Flightline was an

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

based in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It operated branded

wet lease Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide tempora ...

, ''ad hoc'' and contract passenger and freight charter services, as well as VIP flights and aircraft sales and maintenance. Sub-services were flown for major airlines in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

as required. Its main bases' were

London Southend Airport London Southend Airport is an international airport situated on the outskirts of Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England, approximately from the centre of London. The airport straddles the boundaries between the city of Southend-on-Sea and the Ro ...

. The company held a

United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the statutory corporation which oversees and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the United Kingdom. Its areas of responsibility include: * Supervising the issuing of pilots' licences, testing of e ...

Type A Operating Licence, and was permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats. Flightline operated up to 14 flights a day between Aberdeen (ABZ) and Scatsta in the Shetland Isles (SCS) on behalf of

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...

and other members of the IAC (Integrated Aviation Consortium). Offshore workers were flown to

Scatsta Airport Scatsta Airport , was a commercial airport on the island of Mainland, Shetland in Scotland located north of Lerwick and southwest of Sullom Voe Terminal. It is owned by Shetland Island's Council and was operated by Serco on behalf of the aer ...

and then transferred onto helicopters to several

oil platform An oil platform (or oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, and similar terms) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platfor ...

s, however this contract was due to end in February 2009. Flightline also had a maintenance facility at its Southend base which provided base maintenance for the

BAe-146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro International ...

fleet as well as a small number of 3rd party aircraft. The engineering facility was closed in July 2008 in order to raise more funds to keep the airline running. At time of closure of the airline in December 2008, they had contracts to operate several services on behalf of

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 ...

out of

London City Airport London City Airport is a regional airport in London, England. It is located in the Royal Docks in the Borough of Newham, approximately east of the City of London and east of Canary Wharf. These are the twin centres of London's financial ...

, and also for the

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

car company from their base at Southend (near the Ford European headquarters) to

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The

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 ...

fleet operated a range of holiday charter flights to the Mediterranean, Manchester being a common departure point. The MD-80 fleet were grounded at Southend in November 2008 due to the lack of business in the winter season. Upon Flightline's demise the airline had debts exceeding £6 Million.

History

The airline was established in April 1989 and started operations in 1990. Initially it had two

Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante (English: ''pioneer'') is a Brazilian general purpose 15–21 passenger twin-turboprop light transport aircraft designed by Embraer for military and civil use. The EMB 110 was designed by the French engineer Max Ho ...

aircraft (G-OFLT and G-FLTY) which operated mail and small parcel flights from Southend. It began jet operations in March 1992 operating on behalf of independent tour operator

Palmair Palmair European was a British tour operator with its head office in the Space House in Bournemouth, United Kingdom. Palmair offered charter and scheduled flights on behalf of Bath Travel. Its main base was Bournemouth Airport. Palmair have n ...

from

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

until 1999. In November 2001 it took over the contract (previously operated by

British World Airlines British United Air Ferries (BUAF) was a wholly private, British independentindependent from government-owned corporations car and passenger ferry airline based in the United Kingdom during the 1960s. It specialised in cross-Channel ferry fligh ...

) between Aberdeen and Scatsta, transporting oil rig workers. In August 2007, a Flightline plane operating from Lisbon, Portugal to Dublin, Ireland had to make an emergency go-around after the pilot mistook the lights of a local hotel for the runway and proceeded on approach towards it. The aircraft only diverted from its approach towards the 16 story hotel after being alerted to his mistake by Air Traffic Control. The company was placed into administration on 3 December 2008.

Destinations

Africa

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Marsa Alam Marsa Alam ( ar, مرسى علم ' , Classical Arabic ) is a town in south-eastern Egypt, located on the western shore of the Red Sea. It is currently seeing fast increasing popularity as a tourist destination and development following the openi ...

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Marsa Alam International Airport Marsa Alam International Airport is an international airport located 60 km north of Marsa Alam in Egypt. It is an important destination for leisure flights from Europe. Overview It was built in response to the increasing needs of European ...

