AUTAIR INTERNATIONAL AIRWAYS, LTD.: United Kingdom (1953-1969). Autair, Ltd. is formed by Ronald Myhill and W. H. Armstrong at London as the U. K.’s first helicopter operator in 1953. A fleet of 6 Bell Model 47s and 3 Sikorsky S-51s is acquired. The latter initiate revenue operations on June 17, 1954 with a flight from London (LHR) to a construction site on the Thames River. U. K. Sikorsky operations are initially based at London Gatwick (LGW) and then London Luton (CTN) Airport.
Meanwhile, the Bells are based at Dusseldorf and participate in a variety of charters, including aerial advertising, police crowd control, and in southern France, support of the motion picture industry. The staff grows to 30 in the U. K. and others continue to be employed overseas, including those of an associated Canadian company formed in June 1957 and provided with the 3 S-51s from Luton.
In early 1960, the former World Wide Helicopters, Ltd. operations manager, Gerald Threlfall, is hired and he acquires the company’s first fixed-wing aircraft, a Douglas DC-3, in April. For this machine, Autair forms an air transport subsidiary, Autair (Luton), Ltd.; however, the Douglas transport is leased to the Israeli carrier Arkia Israeli Airlines, Ltd. until a company facility can be established at Luton Airport at year’s end. Company officials now include Autair founder W. H. Armstrong as chairman and Gerald Threlfall as managing director.
Two DC-3s are purchased from British European Airways Corporation (BEA) in March 1961 and during the summer, the 3 American-made aircraft fly a variety of inclusive-tour and ad hoc charter flights to Europe, including several on behalf of competing nonscheduled carriers Tradair, Ltd. and Skyways, Ltd.
Two Vickers Vikings are purchased in January 1962, followed by a third in June, plus another DC-3 in February. During the year, a daily cargo run is initiated to West Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport from Amsterdam and, on behalf of German tour agencies, the company undertakes inclusive-tour flights from Tempelhof to the Mediterranean.
Three more Vikings enter service in the spring of 1963 and although there is no change in the charter network, the company is allowed to open its first scheduled service-weekly London (CTN) to Blackpool— on October 1.
During the summer, a Handley Page Herald is leased for four months from its manufacturer and the 3 Airspeed AS.57 Ambassadors of Globe-Air are purchased; the first is placed on the scheduled route in August while the other two are delivered in November-December. Enplane-ments total 31,593 (2,227 scheduled).
A new hangar and headquarters are opened at London (CTN) in 1964 while the 2 new Ambassadors join the third in displacing Vikings on inclusive tours; the Vikings displace DC-3s on the London (CTN) to Blackpool frequency, now advanced to nine per week. Construction is completed on a new hangar and offices at the Luton Airport base. The subsidiary Autair Helicopters (EA), Ltd. is established at Nairobi.
A DC-4 is purchased in January 1965. On April 15 the airline is acquired by the steamship company Court Line, Ltd. for ?215,000. Two DC-3s and 3 Vikings are sold during the year, leaving the 3 Ambassadors, 2 Vikings, and 1 DC-4 to fly 72,701 passengers and over a million pounds of freight and mail. In November, orders are placed for 2 Hawker Siddeley HS 748s. Airline employment grows to 175 while enplanements, mainly on the London-Blackpool service, increase to 72,701.
World History
