Overview

British Airtours was a UK charter airline based at London Gatwick. A charter airline is one that operates charter flights, that is flights that take place outside normal schedules, by a hiring arrangement with a particular customer. ... Gatwick Airport (IATA Airport Code: LGW, ICAO Airport Code: EGKK) is Londons second airport and the second largest airport in the UK after Heathrow. ...

Originally established as BEA Airtours in 1969, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of then state-owned British Airways (BA) following the BEA-BOAC merger of the early 1970s. 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... British Airways (LSE: BAY, NYSE: BAB) is the largest airline of the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe, with more flights from Europe across the Atlantic than any other operator. ... For alternate usages of BEA see Bea (disambiguation). ... The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the exclusive British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946. ...

British Airtours was merged with British Caledonian Charter, the wholly owned charter subsidiary of British Caledonian (BCal), Britain's erstwhile largest wholly privately owned, Independent international scheduled airline and the country's "Second Force" carrier, adopting the Caledonian Airways name when the newly privatised British Airways completed the acquisition of the rival BCal in April 1988. British Caledonian was an airline formed from the merger in 1970 of British United Airways and Caledonian Airways. ... April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four with the length of 30 days. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Caledonian Airways was eventually sold to UK tour operator Inspirations in 1993 marking BA's exit from the mainstream IT market. 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Look up It in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In 1999 Thomas Cook acquired Inspirations and merged Caledonian Airways with Flying Colours Airlines to form JMC Air Services, a forerunner of the UK arm of the present day Thomas Cook Airlines. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Old Farts by the Sometimes-United Nations. ... Thomas Cook (22 November 1808 – 18 July 1892) of Melbourne, Derbyshire, founded the travel agency that bears his name. ... JMC Air was a British charter airline formed by the merger of Caledonian Airways and Flying Colours following the purchase of Thomas Cook by the Carlson Leisure Group. ... Thomas Cook Airlines Boeing 757-200 series at Glasgow International Airport July 2006. ...

Historic Development

BEA Airtours was formed in 1969 as a division of BEA to provide it with a low-cost platform to participate in the then explosively growing inclusive tour (IT) holiday flights market, which until then had been the exclusive domain of wholly privately owned, Independent airlines. BEA saw this as a necessary "counter weight" to the Independents' rapidly growing scheduled activities that began "encroaching" on what the state-owned Corporations, i.e. BEA and BOAC, had traditionally regarded as their sole preserve.

The Independent charter airlines were suspicious of BEA's real motive to enter the IT market and thought that there was a "hidden agenda" to "destablise" this market by undercutting the Independent carriers, none of which could match the Corporation's almost unlimited financial resources at the time. The Independents moreover thought that BEA Airtours was meant to take on the Corporations' excess staff as well as to absorb aircraft that were surplus to their requirements. They feared that this would lead to significant market distortions, creating excess capacity and further depressing the already low charter rates in a highly competitive market. Alternate use, see charter airline, yacht charter, bare-boat charter or Charter Communications. ...

Commercial airline operations commenced from London Gatwick in 1970 with a fleet of nine second-hand ex-BEA De Havilland Comet series 4B aircraft. Gatwick Airport (IATA Airport Code: LGW, ICAO Airport Code: EGKK) is Londons second airport and the second largest airport in the UK after Heathrow. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... The de Havilland Comet of Britain was the worlds first commercial jet airliner. ...

In 1971 BEA Airtours had decided to replace the entire fleet with a similar number of larger capacity, longer range and more fuel-efficient ex-American Airlines Boeing 707-123Bs to enable it to commence non-stop, long-haul charter flights, including "affinity group" charters to North America. However, both Corporations opposed this decision. They insisted that any new aircraft should be exclusively sourced from the existing BEA and BOAC fleets. 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... American Airlines and American Eagle aircraft at San Juan American Airlines is the largest airline in the world in terms of total passengers transported and fleet size, and the second-largest airline in the world (behind Air France-KLM) in terms of total operating revenues. ... The Boeing 707 is a four engined commercial passenger jet aircraft developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ...

