Skyways Coach-Air Limited was the world's first low-cost airline. Skyways launched the first commercial coach-air operation in late-September 1955, involving a coach trip from

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

Lympne Lympne (), formerly also Lymne, is a village on the former shallow-gradient sea cliffs above the expansive agricultural plain of Romney Marsh in Kent. The settlement forms an L shape stretching from Port Lympne Zoo via Lympne Castle facing Lympne ...

, a cross-

Channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

Lympne—

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most populous ...

air sector and another coach journey from Beauvais to the centre of

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 ...

. Skyways Coach-Air, which had remained a separate entity following the sale of sister airline Skyways Ltd to Euravia, got into financial difficulties in 1970.''World Airline Survey ...'', Flight International, 11 April 1963, p. 524
/ref>
/ref>
/ref> This resulted in a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

and the following year's formation of a new company trading as Skyways International to succeed the defunct Skyways Coach-Air.''World Airlines'', Flight International, 6 May 1971, p. 631
/ref> Skyways International was taken over by

Dan-Air Dan-Air (Dan Air Services Limited) was an airline based in the United Kingdom and a wholly owned subsidiary of London shipbroker, shipbroking firm Davies and Newman. It was started in 1953 with a single aircraft. Initially, it operated cargo a ...

in 1972.''The Spirit of Dan-Air'', Simons, G.M., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1993, pp. 77-79, 102

History

Skyways Coach-Air

On 30 September 1955,

Skyways Skyways may refer to: *Skyway A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very ...

inaugurated the world's first combined coach-air low-fare scheduled service between London and Paris. On that day, a 36-seat Skyways

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

took off from

for a 55-minute cross-Channel flight to

with fare-paying passengers for the first time. (Two "special inaugural flights" carrying about 50

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

officials, company

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

s and other dignitaries preceded the inaugural commercial flight on 21 September 1955.) This air service formed part of a combined coach-air-coach journey between the city centres of London and Paris. For passengers travelling from London to Paris, the journey began on a 32- or 36-seater

East Kent Road Car Company The East Kent Road Car Company Ltd was a bus company formed in 1916 and based in Canterbury, Kent. The company operated bus and coach services in Kent. In 1993 it was one of the first companies to be acquired by the Stagecoach Group, which eve ...

coach that took them from London's

Victoria Coach Station Victoria Coach Station is the largest coach station in London, located in the central district of Victoria in the City of Westminster. It serves as a terminus for many medium- and long-distance coach services in the United Kingdom, and is also ...

Lympne Airport Lympne Airport , was a military and later civil airfield , at Lympne, Kent, United Kingdom, which operated from 1916 to 1984. During the First World War RFC Lympne was originally an acceptance point for aircraft being delivered to, and returni ...

near

Hythe Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to: Places Australia * Hythe, Tasmania Canada *Hythe, Alberta, a village in Canada England * T ...

where they transferred to a Skyways

DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

. This aircraft flew them across the Channel to Beauvais Tillé Airport where passengers transferred to a Transports Renault coach, which took them to République Coach Station in Paris (Hôtel Moderne Palace on

Place de la République The Place de la République (known as the Place du Château d'Eau until 1879) is a square in Paris, located on the border between the 3rd, 10th and 11th arrondissements. The square has an area of .Warner, p. 250 Named after the First, Second a ...

, Paris 12). At the time of launch, total travelling time was just under seven hours. (In the pre-

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

days, the 70-

mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

(110

kilometre The kilometre ( SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is now the measurement unit used for ex ...

) coach journey between Central London and Lympne along some narrow, winding country roads, and through London, Maidstone & many villages, alone took more than three hours. Following subsequent road improvements, the introduction of faster coaches and aircraft as well as streamlined

ground handling In aviation, aircraft ground handling defines the servicing of an aircraft while it is on the ground and (usually) parked at a Gate (airport), terminal gate of an airport. Overview Many airlines subcontract ground handling to airports, han ...

procedures, this eventually reduced to about 5½ hours.''Paris Show Preview'', Flight International, 16 March 1967, p. 415
/ref>) The initial frequency was one round-trip per day, and the inaugural return fare was £7 14 spre-

decimalisation Decimalisation or decimalization (see spelling differences) is the conversion of a system of currency or of weights and measures to units related by powers of 10. Most countries have decimalised their currencies, converting them from non-decimal ...

