Falcon Airways was a British charter airline that operated from 1959 to 1961 when the operating licence was withdrawn due to concerns over safety.

History

Falcon Airways Limited was formed in 1959 by Captain Marian Kozuba-Kozubski with one

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 ...

at Hurn Airport to operate charter services from both Hurn and

Blackbushe Airport Blackbushe Airport is an operational general aviation airport in the civil parish of Yateley in the north-east corner of the English county of Hampshire. Built during the Second World War, Blackbushe is north of the A30 road between Camberley ...

. In October 1959 the airline acquired three four-engined

Handley Page Hermes The Handley Page HP.81 Hermes was a civilian airliner designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Handley Page. The Hermes was developed during the 1940s in parallel with the closely related Handley Page Hastings military transp ...

piston engine airliners, although one was sold in December 1959. In 1960 the airline and the two

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, wikt:Ἑρμῆς, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travelle ...

moved its operations from Blackbushe to Gatwick Airport but one Hermes was destroyed in a crash in October 1960 and the other was bought by Air Safaris leaving the airline without any aircraft. In 1961 the airline bought three 82-seat

Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first pressurized-cabin civil airliner series to go into widespread use. Its press ...

s to operate long-range charter flights. Although they needed modification work to meet Air Registration Board requirements. In March when Kozubski flew one of the Constellations from

Gander, Newfoundland Gander is a town located in the northeastern part of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, approximately south of Gander Bay, south of Twillingate and east of Grand Falls-Windsor. Located on the nor ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

London 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 ...

with West Indian immigrants, the aircraft had unserviceable radios and navigation equipment. It also did not have enough dinghies onboard and the airline was prosecuted and fined £300. The airline did start to operate the first Constellation in May 1961 but it was withdrawn from service for maintenance shortly afterwards. The second aircraft was put into service in July 1961 but was then sold by the airline to another British operator Trans European. The third aircraft was registered in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

rather than the United Kingdom and the British authorities refused to let the airline operate an unmodified aircraft. This temporarily grounded the airline until the first Constellation returned to service in August 1961 and following the collapse of another British airline the Ministry eventually allowed them to operate the Austrian aircraft. In September 1961 following concerns about safety the airlines operating certificate was withdrawn by the British authorities and the airline ceased to operate.

Fleet

* 3

* 1

Accidents and incidents

*On 9 October 1960,

G-ALDC overran the runway on landing at

Southend Airport Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

, ending up across the Shenfield to Southend railway line. The aircraft was written off. Of the 76 people on board, five were taken to hospital with injuries.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * {{Airlines of the United Kingdom Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom Airlines established in 1959 1959 establishments in the United Kingdom Airlines disestablished in 1961 1961 disestablishments in the United Kingdom

History

Fleet

Accidents and incidents

See also

References