British European Airways

1947 was also the year BEA operated its first scheduled all-cargo flight from Northolt to Brussels with a DC-3 freighter. The same year, it inaugurated a scheduled service between Land's End Airport in southwest Cornwall, England, and St Mary's Airport on the largest island of the Isles of Scilly archipelago off the southwest coast of Cornwall, using "Islander" class Dragon Rapides.

Despite the previous year's nationalisation of several private airlines and their absorption into BEA, the government-owned carrier continued to contract its private sector counterparts to operate a limited number of regional feeder services on its behalf via "associate" agreements. These needed to be approved by the Air Transport Advisory Council (ATAC), the contemporary UK government department in charge of air transport economic regulation. Cambrian and Western Airways were the first two airlines to be given associate status by BEA in May 1948. These arrangements enabled the latter to contract the operation of a new feeder route between Cardiff and Weston-super-Mare to both of the former, which respectively used Dragon Rapides and Avro Ansons to provide a daily service. East Anglian Flying Services (EAFS) was another early BEA associate. The association agreement between BEA and EAFS resulted in the latter operating a Southend–Rochester feeder service on behalf of the former.

1948 was also the year BEA's reservations department moved to new premises at Dorland Hall, Lower Regent Street in London's West End.

BEA made aviation history in 1950 with the world's first turbine-powered commercial air service from London to Paris, using the UK Ministry of Supply-owned Vickers Viscount 630 prototype G-AHRF. By that time, BEA's main operating base at Northolt was the busiest airport in the UK; however, the airline was losing money, which resulted in replacing former BOAC director, Gerard d'Erlanger, who was BEA's first chairman, with Lord Douglas of Kirtleside, as well as appointing Peter Masefield as its new managing director.

In April 1950, BEA operated its first service from London Heathrow Airport.

Following the provisional introduction of the Viscount 630 prototype on the London–Paris and London–Edinburgh routes, BEA ordered 20 Viscount 701s in August 1950 for delivery from 1953. Also in 1950, BEA informed Vickers of its requirement for an aircraft with 10% lower costs per seat-mile than the 800 series Viscount. This provided the impetus for Vickers to begin developing the four-engined Vanguard high-capacity turboprop in 1953.

Expansion, modernisation and commercialisation (1951–1960)

Peter Masefield's arrival as managing director (MD) in 1950 marked the beginning of BEA's commercialisation. This entailed introduction of new cost control measures and innovative methods to boost revenue and passenger loads, including off-peak fares on late-evening flights and high-frequency services on the London–Paris route. BEA's new commercially aggressive approach soon resulted in monthly earnings of £1 million.

In early 1951, BEA introduced its first "Pionair" class Douglas DC-3, a Scottish Aviation DC-3 conversion featuring British instrumentation and an increased seating capacity of 32. In addition to having 38 DC-3s converted to Pionair passenger carriers, BEA had a further 10 DC-3s modified as "Leopard" class freighters. The same year, BEA introduced its first tourist class on Viking services. This entailed re-configuring a total of 49 aircraft in a 36-seat, single class layout. BEA referred to its re-configured, all-tourist class Vikings as "Admiral" class [aircraft].

In 1952, BEA carried its one-millionth passenger and introduced the first of 20 Airspeed Ambassadors. These cost £3 million and featured a 49-seat mixed-class layout. BEA's first commercial Ambassador service left London for Paris on 13 March 1952. Flights to Milan and Vienna began the following month. These aircraft introduced the airline's passengers to new standards of comfort and speed. Compared with BEA's older piston types, the Ambassador's flight time from London to Milan, for example, reduced by two hours. In June 1952 BEA re-launched the pre-war mid-day Silverwing service pioneered by Imperial Airways on the London–Paris route with 40-seat all-first class Ambassadors. The Ambassador was BEA's last major piston-engined type. It referred to the aircraft as "Elizabethan" class to commemorate the accession of Elizabeth II that year. Also in 1952, BEA made Jersey-based independent airline Jersey Airlines an associate to develop a network of routes within the Channel Islands and expand services between the islands and the UK mainland.

