Morton Air Services was one of the earliest post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

private, independentindependent from

government-owned corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

airlines An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in whic ...

formed in 1945.Morton Air Services — In Memoriam
/ref> It mainly operated regional short-haul scheduled services within the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...

and between the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

. In 1953, Morton took over rival independent UK airline Olley Air Service.airline timetable images — Olley Air Service, United Kingdom
/ref> In 1958, Morton became part of the

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 ...

group.''Flight International'', 19 December 1958, ''Morton and Airwork'', p. 957
/ref> Morton retained its identity following the 1960 Airwork — Hunting-Clan merger that led to the creation of

British United Airways British United Airways (BUA) was a private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations British airline formed as a result of the merger of Airwork Services and Hunting-Clan Air Transport in July 1960, making it the largest whol ...

(BUA). The

reorganisation A corporate action is an event initiated by a public company that brings or could bring an actual change to the securities—equity or debt—issued by the company. Corporate actions are typically agreed upon by a company's board of directors ...

of the BUA group of companies during 1967/8 resulted in Morton being absorbed into

British United Island Airways British United Island Airways (BUIA) was formed in November 1968 as part of a reorganisation of the BUA group of companies. It was a regional sister airline of British United Airways (BUA), Britain's largest wholly private, independentindependen ...

(BUIA) in 1968.

History

In 1945, former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

pilot Captain T.W. "Sammy" Morton founded Morton Air Services. Prior to Morton's inception, "Sammy" Morton had flown scheduled services from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

's old Croydon Airport to Paris Le Bourget with

Amy Johnson Amy Johnson (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, she set many long-distance records du ...

in the 1930s''Fly me, I'm Freddie!'', p. 60 By the early 1950s, Captain Morton had built up a fleet of Airspeed Consul (see heading image) and

De Havilland Dragon Rapide The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide is a 1930s short-haul biplane airliner developed and produced by British aircraft company de Havilland. Capable of accommodating 6–8 passengers, it proved an economical and durable craft, despite its rel ...

aircraft and these were soon supplemented by more modern

de Havilland Dove The de Havilland DH.104 Dove is a British short-haul airliner developed and manufactured by de Havilland. The design, which was a monoplane successor to the pre-war Dragon Rapide biplane, came about from the Brabazon Committee report which, ...

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 ai ...

s to operate 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 ...

s. These included general charter work,

air ambulance Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...

services and racecourse charters. The latter's regularity was such that it amounted to a "quasi-scheduled" operation. Morton subsequently won traffic rights to operate fully fledged scheduled services from Croydon to the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

Deauville Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film F ...

Le Touquet Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (; pcd, Ech Toutchet-Paris-Plache; vls, 't Oekske, older nl, Het Hoekske), commonly referred to as Le Touquet (), is a commune near Étaples, in the Pas-de-Calais department, northern France. It has a population of ...

and

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...

.''Flight International'', 18 April 1958, ''World Airline Directory ...'', p. 528
/ref> Morton sold a minority stake of about 20% to rival independent airline

Skyways Skyways may refer to: *Skyway, walk bridge *Skyways (British airline), defunct British airline also known as Skyways Limited * Skyways (Swedish airline), defunct Swedish airline also known as Skyways Express * ''Skyways'' (TV series), Australian TV ...

. When that airline was taken over by the

Lancashire Aircraft Corporation Lancashire Aircraft Corporation was a major British charter airline after World War II. Its founding father was Eric Rylands. It played an important role in the Berlin Airlift. It also flew scheduled routes and was important in the development ...

(LAC), another contemporary independent airline, LAC acquired ownership of Skyways's minority holding in Morton Air Services as well. In 1953, Morton Air Services gained control of its independent rival Olley Air Service. Following the takeover of Olley Air Service, that airline's operations were wholly integrated into Morton's but the Olley name would survive for certain services until 1963. In 1958, Morton sold out to Airwork. The same year, Airwork started the process of merging with Hunting-Clan to form BUA.

On 30 September 1959, a Morton Air Services

de Havilland Heron The de Havilland DH.114 Heron is a small propeller-driven British airliner that first flew on 10 May 1950. It was a development of the twin-engine de Havilland Dove, with a stretched fuselage and two more engines. It was designed as a rugg ...

