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AB Airlines, Ltd. - (7L/AZX)

Bristol-Filton & London-Stansted

With effect from 1st May 1997 the operations of Air Bristol Ltd and AB Shannon Ltd were combined in this name.  At the same time a new colour scheme was adopted being basically that of European Aircharter with AB Airlines titles and “AB” in white on a red fin.  At the time of the launch in the new name a twice daily schedule (except Saturdays) was started between Gatwick and Lisbon with a third leased Series 510ED in a two class 96 seat configuration.  From November 1997 the Lisbon service was reduced to once daily while a daily service between Gatwick and Berlin-Schönefeld was inaugurated on 1st December 1997.  With effect from 22nd May 1998 once daily scheduled services were commenced from Shannon to both Stansted and Birmingham jointly marketed by AB Airlines and Aer Lingus though both routes were short lived and were withdrawn on 14th February 1999.  With the addition of two Boeing 737-300s to its fleet in June 1998, AB Airlines’ One-Elevens ceased flying the Lisbon schedules but were retained on one of the now double daily Berlin schedules and on two of the three daily Gatwick to Shannon schedules.  The last BAe Airbus flight on the Filton-Toulouse shuttle was flown on 29th May 1998 after the contract was terminated.  The company was put into the hands of receivers on 29th July 1999 at which time the One-Elevens were flying a daily rotation to Nice and three daily rotations to Shannon from Gatwick.  Operations finally ceased on 9th September 1999 and the aircraft were returned to European Aviation Ltd.  The company also carried out charter flights with Birmingham, Bordeaux, Cagliari, Deauville, Dublin, Filton, Gatwick, Glasgow, Gothenburg, Granada, Hannover, Heathrow, Malmö, Manchester, Milan-Malpensa, Nice, Norwich, Oslo, Palma and Shannon being among destinations served.

Aberdeen London Express Airlines, Ltd.

Aberdeen-Dyce

This company commenced a once daily Monday to Friday scheduled service between Aberdeen and Stansted on 31st October 1994 with a Series 510ED leased from European Air Charter Ltd.  Following poor loads the service was suspended on 6th December 1994 and the carrier ceased operations.

Air Belfast, Ltd. - (7L/AZX)

Belfast International

This company, a subsidiary of the Air Bristol Group, was launched on 10th January 1995.  Operations commenced on 1st March 1995 with a five times daily Monday to Friday scheduled service between Belfast International and Stansted with 104 seat single class Series 510EDs leased from Air Bristol Ltd.  A reduced operation took place on Saturday and Sunday.  The frequency was gradually reduced until the last flight took place on this route on 21st March 1996.  With effect from 23rd November 1995 a three times a day Monday to Friday schedule was due to have been introduced between Belfast International and Gatwick.  However, the start of this new route was deferred at a late stage and abandoned when the Stansted route terminated and the company ceased to exist.

Air Bristol. - (7L/AZX)

Bristol-Filton

Air Bristol commenced operations on 11th October 1993 flying a Monday to Friday “schedule” between Bristol-Filton and Toulouse on behalf of British Aerospace Airbus Ltd using leased European Aviation Series 510EDs.  Additional ad hoc charter work was also undertaken.  The fleet was expanded to four aircraft in February 1995.  Two of these were used for operations by a new airline based at Belfast International called Air Belfast Ltd which commenced operations on 1st March 1995.  A new subsidiary called AB Shannon Ltd commenced operations on 7th December 1995.  One of Air Bristol’s Series 510EDs was exchanged for another at the end of November 1996 fitted with a 70 seat VIP interior prior to delivery for use on the BAE Toulouse shuttle.  One aircraft was leased to Air UK Ltd from 18th August to 27th October 1996 for operation on the Aberdeen to Amsterdam schedules.  From 1st May 1997 Air Bristol Ltd and AB Shannon Ltd were merged to form AB Airlines Ltd.

Air Écosse, Ltd. - (SM/ECS)

Aberdeen-Dyce

This company wet leased a Series 432FD from 23rd January to 6th February 1984 for a proposed new route from Aberdeen to Heathrow.  The license was not granted and the aircraft was returned to British Island Airways Ltd.

Name used on the aircraft:-

G-AXMU - bon accord

Air Hanson, Ltd.

London

Air Manchester, Ltd - (VF)

Manchester and Liverpool

This company arranged the lease of two Series 416EKs.  One was delivered in May 1982 and entered commercial service on 3rd June 1982 but the second although painted in the company’s colours was never operated.  A third aircraft, a Series 320L-AZ was also painted in the company’s colours but this too was not accepted due to financing problems.  The aircraft was mainly used in flying inclusive tour charters for ‘Sureways Travel’ from Manchester and Liverpool to European holiday destinations including Alicante, Barcelona, Ibiza, Malaga, Palma and Shannon.  From September 1982 the aircraft was flown with British Air Ferries titles and flight numbers due to licensing problems in Spain.  Operations ceased on 1st November 1982 when the aircraft was ferried to Cardiff for storage.

Air UK, Ltd. - ( UK/UKA)

Norwich & Stansted

Formed from the merger of British Island Airways Ltd and Air Anglia Ltd on 16th October 1979, Air UK Ltd inherited two Series 432FDs and a Series 409AY.  They continued to be operated on inclusive tour and charter flights to Europe and North Africa.  One Series 416EK was added in December 1979.  The One Elevens were withdrawn when a new airline was set up to operate these aircraft independently using the former British Island Airways name on 1st January 1982.  Air UK later leased the two Series 432FDs from the new British Island Airways from May and November 1985 to April 1988 and April 1987 respectively.  These were then used on the scheduled routes from Aberdeen to Amsterdam via Edinburgh and from Glasgow to Amsterdam via Leeds or Newcastle.  One of these aircraft was later sub-leased to British Airways from late November 1986 until the end of April 1987.  Air UK later commenced thrice weekly scheduled services with Series 510EDs on the Stansted to Brussels route with effect from 27th March 1995 and throughout the summer of 1995.  A Series 510ED from the European Aircharter fleet was used for this service and was leased for standby cover for the Air UK fleet at other times.  The same company provided a Series 510ED to operate a daily scheduled service from Belfast International to Amsterdam from 15th July to 26th October 1996.  A second Series 510ED was leased to provide standby cover for the rest of the Stansted based fleet during the same period.  From 27th October 1996 to 28th March 1997 a similar aircraft was leased from European Aircharter Ltd to operate a daily Gatwick to Glasgow schedule.  Any aircraft from the European Series 510ED fleet was used to fulfil these contracts.  An Air Bristol Series 510ED was leased to operate schedules between Aberdeen and Amsterdam from 18th August to 27th October 1996.  Charter and inclusive tour flights were flown to points including Bergamo, Cognac, Faro, Ibiza, Munich, Münster, Nice, Rome-Fiumicino, Salzburg, Tarbes, Warsaw and Zürich.

Names used on the aircraft:-

G-AXBB - Island Entente

G-AXMU - Island Esprit

G-AXOX - Island Endeavour

G-CBIA - Island Ensign

Airways International Cymru, Ltd. - (AK/CYM)

Cardiff-Rhoose

This company purchased two Series 304AXs from Québecair of Canada with delivery in March and November 1984 having earlier leased a Series 432FD from March 1984.  The leased aircraft was returned in November 1984.  The aircraft operated inclusive tour and charter flights from the airline’s home base at Cardiff.  Points served included Alicante, Belfast, Béziers, Birmingham, Bristol, Brussels, Corfu, Dublin, East Midlands, Faro, Gerona, Isle of Man, Luton, Málaga, Malta, Munich, Palma, and Rimini,.  One of the Series 304AXs was leased firstly to British Midland Airways from November 1985 to May 1986 and to Manx Airlines Ltd from May 1986 to early December 1987.  The company ceased operations in January 1988.

Anglo Cargo Airlines, Ltd. - (ML/ANC)

London-Gatwick

This company leased a pure cargo configured Series 487GK from TAROM with effect from mid March 1986.  Initially operated in Romanian marks, the aircraft became British registered in September 1987 and was used for ad hoc cargo charter flights mainly within Europe.  The company ceased operations on 13th January 1992.

Name used on the aircraft:-

G-TOMO - The Lady Dot

Autair International Airways, Ltd. - (OU)

Luton

This company ordered two Series 416EKs on 25th February 1967 and a third later in the same year.  Laid out in a high density 89 seat configuration, they were utilised on inclusive tour package flights mainly on behalf of Clarksons from the company’s Luton base.  A further Series 416EK was leased from BAC from March to November 1969 and a Series 408EF from the same source from December 1968 to February 1970 though until late March 1969 the aircraft was only used by Autair at weekends.  Destinations served by Autair’s Series 400s included Alicante, Athens (via various points), Barcelona, Basel, Bergen, Bordeaux, Bremen, Budapest, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Genoa, Hamburg, Hannover, Geneva, Ibiza, Luxembourg, Málaga, Mahón, Manchester, Milan-Malpensa, Munich, Nuremberg, Palma, Pisa, Rimini, Rome-Ciampino, Tenerife (via Lisbon), Tunis, Venice and Zürich.  The military base at Chivenor in Devon was also visited while several trooping flights were made from Manchester to Düsseldorf, Hannover and RAF Gütersloh in Germany. The company was re-launched as Court Line Aviation, Ltd on the 1st January 1970. Seven Series 518FGs were ordered and deliveries commenced in December 1969 however all were delivered in Court Line's colour scheme. Two were delivered before the official name change took place.