In 1953, BEA began receiving the first 16 Viscount 701 turboprops it had ordered in August 1950. The first of these "Discovery" class aircraft entered service with 47 mixed-class seats in April 1953, and the first production aircraft (G-AMAV) went on to win the transport class of the 1953 London to Christchurch, New Zealand, air race, with BEA MD Peter Masefield as team manager and co-pilot.

1953 was also the year Flightmaster, BEA's first mechanical reservations system, was installed. This enabled the simultaneous display of seat availability on 32,000 flights.

Between February and April 1954, BEA's expanding Viscount fleet replaced Elizabethans between London, Nice and Rome, and on regional routes from Manchester and Birmingham. By that time, BEA had shifted its main operating base to Heathrow, which became the London terminal for all international flights. Although it continued to use Northolt as a London terminal for domestic flights serving Manchester, Edinburgh, Renfrew (Glasgow), Aberdeen, Belfast and the Channel Islands which by that time were mainly operated by 36-seater "Admiral" class Vikings, these were wound down in favour of concentrating all of BEA's London flights at Heathrow. A Jersey-bound Pionair in October 1954 was BEA's final flight from Northolt.

The Viscount's commercial success had made it the leading short-haul aircraft in Europe in the mid-1950s. This led Lord Douglas to believe that turboprops would continue to be the mainstay of BEA's fleet into the 1960s.

On 31 March 1955, BEA completed its first profitable financial year, recording an operating profit of £552,314 and a net profit of £63,039.

In July 1955, BEA became the launch customer for the Vanguard, Vickers' new high-capacity turboprop powered by four Rolls-Royce RB109 "Tyne" engines. The airline's launch order was for 20 aircraft, including six Vanguard V.951s and 14 heavier V.953s.

In mid-1955, BEA entered into a 10-year operating agreement with its associate Cambrian Airways. This resulted in the latter launching new services from Liverpool and Manchester to Jersey (via Bristol and Cardiff) on behalf of the former.

In its 1955–56 financial year, BEA carried more than two million passengers for the first time at an all-time high average load factor of 69.4%. During that period, it recorded a profit of £603,614, mainly as a result of revenue growth accounted for by the Viscount fleet.

In 1956, BEA acquired a 25% minority shareholding in Jersey Airlines and the corporation's Southampton–Guernsey and Southampton–Alderney routes transferred to the independent.

1956 was also the year BEA began using Viscounts for nightfreight operations to increase cargo capacity as well as the aircraft's utilisation. While BEA continued taking delivery of Viscount 701s, it placed its first order for 12 larger 66- to 68-seat Viscount 802/806s. These were delivered from February 1957. By 1958, BEA had 77 Viscounts in service.

On 7 February 1958, BEA acquired a 33⅓% minority shareholding in Welsh independent regional airline Cambrian Airways.

In March 1958, BEA ordered six de Havilland DH106 Comet 4B jet aircraft for delivery from 1960. This was BEA's answer to the impending introduction of the Sud-Est Caravelle, Air France's new short-/medium-range jet, on the French flag carrier's European, North African and Middle Eastern network, including the prime Heathrow – Le Bourget route from July 1959.

The arrival at Heathrow on 30 July 1958, of a BEA Elizabethan from Cologne marked the type's last service with the airline. Although its operating costs on short routes such as London–Paris were lower than the Viscount's, the piston type could not match the turboprop's passenger appeal. Unlike the Pionairs and Leopards, which continued serving regional feeder and freight routes, Elizabethans were deployed on trunk routes where passenger appeal was more important; this further hastened their demise in BEA service.

On 12 August 1959, BEA signed a £28 million contract for 24 de Havilland DH121 Trident Mark 1(C) "second-generation" jets plus 12 options, making it the launch customer for the world's first commercial T-tailed rear-engined trijet due to enter service in spring 1964. (This version of the Trident was smaller and lighter than de Havilland's original DH121 of 1956. At that time BEA's chairman, Anthony Milward, had insisted that a launch order from BEA depended on scaling down the original design, in the belief that the Vickers Vanguard high-capacity turboprops it had ordered the year before would remain competitive against jets on trunk routes as a result of lower operating and seat-mile costs. BEA's insistence on building the Trident smaller with less powerful engines and a lower fuel capacity than originally proposed was also a manifestation of the cautious attitude of the airline's senior management against a backdrop of a [temporary] reduction in its profit margin and slowdown in its growth rate. Meeting BEA's specifications for the Trident involved reducing the length of the aircraft's fuselage, its wingspan and weight and replacing the Rolls-Royce RB141/3 "Medway" engines with Rolls-Royce RB163 "Speys". Shrinking the original design also reduced seating capacity from 111–130 to 79–90, in mixed- and single-class configuration respectively.)