Following the Corporations' intervention, BEA Airtours acquired seven former BOAC Boeing 707-436s. These aircraft had a greater seating capacity than required and were powered by four Rolls-Royce Conway engines, an older generation engine type than the four Pratt and Whitney JT3D turbofans which powered the ex-American 707-123Bs it had originally selected to replace its Comet fleet. This meant that the ex-BOAC 707s had higher operating costs. However, BOAC was prepared to sell these aircraft to BEA Airtours at a lower price than American was asking for its planes, which helped compensate for the cost differential. The first of these aircraft entered service in 1971 while the last aircraft of this batch joined the fleet in 1973, which was also the year during which BEA Airtours commenced transatlantic ABC flights. By that time most of the Comets had already been withdrawn from service and put into storage. The Rolls-Royce Conway was the first by-pass engine to go into service in the world. ... Pratt & Whitney is an American owned aircraft engine manufacturer whose products are widely used in both civil and military aircraft. ... CFM56-3 turbofan, lower half, side view. ... 707 A south Australian counter-strike team consisting of fbz, bl1zz, carnage, ic3solo and Jonevo. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Look up ABC, abc in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Comet Hale-Bopp, showing a white dust tail and blue gas tail (February 1997) A comet is a small astronomical object similar to an asteroid but composed largely of ice. ...

The oil crisis in the wake of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, which led to a quadrupling of the price of a barrel of oil, substantially increased the operating costs of the remaining fuel-thirsty Comets and began to have an adverse impact on the airline's financial performance. Oil crisis may refer to: 1973 oil crisis 1979 energy crisis 1990 spike in the price of oil Oil price increases of 2004 and 2005 Hubbert peak theory Energy crisis This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب) are a heterogenous ethnic group who are predominantly speakers of the Arabic language, mainly found throughout the Middle East and North Africa. ... In economics, business, and accounting, a cost is the value of inputs that have been used up to produce something, and hence are not available for use anymore. ...

British Airtours, as the airline had become known following the creation of British Airways in 1974 as a result of the 1972 BEA-BOAC merger, therefore decided to retire its last remaining Comets during that year itself and to sell the entire fleet to Dan-Air. 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... // Dan-Air Services Limited was an airline based in the United Kingdom that commenced operations in May 1953 with a single Douglas DC-3 Dakota. It was a subsidiary of Davies and Newman, a ship broking company originally established in the City of London in 1922, from whose initials the...

Over the coming years British Airtours acquired additional Boeing 707s British Airways had inherited from BOAC.

When British Airways decided in the late 1970s to re-equip the aging and increasingly inefficient short-/medium-haul Hawker Siddeley Tridents and BAC 1-11s it had inherited from BEA with state-of-the-art Boeing 757s and 737s, a follow-on order for nine brand-new 737-236 "Advanced" aircraft was placed with Boeing. These aircraft, which were delivered to British Airtours' Gatwick base during the early 1980s, allowed it to replace all of its old, second-hand narrowbodied planes with brand-new equipment, thereby considerably enhancing its competitiveness vis-a-vis its Independent rivals. Trident 1E The Trident, model DH121 or HS121, was a short/medium-range airliner designed by de Havilland in the 1950s, and built by the Hawker-Siddeley Group in the 1960s when de Havilland was merged, along with several other British aviation firms. ... The BAC 1-11, or One-Eleven, was a short-range jet airliner designed by Hunting Aircraft and produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) after Hunting was merged with several other British aviation firms in 1960. ... American Airlines Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is a medium-range transcontinental commercial passenger airplane manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. ... Events Favila becomes king of Asturias after Pelayos death Births Emperor Kammu of Japan (d. ... The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA, TYO: 7661 ) is an aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. ... Gatwick Airport (IATA Airport Code: LGW, ICAO Airport Code: EGKK) is Londons second airport and the second largest airport in the UK after Heathrow. ...

In 1984 British Airtours took delivery of a Rolls-Royce RB211-powered Boeing 747-236B "jumbo" at Gatwick, its first and only brand-new widebodied aircraft. This aircraft was put into service on the airline's popular, long-haul ABC flights to North America. 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... RB211 powered Lockheed L-1011 The Rolls Royce RB.211 family is a family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines made by Rolls-Royce capable of generating 37,400 to 60,600 pounds-force (166 to 270 kilonewtons) thrust. ... The Boeing 747, commonly called a Jumbo Jet, is one of the most recognizable of all jet airliners and is the largest airliner currently in service. ...

