Court Line
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Court Line was a 20th-century British
tramp A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English '' ...
shipping company that was founded in 1905. In the 1960s it diversified into
shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...
and charter aviation. Its merchant shipping interests were based in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. Its
shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...
s were at
Appledore Appledore may refer to: Places England * Appledore, Kent ** Appledore (Kent) railway station * Appledore, Mid Devon, near Tiverton * Appledore, Torridge, North Devon, near Bideford United States * Appledore Island, off the coast of Maine In fic ...
in
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
and
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...
in
Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...
. Its airline was based at
Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, England, situated east of the town centre, and is the fourth-busiest airport serving London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Limited, a company wholly owned by ...
in
Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...
. It also provided bus services in
Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...
and surrounding areas. Its airline helped pioneer the concept of "cheap and cheerful"
package 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 h ...
s to
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
and other destinations in 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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
in conjunction with Clarksons Holidays, thus taking part in the establishment of a whole new way of holidaymaking for the British public. The Court Line group, including its airline and subsidiary
tour operator A tour operator is a business that typically combines and organizes lodging, accommodations, meals, sightseeing and transportation components, in order to create a package tour. They advertise and produce brochures to promote their products, holi ...
s, Clarksons Travel Group and Horizon Travel, ceased trading on 15 August 1974, with at least £7 million owing to 100,000 holidaymakers.


Shipping

Philip Haldinstein was a British Jewish businessman from
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
. He founded the tramp shipping company Haldinstein and Co Ltd in 1905.
Robert Stephenson and Company Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823 in Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne in England. It was the first company in the world created specifically to build Steam locomotive, railway engines. Famou ...
launched Haldinstein's first ship, ''Arlington Court'', at
Hebburn Hebburn is a town in the South Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It was formerly in County Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the south bank of the River Tyne between Gateshead and Jarrow and ...
on the
River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...
that October. Between 1906 and 1912 Haldinstein added several new steamships from shipyards on the Tyne and the
River Wear The River Wear (, ) in Northern England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers. The Wear wends in a steep valley t ...
. When the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
broke out in 1914, Haldinstein & Co had a fleet of seven ships and was operating as Court Line, Ltd.
Anti-German sentiment Anti-German sentiment (also known as anti-Germanism, Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is fear or dislike of Germany, its Germans, people, and its Culture of Germany, culture. Its opposite is Germanophile, Germanophilia. Anti-German sentiment main ...
arose in Britain in the war, so in 1915 Haldinstein shortened his surname to Haldin. In 1915 Haldin bought a second-hand ship, ''Dalebank'', which he renamed ''Ilvington Court''. In 1917 a U-boat sank ''Ilvington Court'' in 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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
, killing eight of her crew. Haldin sold several ships between 1916 and 1921, reducing his fleet to only two ships: ''Geddington Court'' and ''Hannington Court''. From 1924 onward Haldin expanded his fleet again. He bought a mixture of new and second-hand ships. The second-hand ones were ships that had been built just after the end of the First World War to the Shipping Controller's war standard designs. Haldin continued to name his ships in the same "''—ington Court''" style, and re-used some names more than once. By 1926 the fleet had 26 ships. In 1926 Haldin registered his fleet under the name United British Steamship Co Ltd. In 1929 Richard Philipps, the youngest brother of
Owen Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant Owen Cosby Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant (25 March 1863 – 5 June 1937), known as Sir Owen Philipps between 1909 and 1923, was a British businessman and politician, jailed in 1931 for producing a document with intent to deceive. Background Phil ...
, joined Haldin in the business, which was renamed Haldin and Philipps Ltd. In the 1930s part of the fleet was laid up. In 1939 Haldin was made a
Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...
. In 1937 Court Line lost two ships. ''Nollington Court'' sank in the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
after striking a submerged object. Less than a fortnight later, ''Quarrington Court'' sank in the
Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
after springing a leak in a water intake in her
engine room On a ship, the engine room (ER) is the Compartment (ship), compartment where the machinery for marine propulsion is located. The engine room is generally the largest physical compartment of the machinery space. It houses the vessel's prime move ...
. When the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
began in 1939, Haldin & Philipps Ltd had a fleet of 23 ships. In the war it lost 14 ships, 13 of them to enemy action, with the loss of 136 lives. One ship, , was lost with all hands. From 1940 onward Haldin & Philipps started to manage some Empire ships for the Ministry of War Transport. In 1945 and 1946 it bought these ships and renamed them with "''—ington Court''" names. In 1948 Philipps retired, and the company name reverted to Haldin & Co. Haldin died in 1953, aged 73. From 1952 onward Haldin & Co started to buy new ships again. In the 1960s the fleet diversified into tankers. The first was ''Edith Borthen'', which Haldin bought in 1963 and renamed ''Halcyon Days''. The second was ''Halcyon Breeze'', which
Hitachi () is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...
built for Court Line in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
in 1964. The Admiralty chartered ''Halcyon Breeze'' as the oiler . All Court Line tankers were named in the same "''Halcyon —''" style. In 1964 Court Line bought
Appledore Shipbuilders Appledore Shipbuilders is a shipbuilder in Appledore, North Devon, England. History The Appledore Yard was founded in 1855 on the estuary of the River Torridge. The Richmond Dry Dock was built in 1856 by William Yeo and named after Richmon ...
in
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
. In 1972 it took over a larger shipbuilding business, the Doxford and Sunderland Group. When the Court Line group went bankrupt in 1974, the shipyards and remaining ships in the fleet were sold.