(£7.70post-decimalisation) for off-peak travel while the peak-time fare was £8.75.decimal These not only undercut the direct

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 ...

—

Paris Orly Paris Orly Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Orly), commonly referred to as Orly , is one of two international airports serving the French capital, Paris, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly ...

Le Bourget Le Bourget () is a Communes of France, commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre zero#France, center of Paris. The commune features Paris - Le Bourget Airport, Le Bourget Airport, which in turn hos ...

standard

tourist class Economy class, also called third class, coach class, steerage, or to distinguish it from the slightly more expensive premium economy class, standard economy class or budget economy class, is the lowest travel class of seating in air travel, rail ...

air fares of

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) and

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...

by about 45% but were also cheaper than the corresponding fares of competing surface travel modes.''Coach-Air — on the London—Paris route; Skyways' low-fare service'', Flight International, 30 September 1955, p. 543
/ref>''Aeroplane — Feature: Ten Years of Skyways Coach-Air'', Vol. 110, No. 2814, p. 6, Temple Press, London, 23 September 1965 London—Paris coach-air services launched with a single DC-3 configured in a high-density, 36-seat layout. A second DC-3 sourced from the fleet of sister company Skyways Ltd and a third aircraft

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

d from

Airwork Airwork is an aviation business based in Auckland, New Zealand. The Airwork Group is New Zealand's largest general aviation company. It focuses on fixed wing and helicopter maintenance, leasing, and operations working with private and public e ...

were added for the 1956 summer season. This fleet subsequently expanded through the addition of further aircraft.''Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... SKYWAYS)'', p. 59, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, Christmas 2010 Following the successful introduction of the world's first, daily coach-air service between London and Paris on a year-round basis, Eric Rylands Ltd, the

group

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

, purchased Lympne Airport in 1956. During the 1957 summer season, Skyways Coach-Air increased the frequency to up to 16 daily round-trips and launched its second coach-air route from London to

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a Spa town, spa and resort town and in World ...

(via Lympne).''World Airline Survey — The UK Carriers ...'', Flight International, 12 April 1962, p. 548
/ref>''Aeroplane — Feature: Ten Years of Skyways Coach-Air'', Vol. 110, No. 2814, p. 7, Temple Press, London, 23 September 1965 In 1958, Skyways Coach-Air Ltd was formed as a dedicated low-fare coach-air-coach

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

of Skyways Ltd. A London—

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

coach-air service (via Lympne and

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

) operated during the 1958 summer season for the duration of

Expo 58 Expo 58, also known as the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (french: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles de 1958, nl, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling van 1958), was a world's fair held on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Brussels, Bel ...

. Also in 1958, further seasonal coach-air services from London (Lympne) to

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

and

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

launched while coach-air services to

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...

began in June 1964. Services from London (Lympne) to

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...

and from

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...

to Beauvais started in 1965. Operations from London ( Ashford and

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

) to

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

commenced in 1970. The airline also applied for traffic rights to extend its coach-air network to

Basle , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), ...

, Palma,

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and

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 ...

. Lympne's persistent waterlogging problem forced many flights to divert to

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 Hea ...

, especially in winter. During the late-1950s and early-1960s, Skyways Coach-Air's DC-3s also operated regular

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

s from Gatwick. Following an announcement in 1959 to replace its ageing piston

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

s with state-of-the-art

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...

s that resulted in a competition between

Avro AVRO, short for Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep ("General Association of Radio Broadcasting"), was a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system. It was the first public broad ...

and

Fokker Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...

where the former's 748 was pitched against the latter's F-27, Skyways Coach-Air became the launch customer for the

Avro 748 __NOTOC__ Year 748 ( DCCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 748 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calenda ...

in 1961. Meanwhile, Skyways Coach-Air had assumed the ownership of the

for Lympne Airport, which entailed taking on all operational responsibilities, including the provision of

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

(ATC) services. Delivery of the first of three 48-seat Avro 748s on 2 November 1961 was followed by the type's first revenue flight on 17 April 1962, when it began replacing the 36-seat DC-3s on the daily Lympne—Beauvais coach-air service. Two more 748s and a fifth DC-3 for cargo and supplemental work joined the fleet during summer 1965. By 1967, Skyways Coach-Air operated the original London—Paris coach-air service exclusively with the new 748 turboprops at a frequency of five daily round-trips in summer,April to September with additional services operating on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays. In winter,October to March frequency dropped to between one and two round-trips per day. Typical London—Paris return fares ranged from £9 8spre-decimal to £12 17s.pre-decimal''Airliner World (Skyways: New ventures)'', p. 68, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011 To take advantage of the burgeoning market for all-inclusive holiday charter packages and increase the 748s' utilisation, Skyways Coach-Air began operating a series of

inclusive tour A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the ho ...

