British Island Airways plc (BIA) was the successor to British United Island Airways (BUIA).BIA looks at jets, Air Transport, Flight International, 1 April 1971, p. 444The forgotten schedules?, Air Transport, Flight International, 8 March 1973, p. 331 It commenced operations under that name in mid-1970.Independence for BUIA, Air Transport, Flight International, 30 July 1970, p. 151 Ten years later it merged with Air Anglia, Air Wales and Air Westward to form Air UK, at the time the United Kingdom's biggest regional airline and its third-largest scheduled operator.Air UK is Air Anglia and BIA successor, Air Transport, Flight International, 27 October 1979, p. 1343 The first British Island Airways had its head office at Congreve House (1970–1972)World Airlines, Flight International, 6 May 1971, p. 621World Airline Directory, Flight International, 18 May 1972, Supplement 18. and Berkeley House (1973–1979),World Airline Survey, Flight International, 22 March 1973, p. 449World Airline Directory, Flight International, 28 April 1979, p. 1354 which are respectively located in Station Road and on the high street in Redhill, Surrey.
In 1982 British Island Airways was reconstituted by splitting off the charter operation Air UK had inherited from BIA at the time of its creation into a separate company.New British carrier to take over Air UK's IT operation, Air Transport, Flight International, 23 January 1982, p. 159 This second air carrier ceased operations in 1991.
History
Origin British Island Airways Ltd. was the new name of BUIA, the regional affiliate of British United Airways (BUA), adopted on 20 July 1970. At that time the airline adopted a new livery as well.
When in late November of that year Caledonian Airways acquired BUA from British & Commonwealth (B&C), the owner of both BUA and BUIA at the time, the latter's assets were not included in that deal. As a result, BUA's former parent company continued to own BIA.Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... British Island Airways, ...: BIA One), pp. 67/8, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2012
Following the completion of BUA's sale to Caledonian on 30 November 1970, BUIA went on in its own right the following day, 1 December 1970.Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... British Island Airways), p. 67, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2012
1st British Island Airways (1970–1980) BIA's corporate headquarters was located at Redhill, Surrey. The airline's main engineering base was at Blackpool while its main operating base was at London Gatwick. Other airports that used to receive BIA's regular scheduled passenger services in the early to mid-1970s included Antwerp, Belfast, Blackpool, Dublin, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Manchester, Newcastle, Paris Orly and Southampton. Many of the services to the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man were operated on a seasonal basis — exceptions being year-round operations linking Gatwick with Guernsey, Southampton with both Channel Islands and the Isle of Man with Blackpool and Belfast. BIA's scheduled route network was considerably enlarged in 1979 when it assumed the entire scheduled operation of British Air Ferries (BAF).Air Anglia takeover creates new force in Europe, Air Transport, Flight International, 11 November 1978, p. 1720British World Airlines Ltd. — Company History: New blood in the 1970s (Original Source: International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 18, St. James Press, 1997)Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... British Island Airways: BIA Mark One), pp. 68, 70, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2012
All passenger services were operated with a fleet of 50-seat Handley Page Dart Herald turboprops. Each of these aircraft was convertible, enabling them to be used to operate all-cargo services as well. BIA inherited most of these aircraft at the time of its inception from BUIA. It subsequently acquired additional second-hand examples from various other sources.Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... British Island Airways: BIA Mark One), p. 68, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2012
In addition to its Herald turboprop fleet, BIA also inherited a small number of Douglas DC-3 "Dakota" piston-engined airliners from BUIA. These exclusively operated freight services until the last example's retirement on 30 May 1974.Last British DC-3 schedule?, 6 June 1974, p. 721BIA Cargo DC-3 (photo) Until then, the DC-3 freighters (together with the convertible Heralds) were kept busy carrying mail and cargo, including fresh flowers from the Channel Islands to the UK mainland (principally Bournemouth and Gatwick) as well as overnight newspaper deliveries from Gatwick under contract to the Ministry of Defence to supply the UK's armed forces in Germany.
A limited amount of charter flying (passenger and freight) also occurred, including BIA's speciality of one-hour aerial geography trips for school groups from the Gatwick catchment area, which took advantage of the Herald's superb downward passenger visibility (due to high wings and relatively large windows) on low altitude flying tours of Southeast England, usually incorporating a traverse of the south coasts of Kent, Sussex and Hampshire and the opportunity to see the North and South Downs plus the Weald from the air.
Following the DC-3's retirement, BIA standardised its fleet on twelve Handley Page Dart Herald turboprops. The airline augmented its core fleet during the busy summer holiday period when it leased in additional Heralds from other operators, such as British Midland, on a wet lease basis.