Sharm el-Sheikh Sharm El Sheikh ( ar, شرم الشيخ, ), commonly abbreviated to Sharm, is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 53,670 ...

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Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport Sharm El Sheikh International Airport ( ar, مطار شرم الشيخ الدولي ''Maṭār Sharm El Sheikh El Dawli'') is an international airport located in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. It is the third-busiest airport in Egypt after Cairo Interna ...

Europe

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

–

Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, ), also known as Roissy Airport or simply Paris CDG, is the principal airport serving the French capital, Paris ( and its metropolitan area), and the largest intern ...

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

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Cologne Bonn Airport Cologne Bonn Airport (german: Flughafen Köln/Bonn 'Konrad Adenauer') is the international airport of Germany's fourth-largest city Cologne, and also serves Bonn, former capital of West Germany. With around 12.4 million passengers passing throu ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

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Malpensa International Airport Milan Malpensa Airport is the largest international airport in northern Italy, serving Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

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Venice Marco Polo Airport Venice Marco Polo Airport is the international airport of Venice, Italy. It is located on the mainland near the village of Tessera, a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Venice located about east of Mestre (on the mainland) and around the same ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

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Dublin Airport Dublin Airport (Irish language, Irish: ''Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath'') is an international airport serving Dublin, Ireland. It is operated by DAA (Irish company), DAA (formerly Dublin Airport Authority). The airport is located in Collinsto ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

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Rotterdam Airport Rotterdam The Hague Airport (formerly ''Rotterdam Airport'', ''Vliegveld Zestienhoven'' in Dutch), is a minor international airport serving Rotterdam, the Netherlands' second largest city, and The Hague, its administrative and royal capital. ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...

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Gran Canaria Airport Gran Canaria Airport , sometimes also known as Gando Airport ( es, Aeropuerto de Gran Canaria), is a passenger and freight airport on the island of Gran Canaria. It is an important airport within the Spanish air-transport network (owned and manag ...

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the i ...

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Lanzarote Airport César Manrique-Lanzarote Airport ( es, Aeropuerto de César Manrique-Lanzarote), commonly known as Lanzarote Airport and also known as ''Arrecife Airport'', is the airport serving the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. The airport is l ...

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

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Tenerife South Airport Tenerife South Airport ( es, Aeropuerto de Tenerife Sur) , also known as Tenerife South–Reina Sofía Airport, is the larger of the two international airports located on the island of Tenerife (the other being Tenerife North Airport) and t ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

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Zürich Airport Zürich Airport (), french: Aéroport de Zurich, it, Aeroporto di Zurigo, rm, Eroport da Turitg is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines. It serves Zürich, Switzerland's larg ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

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Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

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Birmingham Airport Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borou ...

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London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

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Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

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Aberdeen Airport Aberdeen International Airport ( gd, Port-adhair Eadar-nàiseanta Obar Dheathain) is an international airport, located in the Dyce suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, approximately northwest of Aberdeen city centre. A total of just under 3.1 ...

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Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

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Edinburgh Airport Edinburgh Airport is an airport located in the Ingliston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the busiest airport in Scotland in 2019, handling over 14.7 million passengers. It was also the sixth-busiest airport in the United Kingdom by t ...

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Lerwick Lerwick (; non, Leirvik; nrn, Larvik) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland ...

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Accidents and Incidents

on 10 October 2001, a Flightline

Swearingen Merlin IV The Swearingen Merlin or the Fairchild Aerospace Merlin is a pressurized, twin turboprop business aircraft first produced by Swearingen Aircraft, and later by Fairchild at a plant in San Antonio, Texas. Design and development The Merlin was an ...

crashes off Meditterian Sea killing 10. Investigation revealed, possible a lightning stroke to plane caused losing electricity and broke up in the air.

Fleet

The Flightline fleet consisted of the following aircraft (at July 2008):UK CAA Aircraft Register
/ref>

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flightline (Uk) Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom Airlines established in 1989 Airlines disestablished in 2008