Aviation


Autair

The airline, originally named Argus Air Transport, was formed at
London Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, England, situated east of the town centre, and is the Airports of London, fourth-busiest airport serving London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Limited, a comp ...
in 1957. In 1960, it became Autair (Luton). On 27 September 1963, it changed to Autair International Airways. Autair started as a division of Autair Helicopters, a
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
operator established in the early 1950s. (Autair's
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
interests were subsequently hived off into a separate company.) It began public transport operations with an ex-
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 ...
(BEA)
Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the 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 ...
, used on contract work for other airlines. More
DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the 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 ...
s and
Vickers Viking The Vickers Viking was a British single-engine amphibious aircraft designed for military use shortly after World War I. Later versions of the aircraft were known as the Vickers Vulture and Vickers Vanellus. Design and development Resear ...
s were bought. The first of the latter joined the fleet in 1962. Both types operated freight and passenger services, including a growing number of inclusive tour (IT) flights. One of the earliest charter customers for Autair's DC-3s was ex-
naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...
Tom Gullick,''Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... COURT LINE)'', Vol 43, No 7, p. 37, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, July 2010 who would later head Clarksons. Clarksons began its relationship with Autair by contracting the airline's
Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...
s to ferry day-trippers between up to ten UK departure points and
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
during the Dutch bulbfield season. Airspeed Ambassadors and a leased Handley Page Herald were introduced in 1963. The former were the airline's first pressurised aircraft while the latter was its first
turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...
. On 1 October 1963, the airline commenced scheduled services between
Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
and
Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...
with Vikings.''High Risk: The Politics of the Air'', Thomson, A., Sidgwick and Jackson, London, 1990, p. 249 The route was subsequently operated with
Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...
s and extended to
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
on 24 May 1966. In the following years, all
piston A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder (engine), cylinder a ...
-engined aircraft types were withdrawn and replaced with Hawker Siddeley 748 and Handley Page Herald turboprops. Three
Herald A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms. Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen ...
s operated the company's scheduled services, including the main
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
Teesside Teesside () is an urban area around the River Tees in North East England. Straddling the border between County Durham and North Yorkshire, it spans the boroughs of Borough of Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough, Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton ...
route. 1960 saw the formation of Clarksons Tours (later, Clarksons Holidays) with Tom Gullick as
managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
. Over the next few years, Clarksons would become Autair's and its successor Court Line's most important tour operator customer. In April 1965 Court Line bought Autair's entire
share capital A corporation's share capital, commonly referred to as capital stock in the United States, is the portion of a corporation's equity that has been derived by the issue of shares in the corporation to a shareholder, usually for cash. ''Share ...
for £215,000. Autair became a jet operator in 1968, when three brand-new BAC One-Eleven 400 series joined its fleet. The new jets mainly operated IT flights.''Aeroplane, Commercial continued — Autair International'', Vol. 116, No. 2960, p. 8, Temple Press, London, 10 July 1968 1968 was also the year Clarksons' customer base had grown to 175,000 (up from 4,000 in 1964''Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... COURT LINE)'', Vol 43, No 7, p. 38, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, July 2010), many of whom flew to their holiday destination on Autair's new jets.''Fly me, I'm Freddie!'', Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, p. 124 By spring 1969, five One-Eleven 400s (including an example acquired second-hand from
Channel Airways Channel Airways was a private airline formed in the United Kingdom in 1946 as East Anglian Flying Services. The newly formed airline initially operated aerial joy rides with a single, three-seater aircraft from an airstrip on the Kent coast. S ...
) operated Autair's IT flights, primarily under contract to Clarksons Tours. These carried the bulk of the airline's half-a-million annual charter passengers, which far outnumbered the 66,000 using its scheduled services each year. From 1 April 1969, the airline's scheduled operation in London was consolidated at
Heathrow Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...
, joining Teesside services which had already transferred to London's premier airport from the company's Luton base on 1 November 1967. In summer 1969, Autair announced its decision to withdraw all scheduled services "irrevocably", following an unsuccessful request for government subsidies. By that time, the airline's scheduled network served
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
, Blackpool,
Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...
, the
Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
,
Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
, Glasgow, Hull, the
Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
, London and Teesside in the UK,
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
in the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
and
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
in the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. Scheduled services accounted for 12% of Autair's turnover. The airline's scheduled operation was estimated to have generated an annual loss of £150,000 (only London—Teesside was said to be profitable). On 31 October 1969, scheduled services were stopped and all turboprop aircraft sold. This was followed by an order for seven of the larger 119-seat 500 series One-Eleven.''Fly me, I'm Freddie!'', Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, pp. 185/6