On 7 November 1959, BEA took delivery of its first Comet 4B (G-APMB), nearly two months ahead of the contracted delivery on 1 January 1960. This was followed by the official handover ceremony of the airline's first jet airliner on 16 November.

In its 1959–60 financial year, BEA carried 3.29 million passengers and recorded a profit of £2.09 million.

On 1 April 1960, BEA began commercial jet operations with its new Comet 4Bs. On that day, the airline commenced jet operations from Heathrow to Athens, Istanbul, Moscow, Munich, Rome and Warsaw with an initial, five-strong Comet fleet. By June, this fleet grew to seven (out of an eventual 18) aircraft, enabling the launch of additional jet services to Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Düsseldorf, Malta, Zürich and Frankfurt.

On 27 September 1960, BEA welcomed its 25-millionth passenger.

Also in 1960, BEA took delivery of its final two Viscount 701s bringing its total fleet strength of this sub-type to 50.

1960 was furthermore the year the UK Parliament enacted the Civil Aviation (Licensing) Act 1960 (8 & 9 Eliz. 2. c. 38), which abolished the statutory monopoly BEA and BOAC had enjoyed on principal domestic and international scheduled routes since the beginning of the post-war era. In theory, this gave independent airlines equal opportunities to develop scheduled routes in their own right; however, in reality, the corporations would object to applications by independent airlines seeking to be licensed as competitors to the state airlines. Each application by an independent airline for a scheduled route licence was heard by the newly established Air Transport Licensing Board (ATLB), the new UK government body in charge of air transport economic regulation that succeeded ATAC. At these hearings, the independents needed to convince the ATLB that there were sufficient passengers to justify the proposed scheduled services, that these stood a reasonable chance of becoming profitable and that they opened up new markets rather than divert traffic from the corporations to overcome the latter's objections. Although the ATLB granted British Eagle and British United Airways (BUA), BEA's and BOAC's two biggest independent competitors during the 1960s, licences to operate rival international scheduled services on several trunk routes from London Heathrow and Gatwick respectively, these airlines were unable to use them without actual traffic rights. For example, lack of traffic rights prevented BUA from running direct London (Gatwick) – Paris (Le Bourget) scheduled flights although it held a licence for that route, which the ATLB had awarded it in late 1961. In that case, BUA's failure to obtain traffic rights was mainly the result of the French authorities' refusal to grant these without a corresponding reduction in BEA's share of London–Paris flights.

In its 1960–61 financial year, BEA carried 3.99 million passengers at an average load factor of 65% and recorded a loss of £1.75 million.

BEA at its peak (1961–1971)

By the early 1960s, BEA carried just under four million passengers per year, more than any other airline in Europe (excluding Aeroflot); worldwide (excluding Aeroflot and the Chinese CAAC Airlines), only the "Big Four" US airlines – American Airlines, United Airlines, TWA and Eastern – carried more. By that time BEA served most major European cities, with the network stretching east to Moscow, Kuwait and Doha as well as to North Africa; it was a founder/minority shareholder of Alitalia, Aer Lingus, Cyprus Airways, Gibraltar Airways and Jersey Airlines.

In 1961 BEA placed an order for three Armstrong Whitworth Argosy all-cargo aircraft, the airline's first dedicated freighters; the first one was delivered and entered service later that year.

On 1 March 1961, BEA began Vanguard services following a delay to the aircraft's entry into service, as a result of major defects discovered in its Rolls-Royce Tyne engine's compressor during testing in early 1960. Following their delayed entry into service, BEA's Vanguards began flying to international destinations such as Malta and Barcelona and by 1962, took over about half of the flights previously operated by Viscounts on the airline's UK domestic trunk routes, where they operated in a 132-seat, single-class configuration. The Vanguards' introduction on BEA's Heathrow–Scotland trunk routes increased traffic by more than 20%.

