charter is concluded in February 1974. When British Airways, Ltd. (2) officially comes into existence on April 1, Cambrian becomes part of its regional division. Simultaneously, a new Cardiff-Brussels via Bristol BAC 1-11 service is undertaken; a financial loss, it is abandoned within a year. Meanwhile, the carrier’s aircraft take on the BA livery and inclusive-tour services are cut back. Cardiff to Brussels via Bristol services commence in early December. During the year, the workforce has been cut to 641. Enplanements drop to 823,470.
The company celebrates its fortieth anniversary in 1975; however, its parent begins to significantly downsize Cambrian’s route network, under the direction of new Managing Director John Gimblett. In February, the new Brussels service is eliminated. Within a month, services from Glasgow, Liverpool, Bristol, and Cardiff are suspended. After 23 years service, Flight Operations Manager Geoffrey Perrott retires. The final boarding figures reveal that bookings are down to 724,105.
Cambrian Airways disappears into its parent when British Airways divisions are abolished on April 1, 1976. The company’s entire 561-member staff is transferred to the state carrier’s payroll.
CAMEL FLYING SERVICE: United States (1939-1940). While operating the North Carolina sales franchise for Stinson SR Reliants and Piper Cubs at Winston-Salem in 1939, L. S. McGinnis founds CFS to undertake demonstration flights and charters. During the summer, he employs Thomas H. Davis as a salesman and instructor.
A wealthy young man, Davis is able to buy out McGinnis during the spring of 1940. As principal stockholder and president, Davis reforms Camel on July 2 and renames it Piedmont Aviation, Inc.
CAMEROON AIRLINES, S. A.: BP 4092, 3 Ave. General de Gaulle, Douala, Littoral, Cameroon; Phone 237 42 25 25; Fax 237 42 34 59; Http://home. global. co. za/~afdev/Airline. htm; Code UY; Year Founded 1971. To permit Cameroon’s withdrawal from the multinational long-haul consortium Air Afrique, S. A. in 1971, this national carrier, sometimes known by its marketing title of Cam-Air, is formed at Douala on July 26. Ownership is divided between the Cameroon government (75%) and Air France (25%), with the latter providing technical assistance and, under a marketing alliance, leasing to the beginner a Boeing 707-328C. The new concern also takes over the assets of Air Cameroon (Societe Anonyme des Avions Meyer et Compagnie, S. A.), including 2 DC-4s.
Membership in Air Afrique, S. A. ends on September 2 and Boeing flight operations are started on November 1 with a link between Douala and Yaounde.
Chartered from Aer Lingus Irish Airlines, Ltd., the first B-737-248 is delivered on July 14, 1972 for domestic and regional services. It joins the 2 Douglas DC-4s, a purchased Convair CV-440, and another DC-4 leased from Air Niger, S. A. The B-707-328C now flies to Paris via Rome. Late in the year, the fleet is increased by the addition of 2 B-737-2H7Cs (named Mangu and Bonoue), which replace the Irish airliner, and an owned B-707-3H7C Stratoliner, the La Sanaga.
During 1973-1978 in addition to domestic routes, regional services are begun to the Ivory Coast, Central African Republic, Congo Republic, Burundi, Benin, Nigeria, Zaire, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, and Gabon. Long-haul operations are flown to Paris and Rome while a joint service with British Caledonian Airways, Ltd. takes passengers on to London. During these years, the fleet is increased by the addition of 1 de Havil-land Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter and 1B-737-2K9A, the Le Noun.
President Theodore Koule Njanga’s 1,344-employee carrier comes to operate a fleet comprising 1 Boeing 707-3H7C, 2 B-737-2H7Cs, 1 B-737-2K9A, 2 Douglas DC-4s, and 1 de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter. Two Hawker Siddeley HS 748-A2s are acquired in 1979-1980.
A B-747-2H7B is delivered on February 26, 1981; christened Mont Cameroon, it begins European service replacing the Stratoliner, initially to Paris, on April 1.
Barely into its takeoff from Bafoussam on October 31, a DHC-6-300 with 2 crew and 22 passengers aborts; the turboprop cannot be stopped and runs off the runway (1 dead).
