British United Airways (BUA) was a private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline in the United Kingdom formed as a result of the merger of Airwork Services and Hunting-Clan Air Transport in July 1960, making it the largest wholly private airline based in the United Kingdom at the time. British and Commonwealth Shipping (B&C) was the new airline's main shareholder.
At its inception, BUA assumed the aircraft and operations of its predecessors. These included a fleet of 90 assorted fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters that continued to operate mainly non-scheduled services. Gatwick became BUA's main operating base while Stansted was the main base for trooping flights until 1964.
An order for ten BAC One-Eleven jet aircraft in May 1961 launched BUA's fleet re-equipment programme in support of its long-term policy to develop primarily as a scheduled airline. This was also the first time a private British airline had placed a launch order for a new jet. In January 1962, BUA absorbed British Aviation Services, the holding company of rival British independent airlines Britavia and Silver City Airways. This made BUA the largest unsubsidised airline outside the United States. Silver City's pre-merger status as the main independent provider of air ferry services in the UK also gave BUA a monopoly among UK-based air ferry operators. The subsequent takeover of Jersey Airlines in May 1962 resulted in further growth, giving BUA a fleet of more than 100 aircraft and 6,000 staff.
A city centre check-in facility for BUA's scheduled passengers opened at London Victoria railway station in late-April 1962.
A combined rail-air service linking the city centres of London and Paris that enabled BUA to circumvent regulatory restrictions preventing it from flying London—Paris direct began on 26 May 1963. This was marketed as a cheaper alternative to existing direct air services.Aeroplane – Integration in Action ...: the Silver Arrow rail-air-rail service from London to Paris, Vol. 113, No. 2883, pp. 4–6, Temple Press, London, 19 January 1967 The introduction into service of the Vickers VC10 on 1 October 1964 made BUA the first private UK carrier to begin sustained jet operations. BUA's takeover of the South American services of British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) to Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay on 5 November 1964 marked a major expansion of its long-haul scheduled network.
On 9 April 1965, a BUA BAC One-Eleven became the type's first example to enter commercial service.
The simultaneous launch of daily One-Eleven jet services from Gatwick to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast on 4 January 1966 made BUA the first scheduled all-jet operator on UK domestic trunk routes.
In 1968, the BUA group of companies underwent a major reorganisation to improve its financial performance. This included adoption of a new strategy for BUA that aimed to replace the dwindling number of unprofitable trooping flights with growing engagement in the more rewarding European inclusive tour (IT) and transatlantic affinity group charter markets. It also resulted in relocation of the head office and concentration of engineering activities at Gatwick. Successful implementation of these organisational and strategic changes enabled BUA to make the loss-making South American routes profitable by late-1968 and to become the UK's only profitable mainline scheduled domestic operator by 1969.
By the end of the 1960s, BUA had become the UK's leading private scheduled airline with a network spanning three continents — Europe, Africa and South America.
In November 1970, B&C sold BUA to the Scottish charter airline Caledonian Airways for £12 million (£ million today). At that stage, it operated an all-jet fleet of 20 aircraft and employed a staff of 3,000.
History
Antecedents and inception Airwork was formed in 1928.Aeroplane "Britain's Biggest Independent Airline", Vol. 102, No. 2625, pp. 143/4, Temple Press, London, 8 February 1962Fly me, I'm Freddie!, p. 58 During the 1930s, it helped establish the predecessors of the post-World War II national airlines of India, Egypt and Rhodesia.
By the time Airwork merged with Hunting-Clan to form BUA, the former's air transport subsidiaries already included Airwork Helicopters, Air Charter, Bristow Helicopters, Channel Air Bridge, Transair and Morton Air Services.contemporary timetable images: British United Airways, Timetables and fares, valid 1st November 1961 — 29th March 1962, Some facts about British United Airways, p. 1 Hunting-Clan was originally known as Hunting Air Travel. It had become Hunting Air Transport and then changed to Hunting-Clan when it was taken over by the Scottish Clan Line shipping company, a B&C subsidiary.Fly me, I'm Freddie!, p. 61
Airwork changed its name to British United Airways on 19 May 1960, which preceded BUA's official formation on 1 July of that year. The origins of the new name went back to United Airways, one of the three predecessors of the pre-World War II British Airways. The [re-]use of the United Airways name together with the prefix British had been agreed with shareholder Whitehall Securities, the controlling shareholder of both United Airways and Spartan Air Lines before these airlines' merger with Hillman's Airways to form the pre-war British Airways.Airwork: A History (Chapter 2: Company Development 1928–1960 – Formation of BUA), pp. 11/2
