Spartan Air Lines Ltd was a British private airline company, in the period 1933–1935. In 1933, it started operating passenger services from the London area to the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

. In late 1935 it merged with

United Airways Ltd United Airways Ltd was a British airline operating in 1935, ending as part of British Airways Ltd. History Whitehall Securities Corporation was a wealthy investment company run by Clive Pearson, the son of the founder. He was interested in avi ...

to form

British Airways Ltd British Airways Ltd was a British airline company operating in Europe in the period 1935–1939. It was formed in 1935 by the merger of Spartan Air Lines Ltd, United Airways Ltd (no relation to the US carrier United Airlines), and Hillman's A ...

.Sherwood (1999)Doyle (2002)

History

Spartan Air Lines Ltd was formed on 2 February 1933, as a subsidiary of

Spartan Aircraft Ltd Spartan Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1930 to 1935. It was formed by reinvestment in Simmonds Aircraft which had suffered financially. History In 1928 Oliver Simmonds designed and built a prototype aircraft, the Si ...

, to develop the use of its product the

Spartan Cruiser The Spartan Cruiser was a 1930s British three- engined transport monoplane for 6 to 10 passengers built by Spartan Aircraft Limited at East Cowes, Isle of Wight. It was a development of the Saro-Percival Mailplane for passenger use. Design an ...

. The company was financed by

Whitehall Securities Whitehall Securities Corporation Ltd was formed in 1907 by Weetman Pearson MP and his son Harold Pearson MP. Sir Weetman was nominated as President as well as being a founding director. The company was capitalised at £1,000,000. On 12 December 1 ...

Ltd, and services to the Isle of Wight were to be operated in co-operation with private railway companies. The managing director was W.D.L. Roberts, with Harold Balfour and

Alliott Verdon-Roe Sir Edwin Alliott Verdon Roe OBE, Hon. FRAeS, FIAS (26 April 1877 – 4 January 1958) was a pioneer English pilot and aircraft manufacturer, and founder in 1910 of the Avro company. After experimenting with model aeroplanes, he made flight t ...

as fellow directors, and Mr P.W. Lynch-Blosse as chief pilot.Jackson (1974) On 12 April 1933, the first service was started from

Heston Aerodrome Heston Aerodrome was an airfield located to the west of London, England, operational between 1929 and 1947. It was situated on the border of the Heston and Cranford areas of Hounslow, Middlesex. In September 1938, the British Prime Minister, Ne ...

to Somerton (Cowes West) Aerodrome,

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

, using three Spartan Cruisers. After a winter break in scheduled operations, the airline moved to

Croydon Aerodrome Croydon Airport (former ICAO code: EGCR) was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. Located in Croydon, South London, England, it opened in 1920, built in a Neoclassical style, and was developed as Britain's main ai ...

for the summer 1934 season, in collaboration with

Railway Air Services Railway Air Services (RAS) was a British airline formed in March 1934 by the Big Four railway companies (the GWR, LMS, LNER and SR) and Imperial Airways. The airline was a domestic airline operating routes within the United Kingdom linking up ...

. In April 1935, Spartan Air Lines returned to Heston, operating services to both Cowes and

Bembridge Bembridge is a village and civil parish located on the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight. It had a population of 3,848 according to the 2001 census of the United Kingdom, leading to the implausible claim by some residents that Bembridge ...

, again in collaboration with Railway Air Services. A sister company in the Spartan group, United Airways Ltd, had been formed in 1934 to operate connecting services from Heston to Hall Caine Airport, Isle of Man via

Stanley Park Aerodrome (Blackpool) Stanley Park Aerodrome was an airfield located in the Stanley Park area of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It was also known as Blackpool Municipal Airport, and was in use for civil and military flying from 1929 until closure of the airfield in ...

for the 1935 season. On 30 September 1935, Spartan Air Lines and United Airways Limited merged to form Allied British Airways Ltd, which on 29 October 1935 was renamed

. The new airline started operations on 1 January 1936, initially based at Heston.

Fleet

From Jackson (1974), Doyle (2002)

Notes

References

*Doyle, Neville. 2002. The Triple Alliance: The Predecessors of the first British Airways.

Air-Britain Air-Britain, traditionally sub-titled "The International Association of Aviation Enthusiasts", is a non-profit aviation society founded in July 1948. As from 2015, it is constituted as a British charitable trust and book publisher. History Air-Brit ...

. *Halpenny, Bruce B. (1992). Action Station Vol.8: Military Airfields of Greater London. *Jackson, A.J. (1974). British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 3. London: Putnam. . *Jackson, A.J. (1988). British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 3. London: Putnam. . *Sherwood, Tim. Coming in to Land: A Short History of Hounslow, Hanworth and Heston Aerodromes 1911–1946. Heritage Publications (1999) {{Use dmy dates, date=August 2019 Airlines established in 1933 Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom Airlines disestablished in 1935 1933 establishments in England 1935 disestablishments in England 1935 mergers and acquisitions