Two Hawker Siddely HS-748-2As are placed on the domestic route network during 1982.
During 1983, Marseilles and Geneva join the European route network. Passenger boardings now average some 600,000 per year.
In 1984, the technical base at Douala Airport performs the first-ever B-737 D check in West or Central Africa.
While taxiing out for a flight from Douala to Garoua via Yaound on August 30, Flight 786, the B-737-2H7C Le Noun with 7 crew and 109 passengers, suffers the explosion of its No. 2 engine. Debris punctures the wing and fuel tank, causing a fire. Two are killed as the plane is evacuated and thereafter burned out.
Thrice-weekly Jumbojet flights commence from Douala to London via Geneva in July 1985 and a replacement B-737, another Dash-2K9A named Nyong, is placed in service in August. In November, Samuel
Eboua becomes chairman with Louis-Claude Nyasa as general manager; they immediately sell the B-707-3H7C and the B-747-2H7B, which will be leased back. The two early-model British Aerospace BAe (HS) 748-A2s are traded in for 2 Dash-B2s.
Employment totals 2,100 in 1986 and the fleet includes 2 B-737-2K9As, 2 B-737-2H7Cs and 2 BAe (HS) 748-B2s. In an effort to save costs, the earlier owned B-747-2H7B, which was sold the previous year, is leased back under the same name, Mont Cameroon. The year’s en-planements total 600,000.
In February 1987, former Transportation Minister Andre Bosco Cheuoua becomes chairman, with Cameroon Railways Managing Director Youssoufa Daouda as director general. Air France official Alain Bordi now fills the long-vacant post of deputy director general, under contract. Ernest-Jean Pfrimmer, another executive from the French carrier, becomes chief financial officer. The fiscally troubled airline is owed over $18 million by its own government for services provided.
As 1988 begins, the largest source of revenue continues to be the four-times-per-week Jumbojet service from Douala to Geneva and Paris via Rome and Frankfurt. However, because of the nation’s economic problems, domestic traffic falls and funds are unavailable to maintain the long-haul operations, which are suspended in May. Plans are made to find smaller aircraft to replace the Boeings and BAes.
Operations continue with little change in 1989. On the third landing attempt to Yaounde in stormy weather at the conclusion of a June 28 service from Douala, an HS 748-2B with 2 crew and 45 passengers touches down 400-m. short of the runway and collides with an embankment (3 dead).
The onset of recession and the substantially higher fuel costs caused by Iraq’s August invasion of Kuwait, bring enormous, but undisclosed, fiscal losses in 1990. In October, former Air France Inspector General Claude Keinz becomes director general.
In an effort to cut costs, many workers are laid off in early 1991 and the Jumbojet is temporarily replaced by smaller jetliners.
Operations continue apace in 1992. In 1993, the B-747 rejoins Director General Keinz’s 1,400-employee operation. The fleet now includes 1 BAe (HS) 748-B2, 1 B-737-2K9A, and 2 B-737-2H7Cs. Keinz returns to Air France in May and is succeeded by another official from the French flag carrier, Jean-Gabriel Ceccarelli.
In February 1994, a new route is opened from Douala to Djedah, N’Djamena, and Johannesburg. Louis Claude Nyassa is named general manager. The company’s reputation for wildly inconsistent domestic schedules, flights cancelled at the last moment or rerouted without warning, and rampant overbooking, continues.
In 1995, the company begins to cooperate with Nigeria Airways, Ltd. on flights to Paris. Four-per-week roundtrips commence from Douala to Paris (ORY). Talks between the two carriers are undertaken concerning a possible joint service to the Orient.
While on final approach to Douala after a December 3 service from Cotonou, the B-737-2K9 Nyong with 5 crew and 71 passengers, elects to abort and try a second approach. While on this maneuver, the aircraft goes into a steep dive and crashes into a mangrove swamp 6-km. short of the runway (71 dead).
During 1996, one of the services to Paris is extended to London (LGW) via Brussels. Flights continue to 4 domestic and 25 regional and international destinations.
