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Aviation History
1973
1973 - 1488.PDF
t ;^.'—'~:'*- m rn^rn, Airline Profile :~wmmm FORTY-THREE in THE SERIES £JA/V-AJB MEASURING THE SIZE OF AIRLINES is an activity to which an increasing number of air transport analysts have become addicted. One airline that has frequently escaped their attentions is Dan-Air, the British scheduled and charter carrier. In 1972 the airline carried in excess of 1-7 million passengers and generated 1,718 million passenger-miles using a 30-strong fleet of Boeing 707s, Comets, BAC One-Elevens and HS.748s, thus ensuring its position amongst the largest European independent air lines. Dan-Air came into being almost by accident; its parent company, Davies & Newman, was formed in 1922 as a shipbroking company based in the City of London, dealing primarily in the oil tanker trade. In the early 1950s the company cast around for new fields of activity and decided to move into the aircraft broking market. Amongst other aircraft, the company held debentures on a single DC-3, which it took over as Dan-Air Services' first aircraft and used on the second Berlin airlift. With the availability on the second-hand market of ex-RAF Transport Command Yorks the opportunity was taken to purchase three, which were used from 1956 onwards on Air Ministry freight contracts to Singapore and later to the Woomera rocket range in Australia. The aircraft were maintained and supported by a subsidiary, of Dan-Air Services, Dan-Air Engineering, which had been established in 1954 at Lasham, in Hampshire. In 1959 the company moved into two new areas; three ex-BEA Ambassadors were bought from Australia, where they had been flying for Butler Air Transport, now part of the Ansett group, and were brought into service in the inclusive-tour and ad hoc charter fields. The same year scheduled services were started with a route from London's new Gatwick Airport to Jersey, followed by flights linking Bristol, Cardiff and Liverpool, using DC-3s and Doves. In 1966 Dan-Air took the significant step of acquiring two ex-BOAC Comet 4s. They were delivered to Lasham for a major rework which included strengthening the floors, increasing the seating capacity to 99 and modifying the wings to enable the aircraft to withstand the rigours of short-haul flying. Inclusive-tour operations were started in time for the 1967 summer season—thus making Dan-Air the second British independent to operate jets (BUA was the first). Two years later, the failure of British Eagle enabled Dan-Air to start services with BAC One-Elevens, two of which were bought from American Airlines in March 1969. They were converted to an 89-seat layout and employed on Lunn-Poly holiday flights formerly carried out by British Eagle. Two years later, two of the four One-Elevens by now operated were positioned in Berlin for the summer season, to operate IT services to the Mediterranean for German travel companies. The granting of an American Civil Aeronautics Board foreign-carrier permit in March 1971 enabled Dan-Air to re-enter the long-haul field, using two former Pan American Boeing 707-321s, which were put into service on the Atlantic. In 1972 a decision was taken to begin the replace ment of the Comet fleet, which then stood at 16, and the Boeing 727-100 was chosen. The decision caused a stir in the British airline world because not only was Dan-Air the first airline in the United Kingdom to order the air- The two faces of Dan-Air. Heading photograph, the first of the air line's three Boeing 727s which are due to replace Comets on the bulk of Dan-Air's inclusive tour flights. Below, one of the seven HS.748s used on Dan-Air Skyways' scheduled services
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