Names used on the aircraft and colours:-

 G-AVGP - Halcyon Cloud

G-AVOE - Halcyon Days

G-AVOF - Halcyon Breeze

G-AWBL - Halcyon Dawn

G-AWXJ - Halcyon Sun

Birmingham European Airways, Ltd. - (VB/BEA)

Birmingham

This company purchased five Series 400s from British Airways plc.  Prior to receipt of these the company had services between Birmingham and Milan and Copenhagen operated by aircraft drawn from the British Airways’ One-Eleven fleet over the previous winter period.  These services were not operated by dedicated aircraft but by any Series 500 apart from the Series 510EDs.  The new fleet of two Series 401AKs, two Series 408EFs and one Series 416EK were delivered between January and June 1990 and heralded the expansion of the company’s route network from Birmingham to include Amsterdam, Belfast, Copenhagen, Cork, Dublin, Geneva, Milan, Rome, Stockholm via Copenhagen and Stuttgart.  Schedules were also flown on behalf of British Airways between Birmingham and Brussels and Frankfurt and between Newcastle and Frankfurt from October 1990 to late March 1991.  One of the aircraft was sold in late July 1991 after which time British Airways Series 500s operated some schedules in the same manner as before.  The company was merged with Brymon Airways Ltd to form Brymon European Airways Ltd on 25th October 1992.  Charter services were also flown.

Names used on the aircraft:-

G-AVGP - City of Coventry

G-AWBL - City of Birmingham

G-BBME - City of Nottingham

G-BBMF - City of Leicester

G-BBMG - Stratford upon Avon

British Aerospace, plc. - (BAE)

 Bristol-Filton

This organisation utilised the company’s Series 475AM to maintain a corporate shuttle service from Monday to Friday between Bristol-Filton and Toulouse in France.  On Mondays and Fridays this service operated through Chester-Hawarden.  This service was operated from late 1987 until 12th October 1993.

British Air Ferries, Ltd. - (VF/BAF)

Southend

The first use of a One-Eleven by this carrier was when they took over the operation of a Series 416EK formerly operated by Air Manchester on behalf of Sureways Travel at the beginning of September 1982 until the end of the summer programme.  Later between March and May 1990 the company took delivery of three Series 201ACs on lease from Guinness Peat Aviation.  Two of these were put into service on ad hoc charter work while the third was obtained for spares recovery only.  A Series 476FM was leased in April 1991 and also flew ad hoc charters including a few schedules for British Airways in September 1992.  In December 1992 the company leased the entire fleet of eleven Series 500s that had become available after the collapse of Dan-Air Services through ILFC.  These comprised four Series 518FGs, two Series 509EWs, two Series 531FSs, one Series 517FE, one Series 515FB and one Series 520FN.  In the end only five of these aircraft were put into service, five reduced to spares and the last sold in Nigeria.  The first of these entered service on 7th December 1992 and the last in late May 1993 in either a 119 seat single class or a 99 seat mixed class configuration.  By this time the earlier used three aircraft had all been withdrawn from service (in August, November and December 1992) and the airline was renamed as British World Airlines from 6th April 1993.  Charter destinations served included Belfast Harbour, Berlin-Tegel, Birmingham, Corfu, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Geneva, Glasgow, Inverness, Isle of Man, Jersey, Madrid, Málaga, Malta, Manchester and Warton (BAC),

British Air Services.

This organisation was formed on 2nd February 1967 by British European Airways as a holding company to manage Cambrian Airways and BKS Air Transport.  One-Elevens of Cambrian Airways were flown with British Air Services titles before the fleet was fully integrated into that of British Airways plc on 31st March 1974.

British Airways, plc. - (BA & BZ/BAW)

London-Heathrow

At the time of the complete merger of British European Airways, British Overseas Airways Corporation and British Air Services Ltd at midnight on 31st March 1974 to form British Airways plc, the airline had on strength 18 Series 510EDs, 3 Series 416EKs, 2 Series 408EFs and 2 Series 401AKs.  The various component parts of the eventual British Airways had been previously been marketed as British Airways from 1stSeptember 1973.  A Series 432FD was leased from Gulf Air from August to November 1977 while a new Series 537GF was leased from Cyprus Airways from October 1978 to August 1980.  A Series 530FX was leased from British Caledonian from late October 1978 to late April 1979.  All three of these aircraft were operated out of Birmingham and Manchester.  Three new Series 539GLs, configured in a 99 seat single class layout, were delivered in March, June and August 1980 with two of the Series 416EKs being traded in part exchange in June and August of the same year.  A Series 432FD was leased from Air UK from October 1986 to the end of April 1987 mainly to fly Irish Sea services.  The aircraft continued to fly numerous routes over the European and Domestic network.  Following a drop in loads on the Internal German Services (IGS), Pan American World Airways and British Airways reached an agreement in which British Airways would operate exclusively on the routes to Cologne, Düsseldorf and Hannover while Pan American would operate exclusively on the routes to Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich.  This became effective on 1st May 1975.  Series 510EDs were progressively replaced on the IGS network as Boeing 737-236s came on strength, the last being withdrawn at the end of March 1986 when HS748s were deployed from Glasgow to cover the shorter or less densely travelled routes.  The Series 510EDs were later used to operate shuttle back-ups from Heathrow to Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester replacing retired HS Trident aircraft.  The Series 400s were mainly used to operate domestic and regional services out of Birmingham, Manchester andJersey.  The three Series 539GLs, which replaced two of the Series 400s in summer 1980, were withdrawn in March 1991 and subsequently sold.  On 14th April 1988 British Caledonian Airways Ltd merged into British Airways adding thirteen Series 500s of various types to the fleet.  These were all deployed to Birmingham and Manchester by the end of the summer schedules in 1988 replacing the Series 400s which were then withdrawn.  With effect from 13th January 1992, Boeing 737-236s replaced the One-Elevens in the shuttle back-up rôle with six of the Series 510EDs being retired to Hurn for storage on the same date where they joined an earlier retired aircraft which had arrived there in November 1991.  From this date all remaining Series 510EDs were based at Manchester and all the other One-Elevens at Birmingham.  From 1st August 1992 the type was gradually withdrawn from Manchester with the last flight taking place on 24th December 1992.  The type was progressively withdrawn at Birmingham with effect from 1st December 1992 with the last regular service taking place on 23rd June 1993.  Two aircraft remained on strength after this time for ad hoc substitutions for both British Airways and Brymon European Airways culminating in the last revenue One-Eleven flight taking place on 1st July 1993.  Over the years points served in the United Kingdom on a scheduled basis included Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Jersey, London(Heathrow and Gatwick), Manchester and Newcastle.  European scheduled destinations included Amsterdam, Barcelona, Basle, Berlin (Tempelhof and Tegel from 1st September 1975), Bilbao, Bordeaux, Bremen, Brussels, Cologne, Copenhagen, Cork, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Faro, Frankfurt, Geneva, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Hannover, Leipzig, Luxembourg, Lyon, Madrid, Málaga, Malta, Marseille, Milan (Linate), Munich, Münster, Nice, Paris (Orly until summer 1976 and then Charles de Gaulle), Prague, Rome (Fiumicino), Shannon, Stavanger, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Sylt, Turin, Vienna and Zürich.  Up to and including winter 1988/9 a charter programme was flown out of Manchester mainly at weekends which included the following destinations at various times:- Alicante, Barcelona, Geneva, Genoa, Gerona, Ibiza, Lisbon, Lourdes, Mahón, Málaga, Milan-Malpensa, Munich, Nice, Oporto, Palma, Reus, Rimini, Rome-Fiumicino and Venice.  The Birmingham based fleet also operated a weekend programme of charters from 1984 to 1989.  These operated fromBirmingham to Alicante, Gerona, Ibiza, Mahón, Munich and Rimini while East Midlands was linked to several of these, Bristol was linked to Munich and Glasgow to Alicante.  On 8th November 1992 Dan-Air Services was taken over but its remaining fleet of eleven Series 500s had been retired two days earlier and was not part of the agreement.  See also Maersk Air Ltd and Brymon European Airways Ltd.

Names used on the aircraft:-

 G-AVGP - County of Nottinghamshire

G-AWBL - County of Leicestershire

G-BBME - County of Shropshire

G-BBMF - County of Worcestershire

G-BBMG - County of Gloucestershire

G-AVMH - County of Cheshire

G-AVMI - County of Merseyside and later Country of Avon

G-AVMJ - Strathclyde Region

G-AVMK - County of Kent

G-AVML - County of Surrey

G-AVMM - County of Gloucestershire & later County of Antrim

G-AVMN - County of Essex

G-AVMO - Lothian Region

G-AVMP - Bailiwick of Jersey

G-AVMR - County of Tyne & Wear

G-AVMS - County of West Sussex

G-AVMT - County of Glamorgan & later County of Berkshire

G-AVMU - County of Dorset

G-AVMV - County of Powys & later Greater Manchester County

G-AVMW - Grampian Region

G-AVMX - County of Nottinghamshire & later County of East Sussex

G-AVMY - County of Derbyshire

G-AVMZ - County of Lancashire

G-AWYR - County of Suffolk

G-AWYS - County of Norfolk

G-AWYT - County of Gwynedd

G-AWYU - County of Avon

G-AWYV - County of Powys

G-AXJK - County of Hereford

G-AXJM - County of Durham

G-AXLL - County of Yorkshire

G-AYOP - County of Humberside

G-AZMF - County of Northumberland

G-AZPZ - Dumfries & Galloway Region

G-BGKE - County of Gwynedd & later County of West Midlands

G-BGKF - County of Warwickshire

G-BGKG - County of Staffordshire

G-BJRT - County of South Glamorgan

G-BJRU - County of West Glamorgan

British Caledonian Airways, Ltd. - (BR/BCA)