In the meantime, British Airtours also began taking delivery of a small number of former British Airways Lockheed L-1011 "Tristar" widebodies, which initially supplemented its narrowbodied 737 fleet on the busier and more popular routes. The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, commonly referred to as just L-1011 (pronounced ell-ten-eleven), was the third widebody passenger jet airliner to enter operation, following the Boeing 747 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10. ...

British Airtours adopted the popular Caledonian Airways brand in April 1988 when the newly privatised British Airways had completed the takeover of its former Gatwick-based rival British Caledonian. It also adopted a modified British Caledonian livery adapted from the contemporary, Landor and Associates designed British Airways livery. The newly renamed Caledonian Airways moved its Gatwick operation from the airport's South Terminal into the then brand-new North Terminal, thereby concentrating most of the British Airways group's Gatwick services in the new terminal. A livery is a uniform worn by a civilian person. ...

Caledonian Airways began replacing its Boeing 737 narrowbodies with additional ex-British Airways L-1011 "Tristar" widebodies as well as with a number of brand-new Boeing 757s sourced from the large 757 orders placed by its parent company. The former British Airtours 737s were re-configured in British Airways' contemporary short-haul two-class cabin arrangement and began replacing the BAC 1-11-500s British Airways had inherited from British Caledonian on the UK flag carrier's short-haul Gatwick routes. Orbital Sciences Stargazer Lockheed L-1011 The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar was the third widebody passenger jet airliner to reach the marketplace, following the Boeing 747 jumbo jet and the Douglas DC-10. ... Events March 9 - A major earthquake strikes Palestine and Syria Offa becomes king of Mercia. ...

In 1993 British Airways decided to exit the short- to medium-haul package holiday market and sold Caledonian Airways to UK-based tour operator Inspirations, then part of the US-owned Carlson group, along with its core fleet of five "Tristars". Following Caledonian's sale to Inspirations, the 757s were returned to British Airways. A package holiday or package tour consists of transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. ... United States may refer to: Places: United States of America SS United States, the fastest ocean liner ever built. ...

Inspirations became part of the Thomas Cook group in 1999 when Caledonian Airways was merged with the Flying Colours airline to form JMC Air Services, which in turn became the UK arm of the present day Thomas Cook Airlines.

Following Inspirations' takeover by Thomas Cook, the former Caledonian Airways "Tristars" were withdrawn from service as these had suffered increasing, widely publicised reliability problems resulting in the travelling public's generally poor perception of Caledonian.

1985 Manchester air disaster

On August 22, 1985 the fuselage of a British Airtours Boeing 737-236 "Advanced" (registration: G-BGJL) caught fire on the tarmac at Manchester Airport while preparing for take-off on a charter flight to the Greek island of Corfu. The fuel access panel on the aircraft's fuselage was pierced by a part of the compressor that had been ejected from the port engine as a result of a malfunction. The fire quickly engulfed the area around the front passenger door filling the cabin with lethal, toxic fumes. 53 passengers and two crew members lost their lives as a result, most of them dying of asphyxiation after inhaling the toxic fumes. August 22 is the 234th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (235th in leap years), with 131 days remaining. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... There are two Manchester Airports: For the airport in Manchester, United Kingdom, see Manchester International Airport. ... Pontikonisi island in the background with the Vlaheraina Monastery in the foreground. ... Asphyxia is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body. ...

This tragic accident led to a major review of standard aircraft evacuation procedures and times as well as the introduction of additional measures to improve the survivability of an aircraft accident.

Although airline safety experts' calls for individual smoke hoods in aircraft cabins to protect passengers from toxic fumes in the event of an on-board fire have so far been rejected by both the industry and its safety regulators, floor lights that are activated in an emergency to provide visual guidance to the nearest exit have become compulsory in all commercial airliners as a result of this accident. A Smoke Hood is a protective device similar in concept to a gas mask. ... An airliner of Air Jamaica, the Airbus A340 An airliner is a type of aircraft initially designed for the transportation of paying passengers. ...

Code data

Former two-letter IATA airline identifier: KT. The International Air Transport Association is an international trade organization of airlines headquarted in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ...

External link

• Former employees site
• AAIB report No:8/88 - Boeing 737-236, G-BGJL, at Manchester Airport