Court Line Aviation

To coincide with the arrival of the first BAC One-Eleven 500, the airline changed its name on 1 January 1970 to Court Line Aviation and introduced a new corporate look and
strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "troop leadership; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the " a ...
that focused exclusively on the then fast-growing
package holiday 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 ...
market. As the larger One-Eleven 500s were delivered, all but one of the smaller, former Autair 400 series One-Elevens were retired. The corporate look was an all-over colour design by Peter Murdoch. In keeping with the holiday "feel-good factor", One-Elevens were painted in the following distinctive, eye-catching pastel colour combinations: yellow/gold/orange, pink/rose/magenta, pale violet/mauve/purple, light green/mid-green/forest green. As with the tankers in the shipping fleet, the aircraft were named ''Halcyon Breeze, Halcyon Skies, Halcyon Days'', etcetera.
Aircrew Aircrew are personnel who operate an aircraft while in flight. The composition of a flight's crew depends on the type of aircraft, plus the flight's duration and purpose. Commercial aviation Flight deck positions In commercial aviatio ...
wore trendy uniforms designed by Mary Quant. This was part of making passengers feel that the flight was a "fun part" of their holiday. For many, it would be their first flying experience. Other airlines and tour operators were quick to jump on the burgeoning package holiday bandwagon. This resulted in increasingly fierce competition between operators and led to a price warfare to fill planes and hotels. Under Tom Gullick's management, Shipping Industrial Holdings' subsidiary Clarksons Holidays became the undisputed cut-price leader in the IT market. By 1973, Clarksons carried 1.1 million holidaymakers—almost 1968's whole industry total—and contracted over 70% of Court Line's charter capacity. Its meteoric rise was entirely volume-based. It generated the required volumes by ruthlessly undercutting rivals and outbidding them to win the race for securing accommodation in popular overseas holiday resorts, especially in Spain. Thus, in the early 1970s, a holiday in
Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...
or on the
Costa del Sol The Costa del Sol (; literally "Coast of the Sun") is a region in the south of Spain in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, comprising the coastal towns and communities along the coastline of the Province of ...
became affordable for the average person for the first time. Court Line and Clarksons Holidays were also a UK pioneer of the "time charter" concept, whereby the airline entered into a long-term relationship with the tour operator. "Time charter" was modelled on similar long-term arrangements between ship owners and charterers in the
oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...
business. It resulted in greater economic security for the charter airline industry and enabled it to acquire new aircraft on more favourable terms.