London-Gatwick

This company was formed from the merger of Caledonian Airways (Prestwick) Ltd and British United Airways Ltd on 30th November 1970, though the company was initially marketed as Caledonian//BUA until 1st November 1971.  Inherited from these two companies were eight Series 201ACs (one of which was sold in September 1971), eight Series 501EXs and four Series 509EWs.  Two Series 530FXs, laid out in a 109 seat single class configuration, were ordered with delivery in March 1972 and the second, after a year’s lease to Court Line Ltd, in March 1973.  A Series 515FB was leased from mid August to mid October 1972 to cover an aircraft shortage following an accident to one of the Series 501EXs in Greece.  All the Series 509EWs were disposed of, two in October 1975, one in November 1975 and the last in May 1976.  One of the Series 501EXs was also sold in September 1976.  Following the sale of the seven remaining Series 201ACs to Pacific Express Inc between October 1981 and June 1982, additional Series 500s were obtained to replace them.  Two Series 528FLs and one Series 515FB were obtained from Hapag-Lloyd with two delivered in October 1981 and the other in March 1982.  Following the last service by a Series 201AC between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Gatwick on 21st March 1982, four ex Laker Airways Series 320L-AZs were operated between April 1982 until sold between September and November 1983 while a Series 523FJ was bought in December 1983.  A Series 509EW was leased from British Island Airways Ltd from 10th November 1985 until 29th May 1986 from Monday to Friday only.  The new company continued to operate the scheduled network built up by British United Airways and added a Gatwick to Paris schedule in November 1971.  An Edinburgh to Copenhagen via Newcastle service was added in November 1972 and a Gatwick to Brussels route in June 1974.  With effect from 1st November 1974, in a major cost cutting exercise, service was withdrawn from Gatwick to Belfast, Gibraltar, Ibiza, Málaga and Palma, from Glasgow to Southampton and from Edinburgh to Copenhagen via Newcastle.  A Gatwick to Algiers schedule was added in 1976 followed by the North African destinations of Casablanca, Oran, Tangier, Tripoli and Tunis.  Charter and inclusive tour flights continued to be flown to Europe and North Africa.  Points served included Alghero, Alicante, Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Basel, Belgrade, Bergen, Billund, Bordeaux, Copenhagen, Corfu, Dublin, Dubrovnik, Düsseldorf, Faro, Forli, Genoa, Gerona, Gütersloh, Ibiza, Madrid, Mahón, Málaga, Malta, Milan-Malpensa, Naples, Nice, Oporto, Ostend, Palma, Pula, Rhodes, Rimini, Rome-Fiumicino, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Split, Tangier, Tarbes, Tenerife, Tunis, Venice and RAF Wildenrath.  Aircraft were also leased out to Air Malawi, Air Malta, Austrian Airlines, British Airways and TransBrasil Airlines.  The company merged into British Airways plc on 14th April 1988.

Names used on the aircraft:-

G-ASJC - City of Glasgow

G-ASJD - City of Edinburgh

G-ASJE - City of Dundee

G-ASJF - Burgh of Fort William

G-ASJG - Burgh of Paisley

G-ASJH - Burgh of Hawick

G-ASJI - Royal Burgh of Nairn

G-ASTJ - Royal Burgh of Dunfermline

G-AWWX - Isle of Skye

G-AWWY - Isle of Iona

G-AWWZ - Isle of Eriskay

G-AWYR - Isle of Tiree

G-AWYS - Isle of Bute

G-AWYT - Isle of Barra

G-AWYU - Isle of Colonsay

G-AWYV - Isle of Harris

G-AXJK - Isle of Staffa

G-AXJL - Isle of Mingulay

G-AXJM - Isle of Islay

G-AXLL - City of Aberdeen

G-AXYD - Isle of Arran

G-AYOP - Isle of Hoy

G-AZMF - Isle of Raasay

G-AZPZ - City of Glasgow

G-BJRT - New Town of East Kilbride

G-BJRU - City of Edinburgh

British Eagle International Airlines, Ltd. - (EG)

London Heathrow

This company initially leased two new Series 207AJs from Zambia Airways from April and May 1966 to November and December 1967.  Three new Series 301AGs were taken on strength in June and July 1966 on lease from the Kuwait Finance Company.  Two Series 304AXs were ordered new with 97 seat single class interiors and were delivered in April and May 1967 raising the company’s fleet to seven aircraft.  The type inaugurated service on 9th May 1966 and they were employed on a scheduled network linking London-Heathrow with Dinard, Djerba via Tunis, Gerona, Glasgow, La Baule, Liverpool, Luxembourg, Newquay, Palma, Perpignan, Pisa, Rimini and Stuttgart.  From Liverpool schedules were flown to Dublin and Newquay and to Frankfurt and Rimini via Manchester and to Ibiza and Palma via Birmingham. Newquay to Glasgow and Manchester schedules were also flown.  The type was also used on charter flights to both Europe and North Africa from Heathrow, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. Points served included Alghero, Alicante, Barcelona, Basel, Belgrade, Benina and El Adem (Libya), Bordeaux, Brussels, Dinard, Dubrovnik, Geneva, Genoa, Gerona, Gothenburg, Ibiza, Istanbul, La Baule, Las Palmas, Mahón, Málaga, Milan-Malpensa, Malta, Munich, Murcia, Nicosia, Nüremberg, Ostend, Palma, Paris-Le Bourget, Perpignan, Pisa, Rimini, Rome-Ciampino, Seville, Stockholm, Tenerife (via Lisbon), Valencia, Venice and Zürich. Aircraft were also operated on behalf of KLM, Swissair and Scandinavian Airlines System. The airline ceased trading on 06Nov68

Names used on the aircraft:-

G-ATPH - Salute

G-ATPI - Supreme

G-ATPJ - Stalwart

G-ATPK - Spur

G-ATPL - Superb

G-ATTP - Swift

G-ATVH - Serene

British European Airways Corporation - BEA. - (BE/BEA)

London-Heathrow

BEA ordered 18 Series 510EDs with options on a further six on 27th January 1967.  The options were never taken up.  The aircraft were delivered between late August 1968 and mid August 1969 apart from one aircraft that was retained for Autoland development by BAC until May 1970.  They initially operated in a 97 seat single class configuration.  After ad hoc substitutions starting on 1st September 1968, the type was gradually introduced into regular service beginning on 17th November 1968 both on the Internal German Services (IGS) based on Berlin-Tempelhof and on the Heathrow to Manchester route.  As the fleet built up it finally took over all of the IGS services with effect from 1st November 1971 replacing the last of the Viscounts, much of the Manchester scheduled network and was used on several of the Heathrow to Germany routes.  A One-Eleven division was set up at Manchester during 1971.  From here the aircraft were both maintained and controlled in their use on all IGS services and Manchester International and Domestic services excluding those to the Channel Islands.  From Manchester schedules were flown to Amsterdam, Belfast, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Geneva, Glasgow, Milan, Munich, Palma, Paris-Orly and Berlin-Tempelhof via Düsseldorf.  A programme of charter flights was also flown from Manchester to Barcelona, Gerona, Ibiza, Mahón,  Milan-Linate, Munich, Oporto and Palma. From Heathrow schedules were flown to Aberdeen, Alghero, Berlin-Tempelhof, Birmingham, Bremen and Hannover, Cagliari, Manchester, Munich and Shannon while Birmingham to Dublin, Glasgow and Paris-Orly schedules were also flown.  Over the years Berlin-Tempelhof schedules were flown to Bremen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Munich, Münster/Osnabrück, Nüremberg, Stuttgart and the holiday island of Sylt.  From April 1969 to 31st October 1972 services were operated on joint Air France/BEA services from Tempelhof to Frankfurt and Munich with aircraft painted in a neutral colour scheme using British Airways technical crew and with both Air France and BEA cabin crew.  Cambrian Airways Series 400s were used to operate some IGS services between 1970 and March 1972 and also operated some Dublin to Birmingham and Manchester schedules.  All four Cambrian aircraft were used at various times.  One used Series 408EF and two used Series 401AKs were purchased for operation on the Birmingham network, although only the first had entered service prior to the complete merger of BEA and BOAC and that aircraft was painted in full British Airways colours.  BEA officially ceased to exist on 1st April 1974 after the formation of British Airways plc although trading in the British Airways name had started on 1st September 1973.

