Air U.K. Limited, branded as AirUK, was a regional airline in the United Kingdom formed in 1980 as a result of a merger involving four rival UK-based regional airlines.World Airline Directory Flight International 26 July 1980 pages 272, 280, 295 British & Commonwealth Holdings-owned British Island Airways (BIA) and Air Anglia were the two dominant merger partners.Air UK is Air Anglia and BIA successor Flight International 27 October 1979 page 1343
The merged entity's corporate headquarters were originally located at Redhill, the location of the old BIA head office. It subsequently relocated to Crawley.World Airline Directory Flight International 30 March 1985 page 49 In addition to the main maintenance base at Norwich Airport (Air Anglia's former engineering base), there also used to be a second major maintenance base at Blackpool Airport (the old BIA engineering base). This was closed down following Air UK's major retrenchment during the early 1980s recession.
In 1987, Air UK established Air UK Leisure as a charter subsidiary. The following year, Air UK shifted its headquarters to Stansted Airport.World Airline Directory Flight International 1 April 1989 page 55 When Stansted's new Foster + Partners designed terminal opened in 1991, the airline became its first and subsequently main tenant.
Air UK was a full member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for most of its existence.
Air UK originally was a wholly owned subsidiary of British Air Transport Holdings, a successor to the Air Holdings Group owned 90% by B&C and 10% by Eagle Star Insurance. This made the Cayzer family, who owned B&C, the controlling shareholders.World Airline Directory Flight International 30 March 1985 page 59Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... AIR UK), Vol 43, No 1, p. 25, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2010
Following the beginning of the gradual liberalisation of the European Union (EU) internal air transport market in 1987, Dutch flag carrier KLM, a long-standing business partner of Air UK and its predecessor Air Anglia, acquired a 14.9% minority stake in Air UK's holding company.Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... AIR UK), Vol 43, No 1, p. 27, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2010 In 1995, KLM increased its minority stake in Air UK to 45%. In 1997, KLM became Air UK's sole shareholderEurope & the CIS World Airline Directory Flight International 26 March 1997 page 48KLM buys Air UK Australian Aviation issue 132 September 1997 page 22 when it acquired B&C's stake in British Air Transport (Holdings).Case No. IV/M.967 — KLM/Air UK, Merger Procedure Decision, Commission of the European Communities, Brussels, 22 September 1997 The following year Air UK was renamed KLM UK.
History Aircraft operated
Air UK operated the following aircraft types at one point or another during its 19-year existence: Avion de Transport Regional (ATR) ATR-72 (these aircraft were exclusively operated by KLM uk) BAC One-Eleven 200/400 series British Aerospace 146 100/200/300 series Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante Fokker F27 100/200/400/500/600 series Fokker F28 Fellowship 1000/4000 series Fokker 50 Fokker 100 Handley Page Dart Herald Shorts 330 Shorts 360
Fleet in 1980
In July 1980 the Air UK fleet comprised 37 aircraft. + Air UK fleet in July 1980AircraftNumberBAC One-Eleven 4004Fokker F28 Fellowship 40002Fokker F27 Friendship 20014Handley Page Dart Herald11Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante6Total37
Air UK employed 1,700 people at this time.
Fleet in 1983 In April 1983 the Air UK fleet comprised 21 aircraft.
+ Air UK fleet in April 1983AircraftNumberFokker F27 Friendship 20010Handley Page Dart Herald6Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante5Total21
Air UK employed 850 people at this time.
Fleet in 1985 In March 1985 the Air UK fleet comprised 22 aircraft.
+ Air UK fleet in March 1985AircraftNumberFokker F28 Fellowship 10001Fokker F27 Friendship 20016Shorts 3604Shorts 3301Total22
Air UK employed 850 people at this time.
Fleet in 1988 In March 1988 the Air UK fleet comprised 22 aircraft.World Airline Directory, Flight International, 26 March 1988, p. 47
+ Air UK fleet in March 1988AircraftNumberBAC One-Eleven 4001British Aerospace BAe 146-2001Fokker F27 Friendship 5002Fokker F27 Friendship 6003Fokker F27 Friendship 20010Fokker F27 Friendship 1001Shorts 3604Total22
Two British Aerospace BAe 146-200 were on order.
Air UK employed 975 people at this time.
Fleet in 1990 In March 1990 the Air UK fleet comprised 27 aircraft.World Airline Directory, Flight International, 14–20 March 1990, p. 65
+ Air UK fleet in March 1990AircraftNumberBritish Aerospace BAe 146-3004British Aerospace BAe 146-2003British Aerospace BAe 146-1002Fokker F27 Friendship 5002Fokker F27 Friendship 6002Fokker F27 Friendship 20011Fokker F27 Friendship 1001Shorts 3602Total27
Air UK employed 1,340 people at this time.
Fleet in 1995
In March/April 1995 the Air UK fleet comprised 28 aircraft.World Airline Directory, Flight International, 29 March – 4 April 1995, p. 51
+ Air UK fleet in March/April 1995AircraftNumberBritish Aerospace BAe 146-3007British Aerospace BAe 146-2002British Aerospace BAe 146-1002Fokker F27 Friendship 5006Fokker 501Fokker 1009Shorts 3601Total28
Eight Fokker 50 were on order.
Air UK employed 1,466 people at this time.