To justify the introduction of larger, more modern jet aircraft types into its fleet as well as to substantially improve its financial performance, BIA needed access to higher volume, higher profile year-round scheduled routes that had the potential to attract a significant number of business travellers.Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... British Island Airways: BIA Mark One), pp. 68/9, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2012
In 1977, BIA applied to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to serve Dublin, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Zürich and Geneva from Gatwick on a regular, year-round scheduled basis.BIA seeks European rights, Air Transport, Flight International, 16 July 1977, p. 191Fokker pushes "mini-Atlas" for European carriers, Flight International, 23 April 1977, p. 1095Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... British Island Airways: BIA Mark One), p. 69, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2012 (At that time British Airways, British Caledonian and Dan-Air applied to serve these and other destinations from Gatwick on a regular scheduled basis as well.) In support of its application, BIA had proposed to begin operating these services with three 65-seater Fokker F-28 1000 series "Fellowship" jet aircraft, which it was planning to acquire second-hand from Germanair, rather than the larger BAC One-Eleven 500s its rivals had planned to use on their services. These had almost twice the seating capacity of the Fokker jets. Using smaller aircraft would have enabled BIA to offer more frequent flights, thereby offering a more attractive product for the business travel market.CAA gives routes decisions, Flight International, 5 November 1977, p. 1342 BIA reckoned that this would improve its chances of being awarded these licences.
In the event, the CAA decided to reject both BIA's and Dan-Air's applications while approving British Airways' and British Caledonian's applications. It argued that BIA and Dan-Air, unlike British Airways and British Caledonian, lacked the necessary expertise to take on the established scheduled airlines on major international trunk routes. The agreement with British Air Ferries to take over the operation of that airline's scheduled services from BAF's Southend base resulted in BIA leasing the seven Heralds BAF had used to operate these services. The addition of the ex-BAF aircraft expanded BIA's operational Herald fleet to 19 aircraft from 1979 onwards.Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... British Island Airways: BIA Mark One), p. 70, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2012
1979 also saw the adoption of BIA's second and final new livery as well as the acquisition of a dedicated charter fleet comprising four 89-seat BAC One-Eleven 400s, the first jet aircraft in BIA's history. Three of these were ex-Gulfair while the fourth was previously operated by the Indonesian government.
In addition to operating regional, short-haul scheduled services on its own account, BIA was also contracted by other airlines to operate scheduled services on their behalf.
British Caledonian contracted BIA to operate its Gatwick—Manchester service between 1973 and 1976 (the aircraft operating this service continued on to Blackpool and the Isle of Man during the peak summer holiday season from 1975 onwards operating as BIA flights with UK flight designators) as well as the Gatwick—Le Touquet air portion of that airline's London—Paris Silver Arrow/Flèche d'argent rail-air service and the Gatwick—Rotterdam route between 1975 and 1979.The airborne sector, Air Transport, Flight International, 21 November 1974, p. 708 (In 1979 British Caledonian granted BIA permission to prefix all flights it operated from Gatwick to Le Touquet and Rotterdam under contract to that airline with its own two-letter UK airline designator (in addition to British Caledonian's BR designator).)
Sabena contracted BIA to operate its London Heathrow—Antwerp route. Occasionally, BIA also operated Dan-Air's scheduled service between Gatwick and Bern, which involved special crew training and permits due to the hazardous alpine terrain surrounding the Swiss federal capital.
BIA hoped that the merger with Air Anglia, as well as Air Wales and Air Westward, to form Air UK in January 1980 would help it transform its financial performance by counterbalancing its predominantly seasonal scheduled operations across the Western half of the British Isles with Air Anglia's year-round scheduled services linking important oil and gas industry centres covering the Eastern half of the United Kingdom, as well as by spreading fixed costs over a greater level of activity as a result of the new airline combine's greater economies of scale.Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... British Island Airways: BIA Mark Two), p. 70, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2012
Aircraft fleet and employment details The original BIA operated the following aircraft types:Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... British Island Airways: BIA Mark One), pp. 68-70, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2012
BAC One-Eleven 400 Handley Page HPR 7 Dart Herald 100/200/400 series Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante Douglas DC-3/C-47
Fleet and employment data in 1971 In May 1971, BIA's fleet comprised 11 aircraft (8 turboprops + 3 piston airliners).World Airline Survey, Flight International, 6 May 1971, p. 621
AircraftNumberHandley Page HPR 7 Dart Herald 2008Douglas DC-3 Dakota3Total11
BIA employed 600 people at this time.
Fleet and employment data in 1975 In March 1975, BIA's fleet comprised 12 turboprop aircraft.World Airline Directory, Flight International, 20 March 1975, p. 478
AircraftNumberHandley Page HPR 7 Dart Herald 20012Total12
BIA employed 600 people at this time.
Fleet and employment data in 1979 In late 1979, BIA's fleet comprised 26 aircraft (4 jets + 22 turboprops).Short finals ..., Flight International, 12 May 1979, p. 1551Air Transport (photo), Flight International, 13 October 1979, p. 1175"Eastern" deal proposed to boost sales of BAe 146, Air Transport, Flight International, 3 November 1979, p. 1468Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... British Island Airways: BIA Mark One), pp. 69/70, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2012
AircraftNumberBAC One-Eleven 4004Handley Page HPR 7 Dart Herald 200/40020Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante2Total26
BIA employed 1,000 people at this time (April 1979).
2nd British Island Airways (1982–1990)