On 1 April 1961, BEA moved some flights to Paris (Le Bourget) and other European destinations from Heathrow to Gatwick in accordance with the wishes of the British government to develop the latter airport.

In 1962, BEA sold its 25% minority holding in Jersey Airlines. This was followed by the BUA group's takeover of Jersey Airlines in May of that year.

On 19 May 1962, Pionair G-ALTT operated the type's final service on BEA's Scottish internal network between Islay, Campbeltown and Glasgow (Renfrew).

In its 1962-63 annual report, BEA estimated that introduction of both the Comet 4B and Vanguard had cost it more than £6 million over a two-year period. The airline considered this "a heavy financial burden" in support of British aircraft manufacturers, which adversely impacted its ability to compete with overseas rivals whose choice of aircraft was not influenced by political considerations.

Handley Page Dart Herald G-APWA is on display at the Museum of Berkshire Aviation. Woodley, Berkshire, England

Hawker Siddeley Trident 2E G-AVFB is on display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, England.

Vickers Viking G-AGRU is on display at the Brooklands Museum, Surrey, England.

Vickers Viscount 701 G-ALWF is on display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, England.

City centre check-in facilities

Following BEA's formation, its first Central London air terminal at which check-in facilities for passengers and baggage were available was located close to Victoria station. Before World War II, this facility had been used by Imperial Airways. When wartime restrictions on civil aviation in the UK were lifted, BEA began sharing it with BOAC. Once passengers had checked-in, they boarded one of the Commer Commando buses the airline provided to take them to Northolt. These 1½-deckers featured a raised seating area at the back, which increased the baggage space below.

On 31 May 1948, BEA moved its Central London check-in to Kensington Air Station, the first purpose-built facility for the exclusive use of BEA's passengers.

From 1952, BEA introduced new AEC Regal IV 1½-decker buses to carry its passengers from Central London to Northolt and Heathrow. London Transport operated these on BEA's behalf, in white/grey (later white/blue) livery.

In late 1953, BEA's Central London air terminal was moved again to a new site the Waterloo Air Terminal at next to Waterloo station on the south bank of the River Thames between the Houses of Parliament and the City of London. The Heathrow bus journey was now 20 minutes longer but an optional, more expensive, helicopter link was briefly operated from a South Bank helipad.

On 6 October 1957, BEA relocated its Central London air terminal once more to the West London Air Terminal in Cromwell Road in London's Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. This was a new, £5 million facility that was officially inaugurated upon completion in 1963.

In 1966, BEA introduced a fleet of double-decker London AEC Routemaster buses. These initially wore a blue and white livery, before being repainted in a white/grey livery, a white/blue livery incorporating BEA's "red square" logo and, finally, a white/red livery with Speedjack-style BEA lettering. The London Routemasters carried BEA's passengers from the West London Air Terminal to Heathrow and towed their baggage in large, two-wheeled trailers.

In 1974, British Airways withdrew the Central London check-in facilities it had inherited from BEA because of declining demand and closed the West London Air Terminal. This resulted in disposal of the dedicated fleet of Routemaster buses, some of which had already been repainted in the new red, white and blue Negus & Negus livery of British Airways.

On 19 February 1949, Douglas C-47A G-AHCW flying from Northolt to Renfrew collided in mid-air with Royal Air Force Avro Anson trainer VV243 near Coventry killing all 14 passengers and crew on both aircraft. Neither aircraft had seen the other despite clear weather, and the accident was blamed on neither maintaining an adequate look out.

On 19 August 1949, Douglas C-47A G-AHCY crashed into a hill 15 mi (24 km) short of the flight's destination at Manchester Airport due to a navigation error and pilot error, killing 24 out of 32 passengers and crew.