British Island Airways, Ltd. - (KD, IV & UK/BIA)

London-Gatwick

This airline purchased a Series 409AY and two Series 432FDs previously operated by Gulf Air with delivery in December 1978 and January and February 1979 for inclusive tour and contract charter flights within Europe.  On 16th October 1979 the company was merged with Air Anglia Ltd to form Air UK Ltd but was reformed on 1st January 1982 with the four One-Elevens then on strength with Air UK Ltd.  The airline continued to operate inclusive tour and charter flights as before.  A second Series 416EK was leased from British Aerospace for the summer in 1983.  The company considerably expanded when it took delivery of a Series 523FJ and a 531FS from Cayman Airways Ltd in April and May 1984.  It then added a Series 518FG and a 509EW obtained from Monarch Airlines Ltd in May and October 1985.  A Series 561RC was leased from TAROM for the summer season in 1986 while two Series 525FTs were leased from the same source in early summer 1987.  Following the delivery of the Series 500s, the Series 400s were leased out to several operators for varying periods of time.  These included Air Écosse Ltd in January and February 1984, Air UK Ltd from November 1985 to April 1987 and from May 1985 to April 1988, Airways International Cymru Ltd from March to November 1984, Transport Aérien Transrégional (TAT) from March and April 1989 to February 1990 and Virgin Atlantic Airways from January to April 1985.  Services were also operated on behalf of Air Florida Inc from Gatwick to Amsterdam, Brussels, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt from May 1983 to July 1984.  The company also flew its own scheduled routes with the One-Elevens from Gatwick to Catania, Malta and Palermo and from Manchester to Catania and Palermo.  From 10th November 1985 until 29th May 1986 the company’s Series 509EW was operated on behalf of British Caledonian Airways Ltd from Monday to Friday only.  All operations came to an end when the company collapsed on 1st February 1990.  Charter destinations included Aberdeen, Ajaccio, Amsterdam, Athens, Beauvais, Belfast, Bergen, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Brindisi, Bristol, Corfu, Dublin, Edinburgh, Faro, Geneva, Glasgow, RAF Gothenburg, Grenoble, Gütersloh, Ibiza, Leeds, Lille, Lossiemouth, Lourdes, Lyon, Madrid, Mahón, Milan-Malpensa, Montpellier, Málaga, Malmö, Malta, Newcastle, Nice, Palma, Paris-Orly, Pula, Reims, Rome-Fiumicino, Rotterdam, Stuttgart, Teesside, Turin, Vienna and BAC Warton.

Names used on the aircraft:-

G-AWWZ - Island Empress

G-AXBB - Island Entente

G-AXLN - Island Enterprise

G-AXMG - Island Emblem

G-AXMU - Island Esprit

G-AXOX - Island Endeavour

G-AYWB - Island Envoy

G-CBIA Island Ensign

British Midland Airways, Ltd. - (BD/BMA)

East Midlands

BMA initially ordered two Series 303s on 20th November 1965 for spring 1967 delivery but cancelled the order the following year. In mid 1969 the company ordered two Series 523FJs followed by a third two months later. Configured with 119 passenger seats, the aircraft were delivered in February and March 1970. The aircraft were used on the company’s scheduled routes from East Midlands to Belfast, Dublin, Jersey, Glasgow (some via Leeds/Bradford) and Luton and from Jersey to Luton. A three times daily service was flown from Heathrow to Teesside with effect from 4th May 1970. Service had previously been inaugurated on the East Midlands to Jersey and Belfast routes on 24th February 1970. European inclusive tour and charter flights were also flown from Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Gatwick, Glasgow, Luton and Manchester. Inclusive tour and charter destinations included Aalborg, Alicante, Amsterdam, Basle, Barcelona, Bastia, Beauvais, Bergen, Berlin-Tegel, Billund, Cologne, Corfu, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Faro, Frankfurt, Gerona, Gothenburg, RAF Gütersloh, Hamburg, Hannover, Hucknall (Rolls Royce), Ibiza, Isle of Man, Mahón, Málaga, Malta, Marseille, Milan-Malpensa, Munich, Naples, Nice, Ostend, Palma, Paris-Orly, Rimini, Tangier, Tarbes, Tenerife (via Lisbon), Toulouse, Trieste, Tunis, Turin, Valencia, Venice and Zürich. One aircraft was leased to Court Line from late February 1972 to September 1973. This was replaced by another aircraft until April 1974. The aircraft were sold to TransBrasil in March and September 1973 and April 1974. A Series 401AK was leased from Dan-Air Services from late October 1982 to January 1983 and a Series 304AX from Airways International Cymru from early November 1985 until May 1987.

British United Airways, Ltd. - (BR/BUA)

London-Gatwick

On 9th May 1961 British United Airways became the launch customer for the One-Eleven with an order for ten Series 201ACs with an option on a further five.  Laid out in a 69 seat single class configuration, they were delivered between April and November 1965.  On 4th March 1968 the company ordered five Series 501EXs initially for use in the inclusive tour rôle.  Laid out in a 109 seat single class configuration, they were delivered between April and June 1969.  Later a further three similar aircraft were ordered with delivery in March 1970.  A Series 408EF was leased from April to October 1969 to cover the loss of an aircraft in an accident.  The company launched the world’s first One-Eleven revenue service on 9th April 1965 between Gatwick and Genoa and rapidly introduced the type on its scheduled routes from Gatwick to Amsterdam, Belfast, Edinburgh, Genoa, Gibraltar, Glasgow, Ibiza, Jersey (and from Manchester), Le Touquet, Malaga, Palma, Rotterdam and Tunis replacing Vickers Viscounts and Bristol Britannias.  Between 4th August and 31st December 1965 a programme of trooping flights was flown from Manchester to Düsseldorf, Gütersloh and Hannover. The type was also used on schedules from Glasgow to Southampton and to Amsterdam via Newcastle.  A weekly service from Gatwick to Lagos via Lisbon, Las Palmas, Bathurst, Freetown and Accra was operated with passengers and aircraft night-stopping at Las Palmas en route.  Charter destinations included Alicante, Basel, Berlin-Tegel, Dublin, Ibiza, Gerona, Lisbon, Málaga, Palma, Tarbes, Tunis, Venice and Zürich.  One of the Series 501EXs was operated on behalf of Swissair from 23rd April to 31st October 1970.  The company merged with Caledonian Airways (Prestwick) Ltd to form Caledonian//BUA on 30th November 1970.

British World Airlines, Ltd. - (VF/BWL)

Southend & Stansted

Previously known as British Air Ferries Ltd, this company was officially launched as such on 6th April 1993 with its operational base at Stansted and the engineering base at Southend.  Aircraft had appeared and were registered to British World Airlines prior to the official launch date.  Of the eleven Series 500s obtained after the collapse of Dan-Air Ltd, only five were made operational.  The company launched a three times weekly scheduled service from Stansted to Bucharest on 28th June 1993 but this was discontinued in March 1994 due to poor loads.  The five operational Series 500s were later bought from ILFC in November 1994.  Two of these were leased to SABENA through Delta Air Transport NV with effect from 26th March until 16th December 1995 and again for two weeks in April 1996 though only one aircraft was used at any one time.  During summer 1996 aircraft were based at both Stansted and Gatwick to operate inclusive tour and charter flights to France, Italy and Spain together with ad hoc charters and ad hoc schedules for both Ryanair Ltd and Maersk Air Ltd.  Series 500s were wet leased to Aer Lingus Commuter Ltd to operate seven times per week between Stansted and Dublin from 28th October 1996 until 28th March 1997.  In November 1999 a Series 518FG was leased to Air Nostrum of Spain.  The Series 520FN was withdrawn from service in January 1999 and sold in Nigeria in the same month.  Two further aircraft were withdrawn in November 2000 with the final aircraft ferrying to Southend for storage on 24th December 2000.  Over the years charter and inclusive tour flights were flown from Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Exeter, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, Inverness, Jersey, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Southampton, Southend and Stansted in the United Kingdom.  Points served included Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin-Schonefeld, Biarritz, Bordeaux, Bruggen, Brussels, Budapest, Cagliari, Deauville, Dublin, Hamburg, Hannover, Geneva, Genoa, Gothenburg, Jyväskylä, Košice, Lanzarote, Lisbon, Londonderry, Lyon, Mahón, Málaga, Malmö, Milan-Malpensa, Murcia, Nice, Ostend, Paderborn, Palma, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Pisa, Prague, Preveza, Rome (Ciampino and Fiumicino), Rotterdam, Seville, Shannon, Stavanger, Tarbes, Turin, Venice, Vienna and Warsaw.

Name used on the aircraft:-

G-OBWD - City of Bucharest

Brymon European Airways, Ltd. - (BC/BRY)

Birmingham & Plymouth

This company started operations on 25th October 1992 following the merger of Birmingham European Airways Ltd and Brymon Airways Ltd of Plymouth.  The four One-Elevens previously with the former carrier continued in service.  These comprised two Series 408EFs, a Series 406EK and a Series 416EK.  A Series 501EX was leased from British Airways plc with effect from early March 1993.  The aircraft were flown on scheduled routes from Birmingham to Amsterdam, Belfast, Copenhagen, Cork, Dublin, Geneva, Milan and Stuttgart.  From April 1993 a twice daily Bristol to Paris (Charles de Gaulle) schedule was also flown from Monday to Friday and once on Sunday on behalf of British Airways.  The merger that created this carrier was reversed on 1st August 1993 and the former Birmingham European Airways Ltd became Maersk Air Ltd after becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Maersk Air I/S of Denmark.

Names used on the aircraft:-

G-AVGP - City of Coventry

G-AWBL - City of Birmingham

G-BBME - City of Nottingham

G-BBMG - Stratford upon Avon

Caledonian Airways ( Prestwick), Ltd. - (CA)

Prestwick

This company announced an order for three Series 509EWs laid out in a 109 seat single class configuration with an option on a fourth on 14th March 1968.  This option was later taken up.  The first three were delivered in March and April 1969 and the fourth in March 1970.  The aircraft operated inclusive tour flights on behalf of tour operators Blue-Sky and Global Holidays from Gatwick, Glasgow and Manchester to numerous destinations in Europe, North Africa and the Canary Islands.  These included Alicante, Barcelona, Genoa, Gerona, Ibiza, Mahón, Málaga, Munich, Naples, Oporto, Palma, Rimini, Tenerife via Lisbon, Venice and Zürich.  Trooping flights were also flown from Manchester to Hannover and RAF Gütersloh.  The company merged with British United Airways Ltd to form the interim Caledonian//BUA Ltd on 30th November 1970 before finally becoming British Caledonian Airways Ltd on 1st November 1971.

