![British Airways Helicopters Vertol 234 G-BISP](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/British_Airways_Helicopters_Vertol_234_G-BISP.jpg)
British Airways Helicopters was a British
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
airline
An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...
from 1964 to 1986.
History
![BEA Bristol 171 Sycamore at London Gatwick](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/BEA_Bristol_171_Sycamore_at_London_Gatwick.jpg)
Starting in 1947,
British European Airways
British European Airways (BEA), formally British European Airways Corporation, was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974.
BEA operated to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from airports around the United Kingdom. The a ...
(BEA) had operated a Helicopter Experiment Unit. It initially operated a fleet of five helicopters sourced from the United States - three
Sikorsky S-51
The Sikorsky H-5 (initially designated R-5 and also known as S-48, S-51 and by company designation VS-327Fitzsimons, Bernard, (general editor). ''Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare'' (London: Phoebus, 1978), Volume 20, ...
s and two
Bell 47
The Bell 47 is a single-rotor single-engine light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was based on the third Bell 30 prototype, which was the company's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young. The 47 became the first he ...
s.
The unit operated timetabled mail services in East Anglia during 1948 using their
Westland-Sikorsky S51s. A scheduled passenger service was operated during 1950 between
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
(
Pengam Moors),
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
(
Speke
Speke () is a suburb of Liverpool. It is southeast of the city centre. Located near the widest part of the River Mersey, it is bordered by the suburbs of Garston and Hunts Cross, and nearby to Halewood, Hale Village, and Widnes. The rural are ...
), also utilising the S-51s. In June 1951, BEA introduced helicopter services between
Northolt Aerodrome
("Ready to carry or to fight")
, pushpin_map = Greater London
, pushpin_label = RAF Northolt
, pushpin_map_caption = Shown within Greater London
, coordinates =
, type = Royal Air Force station
, code =
, site_area =
, height =
, owners ...
,
Hay Mills Rotor Station
Hay Mills Rotor Station (or Rotorstation) was a helidrome in the Hay Mills district of southern Birmingham, England, which was operational from 1951 to 1954.
Location
The choice of a suburban location away from the city centre was influen ...
in Birmingham, and
London Heathrow
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...
, operated by a pair of S51s.
These services were followed in 1954 by a passenger service between
Southampton Eastleigh Airport, Heathrow and Northolt, using leased
Bristol 171 helicopters. The 1955 passenger service was flown between Birmingham, Heathrow and
Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...
, again with the Bristol 171s.
A separate company was formed in 1964 as BEA Helicopters Limited and operated the first service between Penzance and the Scilly Islands on 1 May 1964 with a
Sikorsky S-61
The Sikorsky S-61L and S-61N are civil variants of the SH-3 Sea King military helicopter. It was developed and produced by the American helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft.
The commercial version of the Sea King was developed during the ...
. The airline later expanded into offshore oil support flights from July 1965. Operations from Aberdeen started in July 1967 and in 1971 from Sumburgh. With the change of name of the parent on 31 March 1974 the airline was renamed British Airways Helicopters. In 1981, the airline bought six
Boeing Vertol BV-234 Chinooks for use on the offshore oil support flights.
The company was involved in setting up the
Airlink
Airlink is an airline based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its main business is to provide services between smaller, under-served towns and larger hub airports. It has since expanded to offer flights on larger, mainline routes. The airline h ...
high-frequency helicopter shuttle service between
Gatwick
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...
and
Heathrow
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...
airports in 1978. It was responsible for engineering and maintenance of the
BAA-owned helicopter and for providing the flight crew. Cabin crew were from British Caledonian as was passenger handling at Gatwick. Heathrow handling was by British Airways.
In 1986, the airline was sold by British Airways to
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster.
Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from ...
's Maxwell Aviation and renamed
British International Helicopters
British International Helicopter Services (BIH), owned by Bristow Group, is a British-owned helicopter operator. It operates a fleet of ten helicopters covering search and rescue, offshore, defence, charter and flying training activities from i ...
. The successor company still operated the
Penzance to
Isles of Scilly route forty years after it was first scheduled, until it was cancelled in 2012.
Aircraft operated
* 1964–86
Sikorsky S-61
The Sikorsky S-61L and S-61N are civil variants of the SH-3 Sea King military helicopter. It was developed and produced by the American helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft.
The commercial version of the Sea King was developed during the ...
* 1968–84
Agusta-Bell 206 JetRanger
* 1974–81
Sikorsky S-58T
The Sikorsky H-34 "Choctaw" (company designation S-58) is an American piston-engined military helicopter originally designed by Sikorsky as an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft for the United States Navy. It has seen extended use when ad ...
* 1978–83
Bell 212
* 1980–86
Boeing Vertol BV-234
* 1979–86
Sikorsky S-76
* 1982–86
Westland 30
The Westland 30 is a medium-sized civil helicopter designed and produced by the British aerospace company Westland Helicopters. It was derived from the Westland Lynx series of military helicopters, with which it retains a high level of commonal ...
* 1983–86
Aerospatiale AS.332L Super Puma
Helicopter Experimental Unit
*
Bell 47
The Bell 47 is a single-rotor single-engine light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was based on the third Bell 30 prototype, which was the company's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young. The 47 became the first he ...
*
Bristol 171
*
Sikorsky S-51
The Sikorsky H-5 (initially designated R-5 and also known as S-48, S-51 and by company designation VS-327Fitzsimons, Bernard, (general editor). ''Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare'' (London: Phoebus, 1978), Volume 20, ...
*
Sikorsky S-61
The Sikorsky S-61L and S-61N are civil variants of the SH-3 Sea King military helicopter. It was developed and produced by the American helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft.
The commercial version of the Sea King was developed during the ...
*
Westland Sikorsky WS-55
Accidents and incidents
![ditched helicopter](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Ditched_helicopter.jpg)
*On 11 March 1983 a Sikorsky S-61N (G-ASNL) crashed in the North Sea, north east of Aberdeen. All crew and passengers were rescued but the helicopter sank and had to be recovered from the sea bed.
*On 16 July 1983 a Sikorsky S-61N (G-BEON)
crashed on approach to
St. Mary's, Isles of Scilly with the loss of 19 passengers and one crew member.
*On 2 May 1984 a Boeing 234 (G-BISO) crashed in the East Shetland Basin of the North Sea, north west of the Cormorant Alpha Rig. All crew and passengers were rescued by other helicopters and boats. Although not damaged in the accident the helicopter sank after 85 minutes.
Air Accidents Investigation Branch Report on G-BISO
/ref> The aircraft was recovered for post accident investigation and later refurbished to fly again.
See also
* List of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom
This is a list of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom.
See also
* List of airlines of the United Kingdom
* List of airports in the United Kingdom and the British Crown Dependencies
References
*
*
{{List of defunct airlines ...
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
External links
Competition Commission Report
*
*
{{Helicopter airlines
Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom
Defunct helicopter airlines
British International Helicopters
British European Airways
Airlines disestablished in 1986
Airlines established in 1964