"Seat-back" catering

Court Line invented "seat-back" catering, a new concept that permitted a reduction in the amount of
galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...
space inside its aircraft's cabins. The extra space obtained was equivalent to three seats on the One-Eleven 400. This enabled it to increase seating densities and reduce individual seat rates to allow tour operators to hold on to their market shares in a price-sensitive environment.''Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... COURT LINE)'', Vol 43, No 7, pp. 37/8, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, July 2010 The concept itself consisted of pre-packed meals or snacks – usually,
Spam Spam most often refers to: * Spam (food), a consumer brand product of canned processed pork of the Hormel Foods Corporation * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ...
salads out and sandwiches back — loaded into a small, two-shelf compartment in the seat back in front of each passenger. The meal/snack for the outbound journey could be found in the top compartment, the one for the return trip in the lower section. The latter contained a pellet of dry ice placed under the plastic food container, thus preventing the food from spoiling. For the airline's cabin staff, it eliminated handling trays while airborne and resulted in a reduction of their workload. To prevent outbound passengers from consuming meals intended for return passengers, locks needed to be installed on the lower compartment that could only be opened by cabin staff during the aircraft's turnaround at the destination airport (although these were not always effective at deterring determined passengers). In addition to Court Line/Clarksons, Great Universal Stores (GUS) subsidiary Global was a major proponent of "seat-back" catering among the UK's leading contemporary tour operators. It demanded that package holiday costs be driven down to the bare minimum by replacing the traditional meal service on holiday charter flights with something much cheaper that would simply give passengers "a slice of pie". Industry insiders referred to Global's new inflight catering concept as ''Global Pie''. The cost advantage industry leaders such as Court Line/Clarksons and Global gained over their rivals as a result of their onboard catering innovation eventually forced every other major UK charter airline to adopt "seat-back" catering on most flights serving short- and medium-haul IT destinations.


Widebody era

In 1973, Court Line took delivery of a pair of
Lockheed L-1011 TriStar The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar (pronounced "El-ten-eleven") is an American medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation. It was the third wide-body airliner to enter commercial operations, after the Boeing 747 ...
s and became the first
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
an airline to operate the Lockheed widebody. The aircraft were acquired on long-term
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 ...
from Airlease International, a consortium of eleven British banks and financial institutions. They were uniquely customised for Court with double-width doors to speed up passenger evacuation and featured integral passenger stairs and baggage conveyors to facilitate operations at smaller airports. The introduction of these brand-new widebodies was a big gamble for a small airline operating in a seasonal market with tight margins as the new jets had four times the One-Eleven's passenger capacity (476 vs 119). Court took the view with Clarksons that the market would grow and that such large aircraft could be operated profitably. In addition, Clarksons was looking to expand further into cruise holidays and new markets in the US and the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
. This, at the time, was wholly new territory for the UK package tour market. The acquisition of Leeward Islands Air Transport (
LIAT LIAT 2020 Limited, operating as LIAT20, or simply LIAT, is an airline of Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a Sovereign state, sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua, Barbuda, and List of islands of Antigua and Barbuda ...
), a regional airline based in the Caribbean, in 1972 was part of Court's long-haul expansion strategy.''Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... COURT LINE)'', Vol 43, No 7, p. 39, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, July 2010 Court Line provided LIAT with BAC One-Eleven series 500 aircraft for scheduled passenger services in the Caribbean. The BAC One-Eleven was the only jet aircraft type ever operated by LIAT. The introduction of the TriStar led to an increase in maintenance personnel and the modification of an existing hangar at the airline's Luton base to accommodate the new widebody. It also resulted in the purchase of a former
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
Blackburn Beverley The Blackburn B-101 Beverley is a heavy transport aircraft produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Blackburn Aircraft. It was notably the only land-based transport aeroplane built by Blackburn, a company that otherwise specialised in pr ...
cargo transporter from the
Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...
to airlift
Rolls-Royce RB211 The Rolls-Royce RB211 is a British family of high-bypass turbofan engines made by Rolls-Royce Holdings, Rolls-Royce. The engines are capable of generating of thrust. The RB211 engine was the first production turbofan#Three-spool, three-spool e ...
replacement engines and/or other essential spares in case the planes developed a serious technical fault at an overseas station that prevented them from returning to Luton (although in fact the Beverley was never civil registered and so was never used). The airline's total investment in widebodied equipment amounted to
US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
55 million.