Following BUA's creation,involving the amalgamation of 37 companies (including subsidiaries and affiliates) Blue Star Line, Furness Withy and B&C owned 72% of the new airline's share capital. The remaining 28% was shared among the Clan Line (8%), Loel Guinness (10%) and Whitehall Securities (10%). This ownership structure made the Cayzer family the dominant shareholders. Sir Nicholas Cayzer, the Hon. Anthony Cayzer and Clive Hunting, at the time the Hunting Group's chairman,"Clive Hunting", Telegraph.co.uk 10 August 2000 were appointed to the main board of directors that controlled the BUA group of companies.Aeroplane "By Uniting we stand", Vol. 103, No. 2643, p. 8, Temple Press, London, 14 June 1962Fly me, I'm Freddie!, p. 63
In November 1961, the BUA group's shareholders created Air Holdings as a new holding company for the entire group.Aeroplane "B.U.A. Link with Silver City", Vol. 102, No. 2623, p. 8, Temple Press, London, 25 January 1962
In January 1962, British Aviation Services joined the merged entity. Britavia and Silver City Airways were its airline subsidiaries. P&O was the largest shareholder with a 70% stake, while Eagle Star and Cable & Wireless were minority shareholders that owned 20% and 10% respectively of its share capital.Fly me, I'm Freddie!, p. 75Aircraft "Gone but not forgotten ... Silver City", Vol 43, No 3, pp. 43/4, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2010
BUA began operations from its new base at Gatwick Airport with a mixed fleet of 43 airliners and 47 helicopters. The former included Douglas DC-3 Dakota/C-47 Skytrain, DC-4/C-54 Skymaster and DC-6 piston airliners as well as more modern Bristol Britannia and Vickers Viscount turboprops. These continued serving the all-economy Safari and colonial coach class (British residents only) routes to East, Central, Southern and West Africa pioneered by both Airwork and Hunting-Clan,Aeroplane "Independent Airlines: The Future", Vol. 100, No. 2571, p. 86, Temple Press, London, 27 January 1961contemporary timetable imagescontemporary timetable images as well as operating trooping flights from Stansted under contract to the Ministry of Defence (MoD)BAA Stansted Stansted Airport Consultative Committee "Sir Freddie Laker Arrives" Stansted – The Early Years (1942–1966) and assorted passenger and freight charter flights these airlines and their associates had provided.Fly me, I'm Freddie!, pp. 58, 61, 82/3 During its first year of operation, the BUA group's 90-strong fleet flew 17.8 million revenue miles (28.6 million revenue kilometres), carrying 631,030 passengers, 143 million pounds (lb) (64,867 [metric] tonnes (t)) of freight and 25,749 cars (carried by Channel Air Bridge).
In addition to the Safari routes to Africa, BUA also established a network of scheduled services to mainly secondary destinations in Continental Europe, including Barcelona, Gibraltar, Ibiza, Málaga, Le Touquet, Lourdes, Palma, Perpignan, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and the Channel Islands. BUA furthermore continued Hunting-Clan's Africargo scheduled freight operation.at the time, Africargo was the only scheduled all-freight service between Europe and Africa This had given it access to London Heathrow, Hunting's old base, for a limited number of all-cargo services to Africa. Moreover, BUA acted as Sudan Airways's technical advisers and operated that airline's Blue Nile Viscount services between Khartoum and London Gatwick.
BUAwith the exception of Channel Air Bridge was a full member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) since its inception as a result of inheriting Hunting-Clan's membership. This included membership of IATA's trade association as well as participation in tariff co-ordination with other member airlines in the organisation's annual traffic conferences. BUA also continued Airwork's and Hunting-Clan's participation in various pool agreements with foreign national airlines. On the East African routes, for example, BUA participated in a tripartite pool agreement with BOAC and East African Airways.contemporary timetable images: British United Airways, Timetables and fares, valid 1st November 1961 — 29th March 1962, Tourist, Economy and Skycoach services, Skycoach passenger information, p. 6 Participating in revenue-sharing agreements with its foreign counterparts was a prerequisite for securing overseas traffic rights, especially in Africa.
Freddie Laker, BUA's first managing director (MD), used his contacts to British Rail (BR) to create a £100,000 city centre check-in facility in London's West End in a disused part of Victoria station, which opened in late-April 1962. This enabled BUA's scheduled passengers to complete all check-in formalities, including dropping off their hold luggage, before boarding their train to Gatwick.
Expansion and fleet rationalisation At its inception, Bristol Britannias operated most of BUA's long-distance charter flights. A large number of these were trooping flights.between 1960 and 1964, BUA had up to nine Britannias stationed at Stansted to carry troops under contract to the MoD; BUA's long-haul trooping flights to the Far East ceased on 1 October 1964, when it lost the contract to British EagleAeroplane – British United's expanding universe, Vol. 116, No. 2965, p. 4, Temple Press, London, 14 August 1968
Developing BUA primarily as a scheduled airline was one of the first major policy decisions the BUA group's main board took in the early 1960s. The Civil Aviation (Licensing) Act of 1960, which abolished the statutory monopoly British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA) had enjoyed on principal domestic and international scheduled routes since the beginning of the post-war era and – theoretically – gave independent airlines equal opportunities to develop scheduled routes in their own right, formed the basis of this decision."British United's expanding universe" Aeroplane 14 August 1968, Vol. 116, No. 2965, pp. 4–5 Temple Press, London,