On 13 April 1950, Vickers Viking 1B G-AIVL "Vigilant" was on a flight from London-Northolt Airport to Paris over the English Channel near Hastings when a French passenger was suspected of making a suicide attempt after a bomb exploded in the rear toilet compartment, tearing a hole 8 ft (2.4 m) tall by 4 ft (1.2 m) wide in the fuselage. The flight returned to Northolt and landed safely. The passenger and a flight attendant were injured in the blast. The captain, Ian Harvey DFC, a former RAF Bomber Command pilot, was awarded the George Medal for the "coolness" that had characterised his deportment, throughout the incident: "In the face of this very grave emergency the action of Captain Harvey is worthy of the highest praise. The complete loss of the aircraft and all its company was avoided only as a result of his courage, high skill and presence of mind." The Flight Safety Foundation also honoured Harvey and his crew with an award. An official inquiry confirmed that a bomb had been detonated in the Viking's lavatory, but there was no evidence of how it had been done. The investigation revealed no motive for the attack. Material relating to it in the Public Record Office has been released and is available from The National Archives.

On 17 October 1950, Douglas Dakota C.3 G-AGIW crashed in Mill Hill shortly after takeoff on a flight from RAF Northolt to Renfrew Airport. The accident killed 28 passengers and crew, leaving an only survivor, flight attendant James McKissick. The crew had shut down the No.2 engine after it developed problems, leaving the aircraft without sufficient power to clear high ground.

On 31 October 1950, Vickers Viking 1B G-AHPN "Lord St Vincent" crashed in bad weather and poor visibility at London Airport after the aircraft struck the runway and went off the end of the runway and caught fire killing 28 out of 30 passengers and crew

On 5 January 1953, Vickers Viking 1B G-AJDL "Lord St Vincent" crashed on approach to Belfast Nutts Corner Airport due to pilot error, killing 27 out of 35 on board.

On 12 August 1953, Vickers Viking 1B G-AIVG landed wheels-up after a landing gear tire blew out, all on board survived. Although the aircraft was written off and withdrawn from use, it was moved to the Musée National de L'automobile de Mulhouse around 1970 and then moved to EuroAirport for restoration in 2004.

On 20 January 1956, Vickers Viscount 701 G-AMOM crashed on takeoff from Blackbushe Airport on a training flight due to a loss of power in two engines; all five crew on board survived, but the aircraft was written off. The training captain was simulating a number four engine failure and had pulled the high pressure cock on the number three engine by mistake and throttled back the number four engine, causing a loss of power in both engines three and four.

On 14 March 1957, Flight 411, a Vickers Viscount 701 (G-ALWE, "RMA Discovery"), crashed on approach to Manchester Airport due to a flap failure caused by metal fatigue. All 20 occupants on board died along with two on the ground. A bolt that held the bottom of the number two starboard flap unit broke, causing the aileron to become locked; this led to a loss of control.

On 28 September 1957, de Havilland Heron 1B G-AOFY, while operating a flight for the Scottish Air Ambulance Service, crashed on approach to Port Ellen/Glenegedale Airport, Islay, in bad weather. The three occupants, two crew and one nurse (a volunteer from Glasgow's Southern General Hospital) were killed. One of the remaining two Herons was named Sister Jean Kennedy after the nurse; the other after James Young Simpson, a Scottish pioneer in anaesthetics.

On 23 October 1957, Vickers Viscount 802 G-AOJA on a flight from Heathrow Airport crashed after overshooting on approach to Belfast Nutts Corner Airport, killing all seven on board; the cause was not determined.

On 17 November 1957, Vickers Viscount 802 G-AOHP crashed at Ballerup, Denmark, after the failure of three engines on approach to Copenhagen Airport. Both crew members survived. (There were no passengers on board the aircraft as this was an all-cargo flight.) The cause was a malfunction of the anti-icing system on the aircraft.

On 6 February 1958, Flight 609 crashed in a blizzard on its third attempt to take off from an icy runway at the Munich Riem Airport in Germany. On board the plane was the Manchester United football team, along with supporters and journalists. Twenty-three of the 43 passengers died. The accident is known as the "Munich Air Disaster". The charter flight was operated by Airspeed Ambassador 2 G-ALZU, Lord Burleigh.

On 28 April 1958, Vickers Viscount 802 G-AORC crashed at Craigie, South Ayrshire on approach to Glasgow Prestwick Airport when the pilot misread the altimeter by a margin of 10,000 ft (3,000 m). All five occupants on board survived.

