Novair International Airways was a British

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 between 1988 and 1990.

History

Novair International Airways was formed on 7 December 1988 following the sole acquisition of

Cal Air International Cal Air International was a charter airline 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 which had left a large gap in ...

by 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 ...

. Perhaps the main reason for this new name was the acquisition of

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 ...

by their main competitor

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 ...

. BA’s aim was to form a new charter subsidiary under the name of

Caledonian Airways (1988) Caledonian Airways was a British charter airline established in 1988 by rebranding British Airtours when that company's parent British Airways took over British Caledonian. It merged in 2000 with Flying Colours Airlines to form JMC Air. Histo ...

. Concerns were raised between the names ‘Caledonian Airways’ and ‘Cal Air’ (essentially an abbreviation of the competition!). Novair International offered charter flights to the popular

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, North African & Canary Islands as well as long haul services to Orlando & Fort Lauderdale Florida

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

& Banjul West Africa. However the airline was always fighting against decreasing passenger numbers in addition to the Rank organisation losing interest in its travel/aviation subsidiaries. With the failure to find a suitable buyer, Novair International Airways ceased operations on 31 March 1990. The airline was finally wound up on 5 May 1990.The company was wound up in April 2012 according to data from Companies House.

Livery

A predominantly white body with a red sash-like diagonal stripe incorporating large "Novair" titling. The tail logo had a large blue 5 pointed star stylised for speed.

Fleet

Novair operated six aircraft during its two years of operation consisting of three

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, ...

s inherited from

. These were joined by three

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

References

External links

{{Airlines of the United Kingdom Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom Airlines established in 1988 Airlines disestablished in 1990

History

Livery

Fleet

See also

References

External links