Names used on the aircraft:-

G-AWWX - Flagship Isle of Skye

G-AWWY - Isle of Iona

G-AWWZ - Isle of Eriskay

G-AXYD - Isle of Arran

Caledonian//BUA, Ltd. - see British Caledonian Airways, Ltd.

  Cambrian Airways, Ltd. - (CS/CAS)

Cardiff-Rhoose

This company, which was part of BEA’s subsidiary British Air Services by the time One-Elevens were introduced, bought three used Series 416EKs and one Series 408EF which were delivered in December 1969, January and April 1970 and February 1971.  The type inaugurated scheduled service on 15th January 1970 between Heathrow and Liverpool.  Schedules were also flown from Heathrow to Cork , Dubrovnik and the Isle of Man and from Liverpool to Dublin. The type was also flown on schedules from Cardiff to Paris-Le Bourget via Bristol and Southampton. In addition charter flights were flown from Bristol, Cardiff, Gatwick and Liverpool to European destinations including Alicante, Barcelona, Bordeaux, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Faro, Genoa, Gerona, Ibiza, Málaga, Munich, Palma, Pula, Rimini, Rotterdam, Tenerife, Valencia and Venice.  One aircraft at a time was rotated through Berlin-Tempelhof to operate schedules on behalf of BEA on its internal German network to Hamburg (four times daily), Hannover (once daily) and occasionally Bremen between 1970 and March 1972 while Dublin to Birmingham and Manchester schedules were also flown on behalf of BEA in 1970.  The Cambrian name ceased to be used with effect from 1st September 1973.  From this date all services were marketed in the British Airways name ahead of the complete merger of British Air Services with BEA and BOAC on 1st April 1974.

Channel Airways, Ltd. - (CW)

Southend

On 5th September 1966 Channel Airways Ltd announced an order for four Series 408EFs with an option on two more.  Only three aircraft were eventually delivered, the first being in an 89 seat configuration and the second two in a high density 99 seat configuration.  This last seating plan necessitated a modification with two over-wing emergency exits each side (the only short fuselage One-Elevens to be so modified).  The first aircraft was returned to the manufacturer on receipt of the second.  The third aircraft was initially leased by British United Airways before it entered service with Channel Airways in October 1969.  The type entered service on 16th June 1967 with the first aircraft based at Southend.  On receipt of the second and third aircraft the fleet was based at Stansted.  The type was used on inclusive tour and holiday charter flights from Berlin-Tegel, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Manchester, Southend, Stansted and Teesside to numerous European destinations including Alicante, Barcelona, Basel, Burgas, Cologne, Genoa, Gerona, Ibiza, Jersey, Las Palmas via Lisbon, Málaga, Malta, Milan-Malpensa, Naples, Ostend, Palma, Paris, Perpignan, Rimini, Rome (Fiumicino and Ciampino), Rotterdam, Tunis, Valencia, Varna and Venice.  The type was occasionally used on scheduled services such as Southend to Rotterdam.  The company entered receivership on 1st February 1972 and the last One-Eleven ceased flying on 15th February 1972

Cityflyer Express, Ltd. - (FD & BA/CFE)

London-Gatwick

This company leased an unknown Series 510ED from European Aircharter Ltd from late March 1997 to 7th April 1997 to operate the four times daily schedule between Gatwick and Dublin pending delivery of its first BAe RJ100.  A Series 510ED from the same source was used as a standby aircraft at Gatwick from October 1997 to July 1998.

Court Line Aviation, Ltd. - (OU)

Luton

This company, known as Autair International Airways Ltd until 31st December 1969, ordered seven Series 518FGs which were all delivered in Court Line’s new corporate colour scheme in a high density 119 seat configuration between December 1969 and April 1970.  With the arrival of the new aircraft all but one of the Series 400s was retired, though this too was gone by mid January 1971.  Two further Series 518FGs were added in March 1971, one of which was leased from British Caledonian until December 1972.  A Series 521FH was leased from Austral of Argentina for the summer peak in 1971 and was operated from April to October.  Two used Series 517FEs were obtained in September and December 1971 to further expand the fleet.  With the procurement of a 75% holding in LIAT of the West Indies by the Court Line Group in 1971, the company transferred one of its Series 518FGs to LIAT in November 1971 and this continued until it was replaced in June 1972 by a third Series 517FE which was obtained new by Court Line.  Two British Midland Series 523FJs were leased in 1973, one from March to September and the other from September to January 1974.  The two remaining Series 517FEs were also transferred to LIAT in December 1972 and December 1973.  Other overseas leases were a Series 518FG to Aviateca of Guatemala from November 1970 to April 1971, a Series 518FG to LANICA of Nicaragua from December 1971 to March 1972, a Series 518FG to Cyprus Airways from May 1974 and a Series 518FG to Germanair from the same month.  The aircraft were employed in Court Line service mainly flying inclusive tour flights for the Clarksons Travel Group but also for other organisations from Luton, Gatwick and several other provincial UK airports to Europe and North Africa until the company ceased trading on 15th August 1974.

Names used on the aircraft and colours:-

 G-AWBL - Halcyon Dawn (turquoise)

G-AXMF - Halcyon Breeze (pink)

G-AXMG - Halcyon Sky (turquoise)

G-AXMH - Halcyon Sun (orange)

G-AXMI - Halcyon Days (pink)

G-AXMJ - Halcyon Night (turquoise)

G-AXMK - Halcyon Star & later Halcyon Days (turquoise & later orange)

G-AXML - Halcyon Cloud (pink)

G-AYOP - Halcyon Beach (orange)

G-AYOR - Halcyon Dawn (orange)

G-AYXB - Halcyon Bay

G-AZEB - Halcyon Bay (lilac)

G-AZEC - Halcyon Cove (lilac)

G-BCCV - Halcyon Beach (lilac)

Dan-Air Services, Ltd. - (DA/DAN)

London-Gatwick

This company obtained its first two Series 401AKs from American Airlines Inc in March 1969 followed by two used Series 301AGs in October 1969 and March 1970.  The first two were put into service out of Luton and Manchester in an 89 seat all tourist configuration to fulfil contracts from Lunn-Poly and Everyman Travel from early April 1969.  A damaged Series 414EG was purchased and was rebuilt on the Hurn production line and delivered in late December 1971.  Between late January and mid March 1975 four ex Court Line Series 518FGs were bought while at the end of March 1975 Zambia Airways’ two Series 207AJs were obtained.  Further expansion of the fleet came with the addition of two ex British Caledonian Series 509EWs in October 1975 and May 1976 and a Series 520FN from BAe in October 1979.  The airline later purchased LACSA’s two Series 531FS’s and single Series 515FB with delivery in November 1981 and March and May 1982.  The last One-Elevens purchased were a Series 517FE in October 1983 after an earlier lease from March of the same year and a Series 301AG in early March 1985.  Several aircraft were leased in for short periods mainly to cover the peak summer traffic. These comprised a Series 515FB from April 1981 to February 1982, two Series 416EKs in summers 1983 and 1984, a Series 525FT from TAROM in summer 1984, a Series 304AX in summer 1988, a Series 509EW in summer 1990, and a Series 561RC in late 1988 and again in summer 1989 from TAROM.  The TAROM aircraft were flown by Romanian crews.  The type was used on inclusive tour and charter services throughout Europe and to North Africa both from the United Kingdom and Berlin.  These aircraft gradually replaced Dan-Air’s large de Havilland Comet fleet which was rapidly becoming uneconomic with the rising kerosene fuel prices.  A network of scheduled services was also built up with the type starting on the Gatwick to Newcastle route in November 1974. Domestically over the years Gatwick was also linked with Aberdeen, Belfast, Jersey and Manchester while a Heathrow to Inverness route was taken over from British Airways on 27th March 1983. For a short while this last route was also flown via Manchester while a Manchester to Aberdeen route was also flown. Schedules also linked Jersey with Aberdeen via Newcastle, Bristol, Cardiff, Cork and Leeds. Internationally One-Elevens flew schedules from Gatwick to Amsterdam, Bergen, Berlin, Clermont Ferrand, Cork, Dublin, Ibiza, Lisbon, Lourdes, Madrid, Mahón, Montpellier, Munich, Nice, Paris, Perpignan, Rome, Stavanger, Toulouse and Zürich. Manchester was linked with Amsterdam, Berlin (via Amsterdam), Gothenburg and Oslo while Bergen, Kristiansand and Stavanger were served from Newcastle. A Berlin-Tegel to Amsterdam twice daily schedule was also flown with the type. Charter and inclusive tour destinations (other than scheduled routes) served over the years by BAC One-Elevens included Aalborg, Ajaccio, Alghero, Alicante, Almeria, Athens, Barcelona, Bastia, Beauvais, Bergen, Bilbao, Blackpool, Bologna, Borlange, Calvi, Cardiff, Catania, Cologne, Copenhagen, Corfu, Djerba, Dubrovnik, Düsseldorf, Exeter, Faro, Frankfurt, Funchal, Geneva, Genoa, Gerona, Gibraltar, Gothenburg, Grenoble, Hamburg, Helsinki, Ibiza, Klagenfurt, Kristiansand, Lamezia, Lanzarote, Las Palmas, Linz, Lisbon, Luton, Lyon, Madrid, Mahón, Málaga, Malmö, Malta, Marseille, Milan-Linate and Malpensa, Monastir, Montpellier, Munich, Naples, Nice, Nuremberg, Olbia, Oslo, Palermo, Palma, Paris-Le Bourget, Pescara, Pisa, Pula, Reus, Rhodes, Rijeka, Rimini, Rome-Ciampino, Rønne, Rotterdam, Salzburg, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Salzburg, Seville, Shannon, Split, Stavanger, Stockholm, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Tangier, Tarbes, Teesside, Tenerife, Treviso, Trieste, Tunis, Turin, Valencia, Venice, Verona, Vienna, Warton (BAC), Zakinthos and Zürich. The last of the short fuselage Series 200/300/400s was disposed of in November 1991 leaving the airline with a fleet of eleven Series 500 aircraft, two of which were operated in a 119 charter configuration and the remainder in a 99 seat scheduled configuration. On 23rd October 1992 it was announced that the airline was to be taken over by British Airways plc. The last revenue One-Eleven flight took place when G-BCWA arrived at Gatwick from Toulouse as flight DA810 on 6th November 1992 at 0937 in advance of the official takeover on 8th November 1992.