(IT) charter flights to the

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 ...

from the grass airfield at Lympne in summer 1967. This soon overstretched the airline's small fleet and led to frequent delays and diversions, exacerbated by the airport's waterlogging problem. As a result of knock-on effects, it also resulted in a deterioration of the company's punctuality on the coach-air network. Nineteen-sixty-seven was also the year the state-owned

Transport Holding Company The Transport Holding Company (THC) was a British Government-owned company created by the Transport Act 1962 to administer a range of state-owned transport, travel and engineering companies that were previously managed by the British Transport C ...

(THC) had acquired a 50% stake in Skyways Coach-Air for £27,000. This made it a semi-public entity.''Government's coach/air loss'', Air Transport ..., Flight International, 8 July 1971, pp. 44/5
/ref>''Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... SKYWAYS)'', p. 60, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, Christmas 2010 To address Lympne's waterlogging problem ahead of the 1968 summer season, Skyways Coach-Air's management decided to have a 4,500

feet The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

(1,372

metre The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

)

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

runway laid. This work was executed during the lean months in winter 1967/8. The new runway became operational in April 1968. As the concrete layer proved to be too thin to withstand regular operations by aircraft in the Avro 748 weight category, cracks soon started to appear. In 1969, the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

awarded Skyways Coach-Air the

Stansted London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acro ...

—

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 ...

corporate A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and re ...

shuttle contract. This resulted in one of the airline's 748s being permanently based at the

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

airport. This was also the time Lympne Airport was renamed ''Ashford Airport''. Although Skyways Coach-Air seemed to have initially succeeded in establishing itself as a profitable short-haul specialist serving a

niche market A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focused. The market niche defines the product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that it ...

for those looking for the cheapest way to travel between London and Paris, the business began losing money in its latter years as a result of overreaching itself. Initially, the airline attempted to turn around its deteriorating financial situation by dropping underperforming routes from its network, terminating operations to Ostend, Tours and Vichy. However, these measures proved inadequate to deal with the company's growing financial difficulties. In addition,

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

's then

Conservative government Conservative or Tory government may refer to: Canada In Canadian politics, a Conservative government may refer to the following governments administered by the Conservative Party of Canada or one of its historical predecessors: * 1st Canadian Mi ...

's was unwilling to lend it any more money through half-

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...

THC. This resulted in the latter putting Skyways Coach-Air into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

at the beginning of 1971.Skyways Coach-Air owed the Government £1.25 million, as a result of

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

s THC had already advanced it Following its grounding, Skyways Coach-Air went into

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

on 20 January 1971.''Airliner World (Skyways: Another turbulent spell)'', p. 69, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011

Fleet Details

Skyways Coach-Air Ltd operated the following aircraft types: *

Hawker Siddeley 748 The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 is a medium-sized turboprop airliner originally designed and initially produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Avro. It was the last aircraft to be developed by Avro prior to its absorption by Hawker Siddeley. ...

=Fleet in 1962

= In April 1962, the Skyways Coach-Air fleet comprised 7 aircraft.

=Fleet in 1970

= In March 1970, the Skyways Coach-Air fleet comprised 8 aircraft. Skyways Coach-Air employed 320 people at this time.

Skyways International

In February 1971, a group of former Skyways Coach-Air senior managers led by John Knox, the erstwhile airline's last commercial manager, formed International Skyways Ltd as a successor to the failed company. With the backing of London

merchant bank A merchant bank is historically a bank dealing in commercial loans and investment. In modern British usage it is the same as an investment bank. Merchant banks were the first modern banks and evolved from medieval merchants who traded in commodi ...

