Trans European Airways, usually referred to by its initials TEA, was a Belgian
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 ...
that operated from 1971 to 1991. It had its head office in Building 117 on the grounds of
Melsbroek Airport in
Steenokkerzeel
Steenokkerzeel () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Melsbroek, Perk and Steenokkerzeel proper. On December 31, 2010 Steenokkerzeel had a total population of 11,580. The ...
, Belgium.
History
TEA was founded in October 1970 by the Belgian tour operator TIFA and George P. Gutelman. In 1971 inclusive tour flights commenced with a used
Boeing 720
The Boeing 720 is an American narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Announced in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, the 720 first flew on November 23, 1959.
Its type certificate was ...
. The airline initially acquired a fleet of second-hand Boeing 707 and Boeing 720 aircraft.
In the early 1970s TEA became the first airline to order an Airbus and subsequently operated the only Airbus A300B1 variant to be used in public service - distinguished by its shorter fuselage and lack of slats - until its retirement in November 1990.
The airline expanded, operating a second Airbus A300 for a while and started to acquire Boeing 737-200 aircraft. It later acquired Belgian tour operator SunSnacks, which it had helped to form in 1976, and created a subsidiary, TEAMCO (Trans European Airways Maintenance Company) to handle maintenance of its own aircraft and those of other operators, both civil and military.
The company was involved in
Operation Moses
Operation Moses ( he, מִבְצָע מֹשֶׁה, ''Mivtza Moshe'') was the covert evacuation of Ethiopian Jews (known as the "Beta Israel" community or "Falashas") from Sudan during a civil war that caused a famine in 1984. Originally called '' ...
in 1984-1985, and then started to expand rapidly during the late 1980s, forming subsidiaries in the United Kingdom (TEA-UK), France (TEA-FRANCE), Italy (TEA-ITALY) and Switzerland (TEA-BASEL), but the global economic downturn in the early nineties, partly as a result of the
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
, caused it to go out of business on 27 September 1991.
[''Airlines Remembered'' by B.I. Hengi, Midland Publishing]
Following its failure, parts of the group gave rise to successor airlines: European Airlines and EuroBelgian Airlines (the later
Virgin Express
N.V. Virgin Express S.A. was a Belgian airline created within the Virgin Group. It operated flights mainly to southern Europe from its hub at Brussels Airport. Ticket sales were mainly through the Internet. The airline merged with SN Brussels Ai ...
) were formed, and the management of the UK subsidiary, who had previously managed
Orion Airways
Orion Airways (known simply as 'Orion') was an airline based in the United Kingdom with its head office on the grounds of East Midlands Airport in Castle Donington, North West Leicestershire."World Airline Directory." ''Flight International''. ...
went on to form
Excalibur Airways. TEA Switzerland continued to trade successfully, and was eventually purchased by
easyJet
EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...
in 1997 and became
easyJet Switzerland. Georges Gutelman later went on to found
CityBird
CityBird was an airline founded in 1996, and based in Building 117D, Melsbroek Airport in Zaventem. The airline filed for bankruptcy in October 2001. Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium considered buying them out of bankruptcy, but later pulled out.
...
, which also failed in the aviation slump that followed the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
in 2001.
Fleet
![Airbus_A300B1,_TEA_-_Trans_European_Airways_AN0193927](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Airbus_A300B1%2C_TEA_-_Trans_European_Airways_AN0193927.jpg)
The airline operated the following aircraft types at various times in its existence:
*
Airbus A300B1
The Airbus A300 is a Wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Airbus.
In September 1967, aircraft manufacturers in the United Kingdom, France, and West Germany signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a lar ...
*
Airbus A300B4
The Airbus A300 is a wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Airbus.
In September 1967, aircraft manufacturers in the United Kingdom, France, and West Germany signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a large airliner.
Wes ...
*
Airbus A310-300
The Airbus A310 is a wide-body aircraft, designed and manufactured by Airbus Industrie, then a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers.
Airbus had identified a demand for an aircraft smaller than the A300, the first twin-jet wide-bod ...
*
Boeing 707-120
The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first ...
*
Boeing 707-320
*
Boeing 720
The Boeing 720 is an American narrow-body airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Announced in July 1957 as a 707 derivative for shorter flights from shorter runways, the 720 first flew on November 23, 1959.
Its type certificate was ...
*
Boeing 737-200
The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington.
Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...
*
Boeing 737-300
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 Febru ...
*
Bristol Wayfarer
The Bristol Type 170 Freighter is a British twin-engine aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company as both a freighter and airliner. Its best known use was as an air ferry to carry cars and their passengers over relatively s ...
*
Lockheed L-049 Constellation
The Lockheed L-049 Constellation was the first model of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. It entered service as the C-69 military transport aircraft during World War II for the United States Army Air Forces and was the first civilian ver ...
References
External links
Data Brief historical information
Fleet HistoryTEA pictures
{{Authority control
Defunct airlines of Belgium
Airlines established in 1971
Airlines disestablished in 1991
Belgian companies established in 1971
Steenokkerzeel