(G-AOXL) operated the last scheduled passenger flight to depart Croydon. The aircraft was headed for Rotterdam. Another Heron, repainted to represent that aircraft currently (2011) guards the entrance to Croydon's Aerodrome Hotel.) By the following morning, the airline's entire operation — including its headquarters — had been relocated to Gatwick. Although Morton's scheduled services were integrated into BUA's regional operations following the creation of that airline in July 1960, the Morton name survived until the completion of the BUA group's 1967/8 reorganisation. It finally disappeared on 1 November 1968. This was the day Morton was absorbed into BUIA, BUA's new regional affiliate.''Fly me, I'm Freddie!'', p. 127

Olley Air Service

In January 1934, Gordon Olley, a former pilot with

Handley Page Transport Handley Page Transport Ltd was an airline company founded in 1919, soon after the end of the First World War, by Frederick Handley Page. The company's first planes were Handley Page Type O/400 bombers modified for passenger use. They flew a Lo ...

and

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

, founded Olley Air Service. Olley Air Service was primarily a

charter airline 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 ...

. It headed a group of airlines that included Blackpool & West Coast Air Services, Channel Air Ferries and

Isle of Man Air Services Isle of Man Air Services Ltd (IoMAS) was a small airline, based at Ronaldsway Airport Isle of Man, which operated scheduled flights to the English and Scottish mainland between formation in September 1937 and nationalisation in January 1947. H ...

. These airlines were taken over in 1935 and 1936. Channel Air Ferries assumed Olley's scheduled air services to and from the Channel Islands, while Blackpool & West Coast Air Services operated scheduled flights between the UK and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

as well as to/from the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...

. The former were jointly operated with

Aer Lingus Aer Lingus ( ; an anglicisation of the Irish , meaning "air fleet" compare Welsh 'llynges awyr') is the flag carrier of Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 2015 and it is now a wholly owned subsidiar ...

using the Irish Sea Airways brand name. The latter transferred to Isle of Man Air Services, following which Blackpool & West Coast Air Services shortened its name to West Coast Air Services.

In 1938, the Olley group formed a new

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

airline with two contemporary railway companies under the name Great Western & Southern Air Lines. In 1939, Great Western & Southern Air Lines took over the scheduled routes of Channel Air Ferries. Following the end of World War II, Olley Air Service resumed operations as a charter airline. It subsequently re-entered the scheduled services market as well. In 1953, Olley Air Service was sold to Morton Air Services, as a result of which the former was absorbed into the latter. Despite Olley's complete integration into Morton, the Olley name was still used for specific services until 1963.

Fleet

Morton Air Services and Olley Air Service operated the following aircraft types: * Airspeed Consul * de Havilland DH 89 Dragon Rapide * de Havilland DH 104 Dove * de Havilland DH 114 Heron *

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 versi ...

C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

Fleet in 1958

In April 1958, the combined fleet of Morton Air Services and Olley Air Service comprised 14 aircraft.

Accidents and incidents

There are two recorded fatal accidents involving Morton Air Services aircraft.ASN Aircraft accident description Airspeed Consul G-AHJX — off Guernsey
/ref> *The first accident occurred on 8 May 1950. It involved an Airspeed Consul (registration: G-AHJX). The aircraft was destroyed in a crash off

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

killing all four occupants. *On 14 June 1952, Consul ''G-AHFT'' on a charter from Croydon to Le Mans ditched off Brighton following engine problems, all 6 on board killed, including pilot Lawrence Page.

Notes

;Notes ;Citations

Sources

* * (various backdated issues relating to Morton Air Services and Olley Air Service, 1934–1968)

External links

Morton Air Services — In MemoriamAviation Safety Network database — Morton Air Services accidents/incidents
* ttp://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/ol1.htm airline timetable images — Olley Air Service, United Kingdombr>Morton Air Services de Havilland DH 104 Dove 1B G-ANVC parked at London Gatwick during 1966Morton Air Services de Havilland DH 114 G-ANSZ Heron 1B on the ramp at London Gatwick on 8 June 1966Morton Air Services Douglas C-47B Dakota Mk. 4 (DC-3A) on the ramp at London Gatwick during August 1968Olley Air Service de Havilland DH 89A Dragon Rapide G-ACYR exhibit photographed at Madrid's Cuatro Vientos on 7 August 2004
{{Airlines of the United Kingdom Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom Airlines established in 1945 Airlines disestablished in 1968