Sterling Industrial Securities, the new management team purchased defunct Skyways Coach-Air's

asset In financial accountancy, financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value ...

s. These included aircraft and routes. Following the successful management buyout, the new entity began trading as Skyways International. It resumed the ex-Skyways Coach-Air year-round route from Ashford to Beauvais on 8 February 1971 with four 748s that had been grounded at Ashford Airport since the cessation of operations three weeks earlier. This was followed by the reintroduction of routes from Ashford to Ostend, Clermont-Ferrand and Montpellier, as well as from Luton to Ostend and from East Midlands to Beauvais. In February 1972, Sterling Industrial Securities sold International Skyways to

for £650,000.£625,000 for the four ex-Skyways

HS 748 The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 is a medium-sized turboprop airliner originally designed and initially produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Avro. It was the last aircraft to be developed by Avro prior to its absorption by Hawker Siddeley ...

s and £25,000 for the defunct airline's vehicles Dan-Air completed the deal to take over International Skyways from Sterling Industrial Securities in April of that year, following which it integrated most of the former Skyways International routes into its own network of regional, short-haul scheduled services. Initially, these routes were operated by a separate subsidiary named Dan-Air Skyways. ''Dan-Air Skyways''

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

titles were applied to the four HS 748s Dan-Air inherited from Skyways International. By 1974, Dan-Air Skyways was fully integrated with the rest of Dan-Air's scheduled operation, as a result of which it ceased to exist as a separate entity and the full Dan-Air

livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery will often have elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...

had been applied to all former Skyways International aircraft.

Fleet Details

International Skyways Ltd (trading as Skyways International) operated the following aircraft types: *

=Fleet in 1971

= In May 1971, the Skyways International fleet comprised 7 aircraft. Skyways International employed 303 people at this time.

Accidents and incidents

There are two recorded accidents/incidents involving Skyways Coach-Air. These are listed below.Aviation Safety Network > ASN Aviation Safety Database > Operator index > United Kingdom > Skyways Coach-Air
/ref> *On 11 July 1965, Avro 748-101 Series 1 of Skyways Coach-Air (registration: G-ARMV) arriving from

was written off at

when its nosewheels dug into soft ground on the grass runway following a heavy landing. The aircraft flipped over, losing its

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

wing in the process. Aided by the

flight attendant A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...

, all 48 passengers managed to escape unhurt. *On 17 December 1965,

Douglas C-47B The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military-owned transport aircraft used to su ...

of Skyways Coach-Air (registration: G-AMWX) was written off when it made an

emergency landing An emergency landing is a premature landing made by an aircraft in response to an emergency involving an imminent or ongoing threat to the safety and operation of the aircraft, or involving a sudden need for a passenger or crew on board to term ...

on the beach at

Le Tréport Le Tréport () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in Normandy, France. Geography A small fishing port and light industrial town situated in the Pays de Caux, some northeast of Dieppe at the junction of the D 940, the D 78 and th ...

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inféri ...

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 ...

. The aircraft was operating a scheduled international passenger flight from

, when it turned back to Beauvais due to radio failure shortly before it was scheduled to land at Gatwick. There were no fatalities among the 32 occupants (three crew and 29 passengers) as a result of this incident.

Notes and Citations

;Notes ;Citations

Sources

* (various backdated issues relating to Skyways Ltd, Skyways Coach-Air, and Skyways International 1955-1972) * * *
''Airliner World'' online

External links

Skyways at the Aviation Safety Network Database

* [http://www.airliners.net/photo/Skyways-of-London/Avro-748-Srs1-100/1519553/L/&sid=5697ca5d070902299c7247d95cc7baa2 Skyways Avro 748 Srs. 1/100 G-ARMV coming in to land at Biggin Hill on 4 May 1963. The aircraft sports ''Skyways of London'' fuselage titles.]
Stansted Airport Consultative Committee, ''Stansted - The Early Years (1942-1966)'', ''Flying Troops from across the World''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skyways (British Airline) Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom Airlines established in 1955 Airlines disestablished in 1972 1955 establishments in England 1972 disestablishments in England

History

Skyways Coach-Air

Fleet Details

=Fleet in 1962

=Fleet in 1970

Skyways International

Fleet Details

=Fleet in 1971

Accidents and incidents

See also

Notes and Citations

Sources

External links