Hard times

As early as 1971, Clarksons lost as much as £2.6 million despite increasing its turnover by £9 million to £31 million. Industry sources estimated that this equated to a loss of £4 per head. In 1972, Clarksons's loss grew to £4.8 million. This was almost 2½ times as much as the combined loss of
Thomson Holidays Thomson Travel Group plc was a business formed by the Thomson Corporation of Canada, when it was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1998. It was acquired by Preussag AG, an industrial and transport conglomerate, in 2000. The group continu ...
(£1.6 million) and Horizon Holidays (£388,000), its closest rivals. By 1973, Clarksons carried over a million passengers and accounted for 40% of Court Line's turnover. During the 1973–74 winter season, Clarksons's plight worsened. At the time, the UK was in the grip of a
recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction that occurs when there is a period of broad decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be tr ...
, as a result of the early 1970s
energy crisis An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant Bottleneck (production), bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particu ...
caused by the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) is an organization enabling the co-operation of leading oil-producing and oil-dependent countries in order to collectively influence the global oil market and maximize Profit (eco ...
' oil boycott of the West in the aftermath of the 1973 Arab–Israeli War. This was a punitive measure directed against these countries for their support of
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
during that war. It led to a drastic reduction in the availability of petroleum products – including
jet fuel Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by Gas turbine, gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for ...
. This in turn resulted in a tripling of the oil price in October 1973 and a subsequent quadrupling. 1974 became known as the worst year for the UK package tour industry. At the beginning of the year,
Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
plunged into the three-day working week, as a consequence of the miners' strike that had been called to topple the
Heath Government Edward Heath of the Conservative Party formed the Heath ministry and was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II on 19 June 1970, following the general election of the previous day. The Heath ministry ended after ...
. This immediately reduced package holiday bookings by 30%. Clarksons, Court Line's main customer and in-house tour operator since April 1973, was facing mounting financial pressure, and Vladimir Raitz's Horizon Holidays, another of the airline's major customers, collapsed during that time. Following Court Line's takeover of Clarksons the previous year for a nominal £1 (excluding a £3.4 million "subsidy" from the airline's
parent company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
to cover the tour operator's projected 1973 loss), it purchased the
Horizon The horizon is the apparent curve that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This curve divides all viewing directions based on whethe ...
group's goodwill for £600,000—including the acquisition of 58% of Horizon Midlands for £400,000—from the
administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...
. The deal, which became effective in February 1974, was based on payment of £1 for each Horizon customer Court Line expected to carry over the following three years. The airline's decision to purchase Clarksons as well as Horizon was intended to protect its business. In reality, these deals did little to help improve Court Line's increasingly bleak prospects. As soon as Court Line began diverting Horizon customers onto its planes, British Caledonian (BCal) threatened having Horizon compulsorily wound up if Court Line did not agree to settle Horizon's outstanding debts of over £100,000. BCal's threat forced Court Line to sub-charter a fully crewed BCal One-Eleven jet for Horizon's flying programme and to provide it with additional business. In addition to BCal forcing Court Line to compensate it for the loss of Horizon's business, Thomas Cook's money-back guarantee – a scheme widely copied by other rival tour operators – further reduced the number of Horizon holidaymakers travelling on Court Line's jets. As a result, Court Line carried far fewer Horizon customers than it had anticipated. Clarksons's financial position further deteriorated. In a desperate attempt to fill the group's planes and hotel rooms so that it could stay afloat, Clarksons continued selling holiday packages below cost, with a fortnight all-inclusive holiday to Majorca selling for as little as £50.


Bankruptcy

A deal between the Court Line group and the Wilson Government to sell the former's shipyards at Appledore and Sunderland to the latter for £60 million turned out to be "too little too late" to stave off the company's impending collapse. On 15 August 1974, Court Line went bankrupt, with all flights cancelled, its fleet comprising two TriStars and nine One-Eleven 500s grounded, all 1,150 staff losing their jobs and as many as 49,000 holidaymakers stranded overseas with no means of getting home. To enable stranded holidaymakers to return to the UK at no additional cost to them, the collapsed group's rivals organised an airlift through the Tour Operators' Study Group (TOSG), the package holiday industry association.''High Risk: The Politics of the Air'', Thomson, A., Sidgwick and Jackson, London, 1990, pp. 299 This operation was paid for using the £3.5m bond the failed group's tour operators had deposited with TOSG. The
Association of British Travel Agents Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...
(ABTA) set up a fund to provide an insurance against such an event in the future. This was a compulsory bonding scheme for travel companies that transported their customers by air. It was administered by TOSG. On 16 August 1974, all of the group's UK-based subsidiaries went into
voluntary liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a Company (law), company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as :wikt:wind up#Noun, w ...
. This included Court Line Aviation and Clarksons Holidays. Leeward Islands Air Transport (
LIAT LIAT 2020 Limited, operating as LIAT20, or simply LIAT, is an airline of Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a Sovereign state, sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua, Barbuda, and List of islands of Antigua and Barbuda ...
) in the Caribbean as well as
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
-based Court Line Helicopters were among Court Line's overseas subsidiaries. Both survived the UK parent company's collapse. LIAT subsequently withdrew the BAC One-Eleven series 500 aircraft from its fleet which had been provided by Court Line. The Court Line Coaches subsidiary, although itself solvent and having most of its work from sources other than Court Line Aviation, was wound up shortly afterwards. ''
Commercial Motor ''Commercial Motor'' is a weekly magazine serving the road transport Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of ...
'' of 23 August 1974 noted that ''"Court Line's coach fleet continues operations 'for the present'. A go ahead to stay in operation has been given to Court Line Coaches Ltd by Mr Rupert Nicholson, who has been appointed to wind up the Court Line holiday giant which collapsed last week. Court Line Coaches has a fleet of 59 coaches and its managing director Mr Ron Keech told CM on Tuesday that the company has been told it could continue trading. He had however, "no idea" what might happen in a few months' time."''