Names used on the aircraft:-

G-ATPK - Highland Opportunity & later Highland Enterprise

Debonair, Ltd. - (2G/DEB)

Luton

Debonair leased a Series 520FN from British World Airlines Ltd for nearly six weeks from early April 1998.  A Series 501EX was leased from European Aircharter Ltd from 14th May 1999 until a Series 530FX in full Debonair colours was delivered to Luton on 31st May 1999 on lease from the same company.  The aircraft was operated in a 94 seat passenger configuration for a daily rotation from Luton to Madrid with an additional Luton to Rome (Fiumicino) schedule added from mid July 1999. This operation continued until 30th September 1999 when the aircraft was returned to the lessor.  Debonair ceased operations the day after on 1st October 1999.

Defence Evaluation and Research Agency - DERA. See QinetiQ Group, Plc.

Defence Research Agency - DRA. See QinetiQ Group, Plc.

EasyJet Airlines, Co. Ltd. - (U2/EZY)

Luton

From 1st May 1997 European Aircharter Series 510EDs were leased to operate up to ten sectors per day on the company’s schedules between Luton and Glasgow.  Various aircraft were used to fulfil this contract which was completed in July 1997.

Emerald European Airways, Ltd. - (YE)

Belfast International

This operator, which was a subsidiary of European Aircharter, commenced twice daily schedules between Belfast International and Luton on 15th December 1994 with a leased European Aircharter Series 510ED.  From 1st February 1995 any Series 510ED of European Aircharter was used to operate the service for this carrier.  The company ceased trading after operating its last flight on 6th June 1995.

Empire Test Pilots' School.

Boscombe Down

This organisation is currently a part of the Air Test & Evaluation Centre (ATEC).  It is run as a partnership between the UK Ministry of Defence and QinetiQ Ltd.  It obtained a Series 479FU in February 1985.  The aircraft was used as a flying classroom for training test pilots until it was withdrawn from use due to corrosion in January 2011 having flown its last sortie on 27th November 2009.  From this time QinetiQ's last operational One-Eleven, ZH763, was utilised when required until it too was withdrawn on 13th December 2012 and replaced with a BAe RJ100.

European Aviation Air Charter, Ltd. - (E7/EAF)

Bournemouth-Hurn

Trading as European Aircharter, this organisation was the operating subsidiary of European Aviation Ltd.  It introduced its first aircraft into service on 16th February 1994 operating a charter flight from Filton to Lyon and for the summer season in 1994 operated four Series 510EDs in a 104 seat passenger configuration.  A fifth Series 510ED came on line in October 1994 while a 50 seat VIP configured Series 530FX entered service on 18th June 1995.  A further three Series 510EDs, a Series 501EX, a second Series 530FX and a Series 523FJ came into service for the summer season in 1995 raising the operational fleet of One-Elevens to twelve.  Two further Series 510EDs were overhauled and returned to service in October 1996 and September 1998 while ex AB Airlines Series 510EDs joined the fleet in July 1997 and September 1999.  The peak operational One-Eleven fleet was sixteen aircraft and on 20th September 1998 all the aircraft actually flew, the only time this happened.  From October 1998 the fleet was gradually run down when it was realised that the cost of certificating Stage 3 hush-kits to comply with EEC rules would be excessive.  The last of the fleet was finally withdrawn on the evening of 31st March 2002 the day before the new noise and emission rules came into effect in the EEC.  The company, which was originally based at Filton in the offices next to the Rolls Royce Flying Unit hangar, moved its engineering and operational base to Hurn in April 1995.  Two of the company’s Series 510EDs were operated on behalf of Delta Air Transport N.V. and flew SABENA schedules from 26th March 1995 while from October 1995 two further Series 510EDs were employed on this contract, one of which was used as a standby.  By late December 1995 only one aircraft remained on lease to Delta Air Transport and this continued until the end of June 1996.  The summer 1995 charter programme included inclusive tour flights from Gatwick to France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, from Manchester to France and the Channel Islands, from Liverpool to the Channel Islands and from Belfast to France.  Another aircraft was based in Milan (Malpensa) and flew to Gatwick and Manchester and from both Malpensa and Rome-Ciampino to Dublin and Edinburgh.  During the summer of 1995 two Series 510EDs were based at Stansted as back-up aircraft for both Ryanair Ltd and for Air UK Ltd.  Summer 1996 saw the lease of an aircraft to both Air Liberté (from 31st March to 20th September 1996) and to Maersk Air Ltd (1st April 1996 to 1st May 1998).  Two Series 510EDs were also operated on behalf of Ryanair Ltd and another Series 510ED jointly on behalf of Jersey European Airways Ltd and Air UK Ltd.  Through the winter of 1996/7 single Series 510EDs were leased to both Ryanair Ltd and Air UK Ltd.  Summer 1997 saw the lease of a Series 510ED to Jersey European Airways in full colours, later being extended through winter 1997/8 and throughout summer 1998 while the Ryanair lease continued through the summer of 1997.  An aircraft was leased to operate joint Air France/Air Inter Europe schedules based on Lille from 19th June to 31st August 1997.  A Series 510ED was leased to Euroscot Express Ltd from late September 1997 until mid August 1998 while CityJet Ltd leased a single aircraft from 8th to 27th January 1998 to operate the company’s Dublin to Paris schedules.  European Aircharter was granted a Ministry of Defence contract for the movement of military personnel and their families between the United Kingdom and Germany with effect from 2nd April 1998.  Over the years charter and inclusive tour flights were flown from Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Brize Norton, Cardiff, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Exeter, Filton, Gatwick, Glasgow, Humberside, Hurn, Inverness, Jersey, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Prestwick, Southampton, Stansted, Teesside and Woodford.  Points served included Ajaccio, Amsterdam, Ancona, Barcelona, Bastia, Beauvais, Bergamo, Berlin (Schönefeld and Tegel), Biarritz, Bologna, Bordeaux, Bratislava, Bremen, Brescia, Brest, Brussels, Budapest, Cagliari, Chateauroux, Clermont Ferrand, Cognac, Cork, Deauville, Dijon, Dinard, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Eindhoven, Faro, Forlì, Frankfurt, Geneva, Genoa, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Hannover, Helsinki, Jönköping, Keflavik, Killarney (Kerry), Knock, Kittilä, Košice, Le Havre, Leipzig, Lisbon, Luxembourg, Lyon, Mahón, Málaga, Malmö, Marrakech, Marseille, Milan (Malpensa and Linate), Madrid, Moscow, Munich, Münster, Nantes, Nice, Olbia, Oporto, Orléans, Oslo, Ostend, Ouarzazate, Palma, Paphos, Paris (Charles de Gaulle and Orly), Perpignan, Pisa, Poitiers, Poznań, Prague, Quimper, RAF Brüggen, RAF Osnabrück, Reus, Rimini, Rodez, Rome-Ciampino, Rotterdam, Rovaneimi, Santander, Shannon, Spilt, Stavanger, Stuttgart, Tarbes, Tel Aviv, Toulouse, Treviso, Tunis, Turin, Valencia, Valenciennes-Charleroi, Verona, Vienna, Warsaw and Wroclaw.  Many flights were flown on behalf of British Airways between Manchester, Belfast and Edinburgh.  The VIP configured aircraft were used for tours which included those by Eric Clapton, the Spice Girls, the Three Tenors and by Robin Cook on a Middle East tour.  Two of the Series 510EDs were withdrawn from service at the end of October 1998, a third in February 1999 and a fourth in early October 1999, all being put in storage pending certification of the Stage 3 modifications.  The first of a regular once weekly charter ferrying injured and sick holidaymakers from the Spanish mainland and Majorca to the UK on behalf of holiday insurance companies began on 17th April 1999.  With the arrival of a fleet of ex SABENA Boeing 737-200s the operational fleet of One-Elevens was reduced to eleven for the peak of the 2000 summer season of which two were leased to Fly European Airlines AB of Sweden with effect from 8th May 2000 for three months.  From mid August 2000 the operational fleet was reduced to ten.  All but one of the Series 510EDs was withdrawn from service on 14th November 2000 leaving five active One-Elevens in the fleet.  By Apr01 the last remaining active Series 510ED had been converted to an executive configuration for use in supporting the Minardi Formula 1 racing team.  The company’s Series 523FJ was retired in late September 2001 and one of the Series 530FXs in early October 2001 leaving three operational One-Elevens to see the company through the winter period.  The JAR imposed Stage 3 rules became effective on 1st April 2002 and the last revenue flight took place on 31st March 2002.

Names used on the aircraft:-

G-AVMH - The Brussels Express

G-AVMI - The Rome Express

G-AVMK - The Paris Express

G-AVMN - The Dublin Express

G-AVMP - The Madrid Express

G-AVMS - The London Express

G-AVMW - The European Express

G-AZMF - The European Express

European Aviation, Ltd.

