Cal Air International was a

charter airline Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a airline ticket, ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad h ...

that operated in the United Kingdom between 1985 and 1988.

History

Cal Air International was initially conceived in early 1982 after the sudden demise of

Laker Airways Laker Airways was a private British airline founded by Sir Freddie Laker in 1966. It was originally a charter airline flying passengers and cargo worldwide. Its head office was located at Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England. It became the seco ...

which had left a large gap in the UK Inclusive tour/charter market. The airline was a joint set up between

British Caledonian British Caledonian (BCal) was a British private independent airline which operated out of Gatwick Airport in south-east England during the 1970s and 1980s. It was created as an alternative to the British government-controlled corporation airlin ...

and the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribu ...

which already had its interests firmly established in the travel industry with its own tour operators: Blue Sky Travel/Holidays, Wings Holidays, Ellerman Travel and OSL Holidays. The airline was initially named British Caledonian Charter with exactly the same livery as its parent company

. Two ex

/Skytrain DC-10-10s were acquired along with many highly experienced ex

Pilots, Flight Engineers and Cabin Crew. The DC-10s were re-registered as G-BJZE and G-BJZD. However it was not long before

realised that its own high quality scheduled product and image was being somewhat tarnished by the more utility charter product in addition to the general public not being able to differentiate between the two companies, even the charter cabin crew all wore identical tartan uniforms to those of the parent company. It was therefore decided to make slight changes to the charter company and livery by introducing 'BCA Charter' decals to the aircraft and outlining the golden St Andrews lion rampant tail logo with a white shield. This lasted only a short time when a radical step was taken between the

and BCAL to completely rebrand the charter arm as 'Cal Air International' This saw the introduction of a striking bold livery never seen in the UK at the time. Douglas DC-10-10 G-BJZD Cal Air RWY 25

Cal Air’s

DC-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971, ...

s were mainly used on UK charter flights to the usual popular Mediterranean resorts, North Africa and the Canary Islands. Long haul destinations included Orlando & Tampa Florida, Los Angeles USA, Caribbean, Toronto & Vancouver Canada and The Gambia & Kenya in Africa. A third ex Laker Airways DC-10-10 was acquired in 1986 and re-registered G-GCAL. Occasional ''ad hoc'' charter work was also undertaken which saw the companies DC-10s flying to destinations all over the world. In 1988

was bought by and merged into

British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...

. Cal Air International was of no interest to British Airways. The Rank Organisation decided to buy the other 50% share of the company making it the wholly owned subsidiary. This created a problem as the name 'Cal Air International' along with the lion rampant logo in red and its Female Flight Attendants wearing tartan uniforms, was too close in image and style to the new start up British Airways charter airline

Caledonian Airways Caledonian Airways was a wholly private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations British charter airline formed in April 1961. It began with a single 104-seat Douglas DC-7C leased from the Belgian flag carrier Sabena.''Flyi ...

which was now the new face and product of what was known for many years as

British Airtours British Airtours (stylised as British aırtours) was a British charter airline with flight operations out of London Gatwick and Manchester Airports. Established as BEA Airtours in 1969, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of British Airways (B ...

. It was decided that the company would change its name and livery yet again. Various names were seriously considered including 'Bel Air' and 'Phoenix International Airlines'. However, it was

Novair International Airways Novair International Airways was a British charter airline that operated between 1988 and 1990. History Novair International Airways was formed on 7 December 1988 following the sole acquisition of Cal Air International by the Rank Organisatio ...

that won the vote. The livery was adapted slightly to take in the new name and a huge shooting blue star was emblazoned on the tail fin.

went on to add three brand new Boeing 737-400 to its fleet of 3 DC-10s deploying them at its Manchester and Glasgow bases. The company stopped operating & closed its doors for good in early 1990 after the Rank Organisation could not find a suitable buyer. Both

McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971, ...

s G-BJZD & G-BJZE went to

FedEx Express FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, is a major American cargo airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. As of 2020, it is one of the world's largest airlines in terms of fleet size and freight tons flown. It is the name ...

while G-GCAL operates as a flying eye hospital for

Orbis International Orbis International is an international non-profit non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to saving sight worldwide. Its programs focus on the prevention of blindness and the treatment of blinding eye diseases in developing countries throug ...

. Some of the

Boeing 737-400 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...

s went to

British Midland International British Midland Airways Limited (trading at various times throughout its history as British Midland, bmi British Midland, bmi or British Midland International) was an airline with its head office in Donington Hall in Castle Donington, close to ...

Livery

A predominantly white body with a red sash-like diagonal stripe incorporating large "Cal Air" titling. The tail logo had a large British Caledonian style Scottish Lion Rampant in red.

Fleet

Cal Air International operated three aircraft in its three years of operation consisting of two ex-

McDonnell Douglas DC-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 1971, ...

-10s: G-BJZD and G-BJZE. A third DC-10 was acquired in February 1986 G-GCAL. Orders were also placed for 3

MD-80 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gener ...

s but these were never fulfilled.

References

External links

{{Airlines of the United Kingdom Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom Airlines established in 1985 Airlines disestablished in 1988 British companies established in 1985

History

Livery

Fleet

See also

References

External links