Factors behind collapse

In addition to the early-'70s oil crisis and the
three-day week The Three-Day Week was one of several measures introduced in the United Kingdom in 1973–1974 by Edward Heath's Conservative government to conserve electricity, the generation of which was severely restricted owing to industrial action by coal ...
, there were other factors that had caused the collapse of the group of companies that included Court Line and Clarksons. One of these factors was the parent company's precariously highly geared investment in the shipping and leisure industry sectors. According to some insider reports at the time, Court Line Aviation was a viable business. However, a proposed
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 buyouts became noted phenomena of 19 ...
was rejected as its
liquidation value Liquidation value is the likely price of an asset when it is allowed insufficient time to sell on the open market, thereby reducing its exposure to potential buyers. Liquidation value is typically lower than fair market value. Unlike cash or other a ...
was needed to pay off the parent company's debts. The Department of Trade and Industry final report into the Court Line collapse concludes:
"The short answer is that there was no single reason for the collapse, which was caused by a number of contributory factors. Court Line expanded rapidly in many directions, some of which were both logical and justifiable, others not. The overall management was throughout inadequate and it was in any event never supported by the necessary financial control. This meant that as Court Line expanded, it became progressively vulnerable to any substantial setback in any of its areas of activities. When a serious setback occurred, triggered off by the oil crisis of autumn 1973, it immediately affected the shipping, aviation, and leisure divisions. The group was so highly geared, so structured and having such inadequate financial control, that it might well have been brought down by a substantial reverse in any of its major activities. As it was the cumulative effect on all three divisions, when all the cash resources which would otherwise have been available had been invested unprofitably in the Caribbean, meant that the position progressively deteriorated and rendered the collapse in August 1974 unavoidable."


Disposal of airline's assets

Following the spectacular crash of Court Line and Clarksons at the height of the 1974 holiday season, the failed carrier's fairly new aircraft were acquired by other airlines.
Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, or simply Cathay Pacific, is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main airline hub, hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and its subsidiaries have schedule ...
took the two L-1011 TriStar widebodies while
Dan-Air Dan-Air (legally ''Dan Air Services Limited'') was an airline based in the United Kingdom and a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based shipbroker, shipbroking firm Davies and Newman. It was started in 1953 with a single aircraft. Initially, i ...
and
Monarch Airlines Monarch Airlines, simply known as Monarch, was a British Air charter, charter and scheduled airline founded by Bill Hodgson and Don Peacock and financed by the Swiss Sergio Mantegazza family. The company later became a low-cost airline in 2004 ...
respectively purchased four and two of the One-Eleven 500 narrowbodies. These aircraft needed to be re-registered to avoid having them impounded by overseas airport authorities in lieu of the airport user charges Court Line owed them.


Fixed-wing aircraft operated


Autair

* Airspeed Ambassador * BAC One-Eleven 400 *
Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the 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 ...
*
Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960 ...
* Handley Page Dart Herald *
Hawker Siddeley HS 748 The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 (formerly Avro 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 absorptio ...
*
Vickers Viking The Vickers Viking was a British single-engine amphibious aircraft designed for military use shortly after World War I. Later versions of the aircraft were known as the Vickers Vulture and Vickers Vanellus. Design and development Resear ...


