Britannia Airways

Britannia Airways was a charter airline based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1961 as Euravia and became the world's largest holiday airline. Britannia's main bases were at London–Gatwick, London–Stansted, London–Luton, Cardiff, Bristol, East Midlands, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool and Glasgow. It had its headquarters at Britannia House in Luton.

Britannia was originally a charter operator for Universal Sky Tours and later for Thomson holidays where it became the in-house airline with a fleet of Boeing jet aircraft.

In 2000, Thomson Travel Group, and thereby Britannia Airways, were acquired by TUI Group of Germany. As part of a wider reorganisation of TUI's UK operations in September 2004, Britannia was rebranded as Thomsonfly.

History

Origins

thumb|right|Euravia [[Lockheed Constellation at Manchester Airport in 1964]]

The airline was established as Euravia (London) Limited by British businessman T.E.D. Langton and aviation consultant J.E.D. Williams on 1 December 1961. These applications were not without some difficulty as Euravia had the distinction of being refused more licences than any other two airlines put together; this was due to the fact that the firm placed a larger number of applications than any British airline, except for British United Airways (BUA).

On 1 April 1962, Euravia established its initial operating base at Luton Airport; on 13 April, the airline's first aircraft, a Lockheed Constellation, was delivered for certification and training. Early on, Euravia benefitted from its close association with inclusive tour holiday company Universal Sky Tours. Within ten days, the operation was reportedly breaking-even; by a month later, the firm's initial fleet was operating at its maximum planned utilisation rate. The Skyways takeover did not include Skyways Coach-Air, a Skyways associate, established in the early 1950s by Eric Rylands to operate low-fare coach-air services between London and several European capital cities. Following Euravia's acquisition of Skyways, Skyways Coach-Air remained independent until its successor Skyways International was taken over by Dan-Air in 1972.

By 15 June 1963, Euravia was operating a mixed fleet of eight Constellations and four Avro Yorks. Euravia also took on Skyways Pan Am engine contract at London Heathrow using ex-Skyways Yorks; under this arrangement, one of these aircraft was on permanent standby at Heathrow ready to fly a spare jet engine to rescue any Pan Am Boeing 707 jetliner that encountered engine problems. These rescue flights were flown as far afield as Singapore and Hong Kong. The other Yorks were used for ad hoc freighting until 1965 when the last aircraft G-AGNV was flown from Luton to Staverton, Gloucester to be an exhibit at the now defunct Skyfame museum. Upon retirement, this aircraft was preserved and placed on display at the RAF Museum Midlands, Cosford.

Rebranding

thumb|right|Britannia Airways [[Bristol Britannia 102 at Manchester Airport in 1965]]

thumb|Britannia Airways [[Boeing 737-200 at Gatwick Airport, 1969]]

On 16 August 1964, the airline was rebranded, becoming Britannia Airways; This unconventional purchase was also politically controversial; Sir George Edwards, the chairman of the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC), had expected Britannia to order the rival BAC One-Eleven and lobbied government officials to convince the airline to procure the British airliner instead. These pressure tactics ultimately proved to be unsuccessful; by 1975, Britannia was operating a fleet of 13 Boeing 737s.

By 1972, the airline had become the largest of the British independent charter airlines. Prior to the mid-1970s, Britannia, much like other British charter airlines of the era, had concentrated upon low-cost flights to Spain and the use of provincial airports (other than its Luton base) to provide its services. However, the company held ambitions to expand beyond this. During 1988, Britannia's 767s were used to commence regular charter flights between Britain and Australia, as well as to New Zealand the following year. Between 1968 and 1984, Britannia carried nearly 42 million passengers, while the company's fleet grew to include twenty-nine Boeing 737s and a pair of 767s.

Britannia also became the first European airline to fly the Boeing 767, which was added to its fleet in the 1980s; the 767 was the first widebodied aircraft to enter service in the company's fleet and enabled Britannia to become the first British holiday airline to offer passengers free in-flight audio and video entertainment.

In addition, it was during this decade that Britannia launched several public image and service quality initiatives, such as the flying with confidence course and closer customer service coordination within Thomson. During the early 1990s, the airline launched its in-flight Royal Service brand to increase the profile of the company's high-end services, somewhat akin to the premium service levels available on scheduled airlines. It was succeeded by a newer brand, 360, during the late 1990s; this service was billed as being less old-fashioned and possessed greater personality.

During 2000, Thomson Travel Group, and thereby Britannia Airways, were acquired by TUI Group of Germany. As part of a wider reorganisation of TUI's UK operations in September 2004, it was announced that Britannia would be rebranded as Thomsonfly.