Bournemouth-Hurn

This company initially purchased two former Royal Australian Air Force Series 217EAs in September 1990 which were subsequently sold to Okada Air in Nigeria in December 1991.  Later, on 7th May 1993, sixteen Series 510EDs were bought from British Airways plc together with a comprehensive spares package.  Two of these aircraft were leased to Air Bristol from October 1993 while a subsidiary company, European Aviation Air Charter Ltd, was formed in late September 1993 to operate a number of these aircraft on charter work from its base at Bristol-Filton.  In July 1994 a Series 530FX and a Series 501EX were bought from British Airways plc followed by a second Series 530FX in September 1994 and a Series 523FJ in December 1994 both, from the same source.  Through the company’s engineering subsidiary, European Aviation Maintenance Ltd, most of the aircraft were overhauled and returned to service.  In August 1995 it was announced that Stage 3 hush-kits were to be fitted to the company fleet.  These were being developed in the USA by Quiet Technology Venture Ltd in Florida and marketed jointly with European Aviation Ltd.  The first aircraft, G-AVML, was flown to Opa Locka in mid July 1998 for trial proof of concept installation and ground running in No2 position before returning in August 1998 after removal of the kit.  The last Series 510ED to be overhauled for return to service, G-AVMM, was ferried to Farnborough in September 1998 and fitted with a dummy stage 3 hush-kit as a promotional exercise.  The aircraft was refitted with its Stage 2 unit and later put in service.  G-AVML returned to Opa Locka for air-testing in October 1998, when once again No2 engine was modified.  After several flights the aircraft was de-modified and returned to Hurn in February 1999.  A Series 524FF and a Series 527FK formerly operated by Philippine Airlines Inc were obtained in December 1995 and a Series 518FG and a Series 521FH were obtained from Austral Líneas Aéreas in June 1995 for possible future hush-kitting and service.  Two of the Series 510EDs had considerable engineering work carried out to replace the Smith Industries Flight System with the Collins FD108 type, fit forward airstairs, and install Spey Mk.512-14DW engines.  Between early December 1996 and late August 1996 and between November 1997 and early September 1998 this work took place on G-AVML and G-AVMM at the engineering base at Hurn.  Several other Series 510EDs had the uprated Rolls-Royce Spey Mk.512-14DW installed while two others had forward airstairs fitted.  The Series 500 version of the One-Eleven had never been certificated in the USA and with both Rolls-Royce plc and BAE Systems showing little enthusiasm for the project as a last resort European Aviation Ltd looked to registering Stage 3 modified aircraft in Bermuda.  However, the costs and the problems seemed insurmountable and the whole project was abandoned by August 2000.  As the One-Eleven fleet was gradually run down, European Aviation was successful in selling two Series 510EDs to Chanchangi Airlines Ltd in Nigeria in October and November 2000 and a Series 523FJ and a Series 530FX to Savannah Airlines Ltd also in Nigeria in September and October 2001.  The last of the fleet was withdrawn on 31st March 2002 before the type was grounded in the EEC and the UK due to the new noise and emission rules that came into effect the following day.

Euroscot Express, Ltd. - (MY/EUJ)

Glasgow

This company commenced a once daily scheduled service between Hurn and Glasgow on 22nd September 1997 with a leased European Aircharter Ltd Series 510ED in full Euroscot Express colour scheme.  Configured with a 104 seat all tourist cabin, the aircraft inaugurated a second route between Hurn and Edinburgh on 26th September 1997 which flew on Friday, Saturday and Sunday only.  The dedicated aircraft was replaced by any available aircraft from the original lessor’s One-Eleven fleet with effect from 12th July 1998.  Due to poor loads the One-Eleven was replaced by an ATR-72 from 17th August 1998.

Ford Motor Company, Ltd. - (FOB)

Stansted

This company, trading as Fordair Europe, obtained two low time Series 423ETs from the Força Aérea Brasiliera in December 1976 and a Series 414EG from Bavaria/Germanair Fluggesellschaft mbH in November 1977.  All three aircraft were used in the corporate rôle to transport personnel between Ford’s numerous production centres throughout Europe including Bordeaux, Cologne, Saarbrucken, and Valencia. At least one tour to South Africa was also made. Two were operated in a 40 passenger seat configuration while a third had an 18 seat VIP configuration.  The first entered service on 23rd February 1977 between Stansted and Cologne after refurbishment at Lasham.  The third aircraft was ferried to the USA for fitting out with an executive interior before finally entering service in March 1978.  Two of the aircraft were sold in Nigeria in July 1993 while the third soldiered on until early October 1997 before it was sold in Indonesia.

GEC Ferranti Defence Systems, Ltd.

Edinburgh

This company purchased a Series 539GL from British Airways plc in June 1991 to be converted as a testbed for the ECR-90 radar to be installed in the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft.  Due to the urgency of the programme and the earlier availability of an already modified One-Eleven airframe with the Defence Research Agency, the two aircraft were exchanged and flight testing was carried out in the Series 479FU.  This last aircraft has since been returned to QinetiQ.

Jersey European Airlines, AB. - (JY/JEA)

Exeter

A European Aircharter Ltd Series 510ED was used to operate a four times weekly schedule between Stansted and Belfast International together with a joint Air UK/Jersey European once daily schedule between Amsterdam and Belfast International from 15th July to 26th October 1996.  Different Series 510EDs from the EAC fleet were used to operate these services.  With effect from 22nd March 1997 a Series 510ED in full JEA colours and in a 96 seat two class layout was leased to operate the four times daily schedule between Stansted and Belfast International.  From 6th September 1998 this aircraft was based at Lyon to operate Air France’s three times daily schedule to Heathrow from Monday to Friday and twice daily on Saturdays and Sundays.  It continued to fly in Jersey European’s colours until the contract ended on 24th October 1998 and the aircraft was returned to European Aircharter.

Laker Airways, Ltd. - (GK/LKR)

Gatwick

Laker Airways ordered three Series 320L-AZs on 8th February 1966 laid out in an 84 seat single class configuration.  They were delivered in February, March and May 1967.  A fourth aircraft was ordered on 28th June 1967 which was delivered in April 1968.  One of these aircraft was delivered from new to Air Congo on lease from May 1967 to the end of February 1968 being replaced by another aircraft of the same type to the contract completion in May 1968.  A used Series 432FD was leased from BAC for two and a half weeks in August and September 1969 while a Series 301AG was added to the fleet in February 1971.  This aircraft was sold in February 1981.  The aircraft were used on inclusive tour and charter flights to many European destinations from many UK airports including Birmingham, Bristol, Gatwick, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester mainly for Arrowsmith, Laker Travel, Lord Brothers and Wings.  Points served included Algiers, Alicante, Athens, Barcelona, Basel, Belgrade, Budapest, Catania, Corfu, Faro, Geneva, Heraklion, Ibiza, Istanbul, Las Palmas, Madrid, Milan-Malpensa, Munich, Naples, Nice, Nicosia, Ostend, Palma, Perpignan, Pisa, Pula, Rhodes, Rimini, Salzburg, Stockholm, Tarbes, Tenerife, Tunis and Vienna.  Inclusive tour flights were also flown from Berlin-Tempelhof.  The airline ceased trading on 25th February 1982.

Loganair, Ltd. - (LC/LOG)

Glasgow

This company leased a Series 561RC from Ryanair Europe Ltd in April and May 1989 immediately followed by a Series 476FM from the same carrier until October 1989.  The aircraft were mainly used in operating scheduled Manchester to Edinburgh, Guernsey and Glasgow flights together with a Brussels schedule from Edinburgh via Manchester which was code shared with SABENA.

London European Airways, plc. - (UQ)

Luton

This airline was formed as a UK subsidiary of Ryanair Ltd.  It commenced scheduled services from Luton to Amsterdam and Brusssels with a leased Romanian registered TAROM Series 561RC on 22nd May 1987.  From mid August 1987 the aircraft was registered in the United Kingdom and from January 1988 the company was marketed as Ryanair Europe.  The scheduled operations came to an end in January 1989 and the airline concentrated on charter work.  A Series 476FM was added to the fleet in May 1989 while three Series 500 aircraft were added in April and May 1990 at which time the company reverted to its former name of London European Airways Ltd.  These last aircraft were a Series 531FS in April and a Series 523FJ and a Series 518FG in May.  The earlier used Series 561RC was transferred to the parent company in May 1990.  The Series 476FM was leased to Loganair Ltd from June to October 1989 after the earlier lease of the Series 561RC in April and May 1989.  Two of the remaining Series 500s were transferred to Ryanair in December 1990 followed by the remaining aircraft in early May 1991.  The company went into receivership on 31st May 1991.  Charter destinations served included Alicante, Amsterdam, Belfast, Brussles, Deauville, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Exeter, Faro, Glasgow, RAF Gütersloh, Ibiza, Isle of Man, Le Havre, Mahón, Málaga,  Manchester, Marseille, Montpellier, Murcia, Naples, Newcastle, Oporto, Palma, Paris-Le Bourget, Reus, Stuttgart and Verona.

