FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1047.PDF
FLIGHT, 3 August 1956 193 The Corporation's float-equipped 5-55 lands at the South Bank, London, on the first helicopter service (now discontinued) from London Airport on July 25, 7955. These aircraft are now used on scheduled feeder services in the Midlands. The annual report for the 12 months to March 31, 1953, showed a net loss of £1,459,131. In that year B.E.A. increased its revenue by £2,310,393 and reduced its operating loss by £86,334. Capacity ton-miles flown were 69.2 million with a load factor of 62.9 per cent; 1,400,122 passengers were carried and 172,273 revenue hours were flown. April was an important month. On April 1 tourist class fares were introduced throughout Europe. On April 4 Viscount route- proving flights were begun with revenue freight. The first flight, over the London-Rome-Athens-Nicosia route, was made by G-AMOG Robert Falcon Scott with Capts. A. S. Johnson and W. Baillie. Regular scheduled passenger services with Viscounts began on April 18 when G-AMNY Sir Ernest Shackleton left London Air- port for Rome, Athens and Nicosia. Capt. A. S. Johnson was in command and Mr. George Edwards and Mr. Peter Masefield were among the passengers. By the end of the year Viscounts were operating to the following continental destinations: Istan- bul, Zurich, Geneva, Copenhagen and Stockholm. April 19 brought the introduction of summer schedules, and on that day Elizabethans began operating to Amsterdam, Brussels, Diisseldorf and Frankfurt. Waterloo Air Terminal was formally opened by the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation on May 21. Further development in B.E.A.'s helicopter operations came about on Monday, July 13, when a regular freight service was begun between London Airport and Elmdon Airport at Birmingham. Bristol 171 helicopters were used and the first flight was made by G-AMWH Sir Geraint flown by Capt. J. Cameron. During August 1953 B.E.A. carried for the first time almost a quarter of a million passengers in one month—in fact 248,000. On July 17 a Viscount had operated a special London-Glasgow flight, making the journey in 1 hi 10 min. Regular Viscount operation on this route and on the London-Belfast route began on October 4 with the introduction of the first-class Clansman service to Glasgow and Ulster Flyer to Belfast. 1954. The year started with Viscounts taking over the opera- tion of more routes, with consequent saving in flight times. On January 2 G-AMOL David Livingstone flew the first Viscount service to Madrid, G-AMOF Sir Martin Frobisher flew the first Palma service on January 10, and on January 13 G-AMOH Henry Hudson flew the first Barcelona Viscount service. On March 11 B.E.A. took delivery of its 20th Viscount, thus com- pleting its initial fleet order for the type. Financial results for the year ended March 31, 1954, showed that B.E.A. had made its first operating profit—£64,000. The net deficit was £1,773,797; 1,656,779 passengers were carried in the year and 53,594,689 revenue ton-miles flown with an overall load factor of 64.1 per cent. On June 16, B.E.A. flew its first passenger services to be operated with a British helicopter when it opened Bristol 171 operated routes from London Airport and Northolt Airport to Southampton. G-AMWH was used on the first day and it was flown by Capt. R. W. Dibb. The last of the corporation's services to be operated from Northolt Airport left at 18.58 on October 30. It was a Jersey service flown by the Pionair G-AHCZ Chartes Samson (Capt. T. Froggatt). From October 31 all B.E.A. services to and from London used London Airport. On the same day all Viking and Admiral class high-density Vikings were withdrawn from B.E.A.'s regular services. 1955. B.E.A.'s first de Havilland Heron (Hebrides class) air- craft, G-ANXB Sir James Simpson was delivered on February 12. The first ambulance charter by this type was flown on March 4, and the two Herons were officially named in a ceremony at Renfrew Airport on March 18. The corporation's annual report showed that for the financial (Below) The Corporation's Bristol 170 freighter. (Right) The Bristol 173, now undergoing evaluation trials in the hands of the Corporation's helicopter pilots. Taken over a fortnight ago, it is the first twin- engined helicopter ever delivered to an airline. year 1954-55 B.E.A. had for the first time made a net profit— it was £63,039. Traffic had increased 18.8 per cent in the year and 1,874,316 passengers were carried. The total revenue ton- miles flown was 63,646,902 and the load factor was 64.7 per cent compared with the break-even load factor of 64.5 per cent. At a little after 07.30 on Sunday, April 17, the Viscount G-AMOA George Vancouver left London Airport for Amster- dam, thus giving B.E.A. the distinction of operating the first service from London Airport Central. On July 25, B.E.A. began the regular operation of passenger helicopter services between London Airport Central and the South Bank Heliport at Waterloo. Westland S-55s were used and the first service was flown by G-ANUK Sir Kay. The service was discontinued on May 31, 1956. On July 27, 1955, the corporation carried its 2,000,000th passenger to be flown in one year. A new route to Cairo was opened on August 8 when the Viscount G-AMOD John Davis flew the first service via Munich and Athens. On October 17, B.E.A., Vickers and Rolls-Royce jointly announced the Vickers Vanguard with Rolls-Royce Tyne engines. 1956. B.E.A. began this year by carrying its 1,000,000th Vis- count passenger on January 2. Although the report for 1955-56 has not yet been published, provisional figures show that the corporation made a gross profit of £1,100,000 and a net profit of about £500,000. About a quarter of a million passengers were carried in the year ended March 31, thus making B.E.A. the biggest airline, from a traffic point of view, outside the U.S.A. At March 31 the corporation's fleet consisted of 28 Viscounts, 19 Elizabethans, 38 Pionairs, eight Pionair-Leopard freighters, six D.H.89As, one Bristol 170, two Herons, two Bristol 171s, three Westland S-55s and one Bell 47. On May 3, Mr. A. H. Milward was appointed chief executive and also a member of the Board. B.E.A.'s helicopter unit opened its latest service on July 2, with a route from Nottingham to Birmingham via Leicester. S-55s are used. Having previously made numerous Royal flights, on June 18, B.E.A. had the honour of carrying H.M. the Queen from Stockholm to London in a Viscount commanded by Capt. W. Baillie. The latest events to record in this survey of B.E.A.'s 10 years occurred on July 20 when Lord Douglas of Kirtleside signed a contract with Vickers, worth about £20m, for a fleet of 20 Vanguards, 14 Viscount V.806s and two V.802s. On the same day Lord Douglas received on behalf of the corporation the Bristol 173 helicopter G-AMJI Sir Bors at a ceremony outside Keyline House. The Bristol 173 is to be used for experiments during the coming few weeks, and it is the first twin-engined helicopter to be used by an airline. In its ten years of operation B.E.A. has become Europe's largest airline and has carried more than 12,000,000 passengers, produced 635,000,000 capacity ton-miles, flown 1,336,000 hours and earned £113,000,000 revenue. Its total of passenger-miles flown is 3,500,000,000.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