On 16 May 1958, Douglas Dakota C.3 G-AGHP crashed at Chatenoy, France while flying in a storm as a result of structural failure, killing the crew of three.

On 22 October 1958, Flight 142, a Vickers Viscount 701C (G-ANHC), was struck by an Italian Air Force F-86E Sabre and crashed at Anzio, Italy with the loss of all 31 on board; the F-86 pilot was able to eject and survived.

On 5 January 1960, Vickers Viscount 701 G-AMNY was damaged beyond economic repair at Luqa Airport, Malta, when it departed the runway after landing following a loss of hydraulic pressure. Although the aircraft came to rest against the airport's control tower, there were no fatalities among the 51 occupants (five crew, 46 passengers).

On 7 January 1960, Vickers Viscount 802 G-AOHU was damaged beyond economic repair when the nose wheel collapsed on landing at Heathrow Airport due to ATC error. A fire then developed and nearly burnt-out the fuselage. There were no casualties among the 59 people on board.

On 21 December 1961, British European Airways Flight 226, a de Havilland Comet 4B (G-ARJM) operating on behalf of Cyprus Airways from London to Tel Aviv, stalled and crashed on takeoff from Esenboğa Airport, Ankara, Turkey. The aircraft was destroyed in the crash killing 27 of 34 on board. The cause was attributed to a fault with the horizon direction indicator giving the pilot a false indication and therefore leading him to put the aircraft in the wrong attitude. BEA and their underwriters began action in 1969 against the manufacturer of the indicator. The manufacturer stated they would defend the action and show that the cause was the pilot suffering a heart attack and the crew being negligent with flightdeck procedures.

On 4 July 1965, Armstrong Whitworth Argosy 222 G-ASXL crashed into a hilltop near Piacenza, Italy due to a navigation error. Although the aircraft was destroyed, both pilots survived.

On 27 October 1965, Vickers Vanguard G-APEE on a flight from Edinburgh crashed onto the runway during an approach in bad weather at London Heathrow Airport due to pilot error. All 36 on board died.

On 12 October 1967, Cyprus Airways Flight 284 operated by BEA de Havilland Comet 4B G-ARCO on behalf of Cyprus Airways, exploded in mid-air over the Mediterranean and crashed into the sea with the loss of all 66 on board. The explosion was caused by a device under a passenger seat.

On 4 December 1967, Armstrong Whitworth Argosy 222 G-ASXP crashed on a training flight at Stansted during a simulated engine failure, as a result of loss of control. Although the aircraft caught fire on impact, all three crew members survived.

On 3 July 1968, Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C G-ARPT was destroyed on the ground at London Heathrow when BKS Air Transport Airspeed Ambassador G-AMAD crashed at the airport. The Ambassador's impact cut the stationary Trident in half and severed the tailfin of another Trident parked next to it. While this made G-ARPT a complete write-off, the aircraft next to it, Trident 1C G-ARPI, was subsequently repaired and re-entered service. (The latter aircraft would be involved in the worst accident in BEA's history as well as the worst involving a Trident, in terms of fatalities, on 18 June 1972.) As at the time of the accident both Tridents were empty and not being attended to while parked on the airport ramp, no BEA passengers or staff were among the fatalities.

On 2 October 1971, Flight 706, a Vickers Vanguard (G-APEC), crashed near Aarsele, Belgium, following a mid-air rupture of the rear pressure bulkhead due to severe, undetected corrosion. All 63 on board died.

On 18 June 1972, Flight 548, a Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C (G-ARPI), the aircraft that had been repaired and returned to service after being struck by BKS Air Transport Ambassador G-AMAD at Heathrow on 3 July 1968, crashed two minutes after takeoff from Heathrow Airport, killing all 118 passengers and crew. The accident occurred close to the town of Staines, Middlesex. This was the worst accident in BEA's history as well as the worst involving a Trident, in terms of fatalities. It was also the worst on British soil until 1988.

On 19 January 1973, Vickers Viscount 802 G-AOHI crashed into Ben More, Perthshire while on a test flight. All four people on board were killed.