Name used on the aircraft:-

 G-BNIH / YR-BRF - The Spirit of Europe

Maersk Air, Ltd. - (VB & BA/MSK)

Birmingham

With effect from 1st August 1993 Brymon European Airways Ltd was broken down into its component parts of Birmingham European Airways Ltd and Brymon Airways Ltd.  The former became wholly owned by Maersk Air I/S of Denmark and was renamed Maersk Air Ltd from this same date.  At the same time the airline became a British Airways’ franchise carrier and all the aircraft were painted in British Airways’ full colour scheme.  The two Series 408EFs, one Series 401AK, one Series 416EK and the one Series 501EX continued to operate the scheduled route network built up by the former airline together with occasional charter work in the Maersk Air Ltd name.  Points served from Birmingham were Amsterdam, Belfast International, Copenhagen, Milan and Stuttgart.  From late March 1994 Cork and Lyon were added to the destinations served.  An additional Series 501EX was added in August 1994 on lease from British Airways plc.  This last aircraft was later bought from the owner in September 1995.  During March and April 1995 this carrier’s One-Elevens were reconfigured to meet the new British Airways Club Europe launch.  The Series 400 seating capacity was reduced from 77 to 63 (comprising 28 four abreast club seats and 35 five abreast tourist seats) while the Series 500 seating capacity was reduced from 99 to 86 (comprising 32 four abreast club seats and 54 five abreast tourist seats).  A third Series 501EX was leased from European Aircharter Ltd from late March 1996 to early May 1998.  One of the Series 400 aircraft was leased to parent company Maersk Air I/S from 31st July to 28th October 1995.  During the summer months from 1995 to 1997 inclusive a programme of weekend charter flights was flown to Jersey from several UK provincial points with the Series 501EXs.  The Series 400s were sold in South Africa in July and December 1996 and February and April 1997 after flying the last revenue service on 20th March 1997.  The last revenue flight by a Series 500 took place on 4th August 1998 and the two Series 501EXs were sold in Nigeria in October 1998 and January 1999.

 Manx Airlines, Ltd. - (JE/MNX)

Isle of Man-Ronaldsway

Manx Airlines leased a Series 304AX from Airways International Cymru Ltd which was introduced into service on the scheduled route between the Isle of Man and Heathrow on 16th May 1987 in full Manx Airline’s colour scheme.  The aircraft flew this route up to three times daily until replaced by a BAe146-100 on 4th December 1987.

McAlpine Aviation, Ltd. - (RM/MAL)

Luton

This organisation took delivery of two Series 492GMs, the last two One-Elevens off the Hurn production line.  They were both ferried out to Fort Lauderdale for executive fitting out in July 1984 before ferry to Luton on completion in March and April 1986.  The first aircraft was sold to Twinjet Aircraft sales in March 1990 for onward sale in Saudi Arabia.  The second was sold to World Oil & Gas Resources in October 1992.

Mediterranean Express, Ltd. - (MEE)

Luton

This company took delivery of two ex Compañía de Aviación Faucett SA Series 476FMs in June and December 1987.  After over four years of storage at Van Nuys in California one of the aircraft was found to be beyond economic restoration when it arrived in the UK.  The remaining aircraft was operated on inclusive tour and charter flights with effect from 23rd June 1987 visiting the UK airports of Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, East Midlands, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool, London (Gatwick and  Heathrow), Luton, Manchester, Southampton, and BAe Woodford while European destinations included the following:- Barcelona, Bologna, Catania, Cologne, Corfu, Dublin, Faro, Frankfurt, Geneva, Gerona, Hannover, Knock, Liege, Lourdes, Madrid, Malaga, Milan Malpensa, Naples, Ostend, Palmero, Palma, Pisa, Rome (Ciampino and Fiumicino), Tarbes, Turin, Venice and Zurich until the company ceased operations on the 11th January 1988. Madonna was carried on a European tour while David Bowie was flown from Luton to Newcastle on one occasion.

Monarch Airlines, Ltd. - (OM/MON)

Luton

This airline leased a Series 518FG from BAC from late February 1975 to late October 1976.  Its second aircraft was a Series 517FE which was delivered in early March 1975.  In mid November 1975 a Series 509EW was leased from Caledonian Airways before it was purchased outright in January 1977.  The company’s fourth aircraft, a Series 518FG, was leased from BAC in late October 1976 and replaced the earlier used similar type.  The three aircraft flew inclusive tour contract and charter flights to numerous points in Europe mainly from Luton but also from Gatwick, Bristol, Birmingham and Castle Donnington and Manchester.  Destinations served included Alicante, Amsterdam, Basel, Bologna, Catania, Faro, Genoa, Gerona, Helsinki, Heraklion, Ibiza, Kerkyra, Lisbon, Málaga, Munich, Naples, Nice, Palma, Rimini, Rome, Santiago de Compostela, Stuttgart, Tarbes, Treviso, Tunis, Venice, Verona, Vienna and Zürich.  One aircraft was sold in March 1983, a second in May 1985 and the last aircraft flew its final service with Monarch Airlines on 20th October 1985 as OM675 from Alicante to Luton before it too was sold.

Orientair, Ltd.

This company arranged to buy two Series 401AKs from American Airlines Inc for operation on inclusive tour flights from Berlin to Mediterranean holiday destinations. The first aircraft was fully painted in Orientair colours and ready for delivery at Hurn by Oct72 but the company failed to start operations and the aircraft was not delivered. The second aircraft was not identified.

Name used on the aircraft:-

G-AZMI - City of Berlin

QinetiQ Group, plc.

Boscombe Down

The origins of this organisation can be traced to the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) until it was absorbed into the Defence Research Agency (DRA) in April 1991.  The organisation became known as the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) from 1st April 1997 and after privatisation on 02nd July 2001 adopted its current name.   This organisation has operated four One-Elevens over the years.  The first, a Series 201AC was delivered in March 1973 after being fitted with long range tanks and specialised radar equipment.  It was initially used by the Blind Landing Experimental Unit – (BLEU) at Thurleigh for the development of equipment to enable Category 3 approaches to be made.  Its base was transferred to Farnborough in March 1994.  It was later used for investigation into steeper angles of approach in an effort to reduce the area that noise nuisance was a problem.  The aircraft was then used as a flying laboratory in a contract from the UK Civil Aviation Authority for research into harmonising the various European Air Traffic Control systems under the “PHARE” programme.  It was later fitted with an experimental Flight Management System with touch-screen computer controls before it was finally retired from service on 5th June 2003.  The organisation’s second aircraft was a Series 402AP which was obtained in May 1974 and was based at Farnborough where it was used by the Flight Management Department for research into communication and navigational systems and was fitted with externally mounted video cameras for monitoring control surfaces, engines etc which could not be observed from within the aircraft.  Its final uses were in further communications research and sonobuoy development for which the aircraft was modified with a chute in the ventral entry area for launch purposes.  This aircraft was withdrawn in March 1997.  A Series 479FU was obtained in June 1984 and based at Bedford where the aircraft nose was extensively modified to accommodate the ECR90 radar and first flew as such on 8th January 1993.  This system was later to be installed in the Eurofighter Typhoon.  This aircraft was later transferred to GEC Ferranti Defence Systems and based at Edinburgh from February 1994.  It was later returned to QinetiQ at Boscombe Down.  In February 1994 a Series 539GL was obtained from GEC Ferranti Defence Systems in exchange for the Series 479FU.  The aircraft was later modified with a bucket type radar housing below the lower forward fuselage. This housed an experimental synthetic aperture radar controlled by an on board scientist.  An externally mounted sideways looking radar was fitted above the forward cabin windows to starboard.  The Empire Test Pilots’ School Series 479FU was added to the QinetiQ fleet following its privatisation on 2nd July 2001 when the ETPS became jointly controlled by the MoD and QinetiQ as part of the Air Test & Evaluation Centre (ATEC).  The Series 539GL flew its last operational sortie on 13th December 2012, so ending the organisation’s use of the type.  This aircraft was donated to the Classic Air Force and flown to Newquay airport on 26th April 2013.  See also the Empire Test Pilots’ School.

Rolls-Royce, plc. see Turbo-Union, Ltd.

Royal Aircraft Establishment. See QinetiQ Group, plc.

Royal Aerospace Establishment. See QinetiQ Group, plc.

Royal Air Force. - (RR/RRR)

The Queen’s Flight of the Royal Air Force had originally considered the One-Eleven in 1971 but because of economy measures the type was rejected in favour of the HS748/Andover.  The type was again considered in late 1977 as a replacement for the 748/Andover and the specifications revised.  This was done yet again in 1979 but this time with additional fuel tankage to increase the range to 2,400 miles.  The Series 475AM/670AM development aircraft was evaluated by the Flight for a week in April 1980 but capital sanction for a purchase was not forthcoming.  Had it been adopted, the type would have been used worldwide for the transport of the UK Royal Household on official business.  The last two Series 475s off the UK production line had been earmarked for the Queen’s Flight.

Ryanair Europe, Ltd. see London European Airways, Ltd.

Turbo-Union, Ltd.

Bristol-Filton

This organisation obtained a Series 409AY in February 1979 which was converted into combi configuration with a large main deck freight door by BAe at Hurn.  The rear of the cabin from just ahead of the overwing emergency exits was initially fitted with 39 normal airline seats while the forward section was stripped of seats and overhead racks.  The large main deck cargo door measured 10ft X 6ft 1in (3.05m X 1.85m) and the aircraft was additionally fitted with a one inch thick fire-resistant load spreading plywood floor.  This enabled a cargo load of 4,111kilos to be carried on the main deck.  The aircraft was operated on Turbo-Union’s behalf by the Rolls-Royce Flying Unit based at Filton carrying personnel, engines and equipment between plants in the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain mainly in connection with the Panavia Tornado programme.  The unit was closed down early in 1994 and the aircraft sold.

Virgin Atlantic Airways, Ltd. - (VS/VIR)

London-Heathrow/Gatwick

A Series 432FD was leased from British Island Airways from mid November 1984 to April 1985.  It was operated in BIA colours with full Virgin Atlantic fin scheme on the scheduled route from Gatwick to Maastricht.

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