Fleet in 1997
In March/April 1997 the Air UK fleet comprised 36 aircraft.
+ Air UK fleet in March/April 1997AircraftNumberBritish Aerospace BAe 146-30010British Aerospace BAe 146-1001Fokker F27 Friendship 5005Fokker 509Fokker 10011Total36
Four Fokker 100 were on order.
Air UK employed 2,000 people at this time.
Third Force Air UK was the name of the new airline resulting from the merger of BIA and Air Anglia. (BIA had already absorbed Exeter based Air Westward in March 1979).BIA, Air Anglia to take Air Westward routes, Air Transport, Flight International, 24 March 1979, p. 882 Cardiff-based Air Wales had become part of Air Anglia in June of that year.Short finals ... Air Anglia ..., General Aviation — Business and Light Transport, Flight International, 21 July 1979, p. 163) It was incorporated on 1 January 1980. Operations commenced on 16 January 1980.Europe & the CIS World Airline Directory, Flight International, 24–30 March 1999, p. 82 At the time of its inception, Air UK was the largest regional airline in the UK and the country's third-largest scheduled carrier.Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... AIR UK), Vol 43, No 1, pp. 24, 26, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2010 It had a staff of 1,700, carried more than 1m, mainly scheduled, passengers annually and had a fleet of 40 aircraft,Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... AIR UK), Vol 43, No 1, p. 26, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2010 consisting of six jets (four ex-BIA BAC One-Eleven 400s and two ex-Air Anglia F-28 4000 series Fellowships) and 34 turboprops (including eighteen ex-BIA Handley Page Dart Heralds, ten ex-Air Anglia Fokker F27 100/200 series Friendships and six Embraer 110 Bandeirantes originally part of the BIA, Air Wales and Air Westward fleets). Apart from the four One-Eleven 400s, which were predominantly operated on charter flights, all the other aircraft were part of Air UK's scheduled service fleet.
For marketing purposes, there was no gap between the letters "U" and "K" in the "Air UK" logo in the newly merged entity's first livery, which was a stylised Union Flag.
Former BIA managing director Peter Villa became Air UK's first MD as well.
At the time of its creation, Air UK was sometimes referred to as the unofficial "Third Force" among the main contemporary scheduled airlines in the UK (British Caledonian (BCal) being the UK's official "Second Force" and British Airways (BA) the primary UK flag carrier at that time).No Frills – The Truth behind the Low-cost Revolution in the Skies, Calder, S., Virgin Books, London, 2002, p. 145
Following the merger, most of the fleet progressively adopted Air UK's new blue, white and red colour scheme. Originally, this featured a predominantly blue fuselage with a white-red-white strip across the windows and a white roof. The tail was also predominantly blue, apart from the "Air UK" logo.Air Transport (photograph depicting Handley Page Dart Herald G-BAZJ as the first aircraft to appear in Air UK's first, all-blue livery), Flight International, Reed Business Information, Sutton, 1 December 1979, p. 1818 (bottom)Air Transport (photograph depicting Air UK's fourth BAC One-Eleven G-CBIA in the airline's first, all-blue livery), Flight International, Reed Business Information, Sutton, 19 January 1980, p. 137 (top) However, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) disapproved of this predominantly blue livery, arguing that it could potentially pose a safety hazard for other aircraft as it was difficult for other crews to see the blue aircraft against a blue sky. To address the CAA's safety concerns, Air UK decided to amend its original colour scheme by opting for a hybrid blue-and-white scheme featuring a blue fuselage and a white tail.
Air UK's scheduled route network initially served the following 33 points: Aberdeen, Amsterdam, Basel, Belfast, Bergen, Birmingham, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Brussels, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Guernsey, Humberside, Isle of Man, Jersey, Leeds Bradford, Le Touquet, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, London Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Ostend, Paris, Rotterdam, Southampton, Southend, Stavanger and Teesside.
Air UK was the first and, at the time, only scheduled airline in the UK to fly from all three main London airports.Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... AIR UK), Vol 43, No 1, pp. 27/8, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2010
Following British Airways' decision to retire its Vickers Viscount turboprop fleet and to withdraw from its loss-making regional scheduled routes, Air UK assumed BA's regional routes from Heathrow to Guernsey, Manchester to the Isle of Man, Leeds to Belfast and Dublin, and Edinburgh to Jersey in April 1980.BA spells out route-cut proposals, World News, Flight International, 8 September 1979, p. 754Independents look at BA routes, Air Transport, Flight International, 22 September 1979, p. 942BA route cuts: independents gather, Air Transport, Flight International, 20 October 1979, p. 1264 Air UK's new, year-round Heathrow—Guernsey route was its most prominent scheduled route serving London's premier airport.CAA allocates UK domestic routes, Air Transport, Flight International, 5 January 1980, p. 5 (During the late 1970s, in the days prior to the construction of the M11, Air UK's predecessor Air Anglia had launched a year-round scheduled service linking Heathrow with the company's bases in Norwich and Humberside, as well as a year-round scheduled operation between London Gatwick and Leeds.No Frills – The Truth behind the Low-cost Revolution in the Skies, Calder, S., Virgin Books, London, 2002, pp. 166/7Short hauls ... Air Anglia ..., Air Transport, Flight International, 28 July 1979, p. 247)
Retrenchment