In 1997, marketing agreements are also entered into with Oman Air and Air Gabon, as well as Air Zaire, S. A. before it becomes Congo Airways, S. A. A de Havilland DHC-7 is received under lease in late August.
In September the government announces that the company, which currently has a negative net worth of $20 million, has been scheduled for privatization during the next 18 months.
As part of newly initiated planning, up to 800 positions will be cut, although not before severance funds are available. New managers will attempt to improve customer service and otherwise improve the company to a point where it will attract foreign investment.
If interested investors cannot be attracted, the company will be sold off and its traffic rights transferred elsewhere.
In October, a flight from East Africa to Douala in Cameroon stops over in Kigali and Kinshasa. Connecting flights can then be made to different locations in West Africa, including Lagos and Abidjan.
The East African regional manager, Ndoumbe Isidore, signs a General Sales Agency agreement in Kampala, Uganda, on October 21. He informs the newspaper New Vision that if preliminary studies are positive, Cameroon Airlines will extend its operations to Uganda. No timetable is provided.
Flights continue in 1998. Having accused Chairman Joseph Belibi and Managing Director Sameul Minko of bad management while seeking increased salaries, the carrier’s entire workforce goes out on strike on January 20. The job action affects operations at all of the airports in Cameroon. Five days later, after Belibi and Minko are fired, the workers return and air traffic is resumed.
At this point, a whole new management team is brought in. Jerome Abondo becomes chairman, with Cyrille Etoundi-Atangana as director general and Louis-Paul Motaze as chief financial officer.
During the fall, a homepage is opened on the World Wide Web. In addition, a contract is signed with Air Affaires Afrique, S. A. under which the Douala-based competitor begins to operate scheduled and charter flights on behalf of Cameroon with a Bombardier DHC-8-300.
The airline’s pilots and flight engineers stage a 24-hour “warning” strike on March 26, 1999. The flyers are demanding payment of allowance arrears owed by management. Two flights out of every five scheduled are allowed to takeoff from Douala Airport.
In March 2000, a cooperative agreement is signed with Air Gabon, S. A., Air Afrique, S. A., and Air Madagascar, S. A. Under its terms, the four will provide joint handling, coordinate schedules, and purchase common equipment.
CAMEROON HELICOPTERS, S. A.: BP 5439, Akwa, Douala, Cameroon; Phone 420222; Fax 5395; Year Founded 1984. CH is established at Douala in 1984 as a subsidiary of the French rotary-wing operator Heli-Union, S. A. to undertake passenger and cargo charters around the country. Operations continue apace into 1999 with equipment leased from the parent; the usual complement of the concern is 20 employees and 1 Aerospatiale SA-318C Alouette II.
CAMEROONS AIR TRANSPORT, S. A.: Cameroon (19621970). CAT is established at Douala in late 1962 to offer both scheduled and nonscheduled services in the Anglo-French Cameroons. Ownership is divided between the West Cameroon Development Agency (50%), the Crop and Culture Agency (25%), and the aircraft manufacturing Britten Norman Group (25%). W. P. Lebaga is chairman, with J. Patient as general manager.
Revenue services commence in 1963 with a fleet that includes 2 de Hav-illand DH 104 Doves, 1 Dornier Do-28A, 1 Piper PA-23 Aztec, and 2 Brit-ten-Norman BN2 Islanders. The initial service is operated between Douala, in French Eastern Cameroon, and Tiko, in British West Cameroon.
Enplanements reach 2,628 by the end of 1965. Service continues apace in 1966-1970, with flights added to Bali and Mamfe. Operations end during the latter year.
CAMPLING BROS. & VANDERWAL, LTD.: Kenya (19461963). Keith Campling establishes, with his brother, an FBO at Nairobi West Airport in 1946, together with a flight school and a lightplane charter service. Additionally, a sight-seeing service, Caspar Air Charter & Agencies, Ltd. is formed as a subsidiary to offer flights around Lake Victoria from bases both at Nairobi and at Entebbe, Uganda. Revenue flights commence with 2 Piper J-3 Cubs and 1 PA-12 Super Cruiser.
World History