Destinations

As of January 1995, Britannia Airways operated services to the following international scheduled destinations:

Europe
Alicante
Almería
Amsterdam
Bodrum
Brussels
Bucharest
Budapest
Copenhagen
Corfu
Dalaman
Düsseldorf
Frankfurt
Faro
Fuerteventura
Funchal
Geneva
Girona
Gothenburg
Gran Canaria
Hamburg
Hanover
Heraklion
Ibiza
Kos
Larnaca
Lviv
Lyon
Málaga
Malta
Menorca
Munich
Oslo
Palma de Mallorca
Paphos
Paris
Plovdiv
Prague
Reus
Rhodes
Salzburg
Santa Cruz de la Palma
Sofia
Stavanger
Stockholm
Tenerife
Thessaloniki
Toulouse
Turin
Verona
Warsaw
Middle East
Bahrain
Abu Dhabi

only for Full stop over

North & South America
Acapulco
Barbados
Cancún
Montego Bay
Natal
Orlando
Puerto Plata
Puerto Vallarta
Punta Cana
St Lucia
Varadero
Africa
Accra
Hurghada
Luxor
Mombasa
Monastir
Sharm el Sheikh
Asia
Goa
Malé
Oceania
Auckland
Sydney

Fleet

The Britannia Airways fleet included of the following jet aircraft:

{| class="wikitable"

!Aircraft

!Total

!Capacity

!Notes

|Boeing 737-200

|45

|130

|Last 737-200 "'G-BGYJ" left the fleet 30 March 1994.

|Boeing 737-300

|148

|Last 737-300 "G-BLKB" left the fleet 11 April 1993.

|Boeing 737-800

|189

|Last 737-800 "PH-ABE" left the fleet 9 January 2002. Transferred to sister company "Britannia Airways Sweden" as SE-DZM.

|Boeing 757-200

|28

|235

|Most aircraft transferred to Thomsonfly. G-BYAG written off after crash landing at Girona Airport.

|Boeing 767-200ER

|13

|290

|Last aircraft "G-BRIG" transferred to Thomsonfly 1 November 2005.

|Boeing 767-300ER

|12

|283-326

|Last aircraft "G-OBYD" transferred to Thomsonfly 31 October 2005.

|Airbus A320-200

|140-170

|Leased from TransAer between 1998 and 2000.

|Lockheed L-1011 TriStar

|400

|Leased from Air Atlanta Icelandic between July and December 1998.

|Airbus A300

|210-250

|Inherited from Orion Airways. Never flew under the Britannia branding.

The Airline also operated Bristol Britannia aircraft and Boeing 707s. <div class="center"></div><gallery mode="nolines" widths="280" heights="200">

File:Airport Munich-Riem Britannia Airways.jpg|Britannia Airways Bristol Britannia, late 1960s

File:Boeing 737-204, Britannia Airways AN1957477.jpg|Britannia Airways Boeing 737-200, in 1983

File:Britannia Airways Boeing 737-3T5 at Canberra Airport.jpg|Britannia Airways Boeing 737-3T5, in 1989

File:Boeing 757-204, Britannia Airways JP6213143.jpg|Britannia Boeing 757-200, in 1994

File:Boeing 767-304(ER), Britannia Airways JP6138597.jpg|Britannia Boeing 767-300, in final Britannia TUI colours, 2002

File:Boeing 757-204, Britannia Airways AN0533748.jpg|Britannia Boeing 757-200 in 2004, shortly before re-branding as Thomsonfly

</gallery>

Competitors

At the time of rebranding, Britannia was the largest charter airline in the United Kingdom, its position of market dominance being owed to the growth of Thomson Holidays. Initially its main competitor was British Airtours. The 1980s saw the growth of Monarch Airlines as a credible competitor. In the 1990s Air 2000, Airtours International, First Choice Airways and Flying Colours Airlines grew as competitors. Its main competitor at the time of rebranding was Thomas Cook Airlines.

Incidents and accidents

Britannia Airways suffered two accidents whilst operating under that name (1961–2005):

On 1 September 1966, Britannia Airways Flight 105, a Bristol 175 Britannia, crashed into high ground on the approach to landing at Ljubljana, Slovenia due to pilot error after a flight from Luton, England. Of the 117 onboard 98 died.
On 14 September 1999, Britannia Airways Flight 226A, a Boeing 757-204, crashed on its second attempt at landing in heavy rain and poor weather conditions. Of the 236 passengers and 9 crew on board, two were seriously injured and 41 sustained minor injuries. One of the passengers who had apparently sustained only minor injuries died five days later of suspected internal injuries. The flight was an international charter between Cardiff, Wales and Girona Airport, Spain.

References

Citations

External links

Britannia Airways (Archive)
Britannia Airways (Archive)
Photos of Britannia Airways aircraft