Court Line

* BAC One-Eleven 400/ 500 *
Lockheed L-1011 TriStar The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar (pronounced "El-ten-eleven") is an American medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation. It was the third wide-body airliner to enter commercial operations, after the Boeing 747 ...
1


Fleet and employee data


1970

Court Line employed 670 people at that time (as of March 1970).


1974

Court Line employed 1,150 people at that time (as of March 1974).


See also

* List of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom


Accidents and incidents

Autair suffered two accidents, one of which involved the loss of lives. * The first of these occurred on 14 September 1967. One of the airline's Ambassadors (registration: G-ALZS) overran the
runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...
at Luton Airport at the end of a non-scheduled passenger flight from
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
. The aircraft had approached Luton in darkness.
Visibility In meteorology, visibility is the measure of the distance at which an object or light can be clearly discerned. It depends on the Transparency and translucency, transparency of the surrounding air and as such, it is unchanging no matter the amb ...
was and the
cloud base A cloud base (or the base of the cloud) is the lowest altitude of the visible portion of a cloud. It is traditionally expressed either in metres or feet above mean sea level or above a planetary surface, or as the pressure level corresponding t ...
. Following
touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...
, the
pilot in command The pilot in command (PIC) of an aircraft is the person aboard an aircraft who is ultimately responsible for its operation and safety during flight. This would be the captain in a typical two- or three- pilot aircrew, or "pilot" if there is only ...
retracted the aircraft's flaps in the
takeoff Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle leaves the ground and becomes airborne. For aircraft traveling vertically, this is known as liftoff. For aircraft that take off horizontally, this usually involves starting with a tr ...
position and applied brakes intermittently. The aircraft overran the runway and came to a stop in soft
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
. This caused the undercarriage to collapse. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and had to be written off. However, there were no fatalities among the 69 occupants (four crew and 65 passengers). * The second took place on 23 December 1967. A Hawker Siddeley HS 125 (registration: G-AVGW, owned by The Beecham Group and operated by Autair International) crashed shortly after taking off from Luton Airport, killing both
pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they are ...
. The aircraft had been on a training flight and the crash occurred when the crew simulated an
engine failure A turbine engine failure occurs when a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine unexpectedly stops producing Power (physics), power due to a malfunction other than fuel exhaustion. It often applies for aircraft, but other turbine engines can also fail, ...
on takeoff. The HS 125 lost height rapidly and hit the roof of a nearby factory, resulting in a post-crash fire. * On 18 April 1974,
BAC One-Eleven The BAC One-Eleven (BAC-111, BAC 1-11) is a retired early jet airliner produced by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Conceived by Hunting Aircraft as a 30-seat jet, before its merger into BAC in 1960, it was launched as an 80-seat airl ...
G-AXMJ was involved in a ground collision with Piper PA-23 Aztec G-AYDE during take-off from Luton Airport,
Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...
. The Aztec had entered the active runway without permission. The pilot of the Aztec was killed and his passenger was injured. The One-Eleven aborted its take-off and an emergency evacuation was performed with all 93 people on board escaping uninjured. The Aztec was written off and the substantially damaged One-Eleven was repaired and returned to service. * A Court Line BAC One-Eleven leased to
Cyprus Airways Cyprus Airways ( Greek: Κυπριακές Αερογραμμές) is the flag carrier of Cyprus, based at Larnaca International Airport. It commenced operations on 1 June 2017. It is the largest airline in Cyprus and it has flights for all ar ...
was stranded in 1974 at Nicosia Airport following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. It was retrieved by
British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...
engineers in 1977, but was immediately impounded on its arrival in Britain by Court Line's insurers to help pay off the debts the now defunct company owed. The aircraft was returned to Cyprus Airways in 1978 and remained in service until 1985.


Citations


References

* * * (various backdated issues relating to Autair/Court Line, 1960–1974) * *


Further reading

*
''Kelsey Publishing Group'' online


External links


Home of the BAC 1-11 on the Web > Enter > Country guide to operators > United Kingdom: Court Line Aviation, Ltd. (OU)

Home of the BAC 1-11 on the Web > Enter > Model Number and Customer Code

Court Line Aviation Staff & Fans Facebook Group
{{Authority control Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom Defunct shipping companies of the United Kingdom Airlines established in 1957 Airlines disestablished in 1974 Travel and holiday companies of the United Kingdom 1905 establishments in England 1974 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 1974 British companies established in 1905