British Aviation Services

British Aviation Services
Founded1946
Ceased operations1962 (taken over by
British United Airways)
HubsBlackbushe Airport
AllianceAir Kruise,
Aquila Airways,
Silver City Airways
Fleet size43 aircraft
(5 Handley Page Hermes,
14 Bristol Superfreighter,
7 Bristol Freighter,
7 Douglas DC-3,
1 Douglas DC-2,
3 Short Solent,
2 de Havilland Heron,
3 de Havilland Dragon Rapide,
1 Airspeed Consul
(as of April 1958))
Destinationsworldwide
HeadquartersCentral London
Key peopleAir Cdre Griffith J. Powell,
Eoin C. Mekie,
A. V-M. S.D. MacDonald,
W.G. Franklin,
M.D. Day

British Aviation Services Limited (Britavia) was an early post-World War II airline holding company and air transport operator that could trace its roots back to 1946.[1][2] Its main activities included trooping, inclusive tour (IT) and worldwide passenger and freight charter services.[3] British Aviation Services' first investment in a British independent[nb 1] airline occurred in 1946, when it acquired a minority interest in Silver City Airways. Silver City Airways operated the world's first cross-Channel air ferry service on 13 July 1948. It subsequently became British Aviation Services' biggest operating division.[2] In 1953, British Aviation Services took over the independent airline Air Kruise. The same year, BAS Group also took control of Aquila Airways, the last commercial flying boat operator in the United Kingdom.[4] The completion of these acquisitions by mid-1954 resulted in a reorganisation of the British Aviation Services group, with British Aviation Services Ltd (BAS Group) becoming the group's holding company and Britavia one of its operating subsidiaries.[4][5][6] By the late 1950s, BAS Group became Britain's largest independent airline operator. Its numerous operating divisions included Britavia's Hermes Division at Blackbushe Airport and Aquila Airways's Flying Boat Division at Hamble near Southampton. The former concentrated on trooping services and inclusive tours while the latter provided scheduled services to Portugal, the Canary Islands and Italy.[6][7] In 1962, BAS Group merged with British United Airways (BUA), which by that time had replaced BAS as the UK's largest independent airline operator.[8][9]

  1. ^ Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... SILVER CITY), Vol 43, No 3, p. 41, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, January 2010
  2. ^ a b Flight International, 19 February 1954, From all quarters, Another air-sea merger, p. 158
  3. ^ Flight International, 3 May 1957, World Airline Directory ... British private-enterprise operators ... Britavia (British Aviation Services Group), p. 590
  4. ^ a b PortCities Southampton > Southampton > Flying Boats > Aquila to the end > Aquila Airways[usurped]
  5. ^ Flight International, 13 March 1953, Civil Aviation, Aquila/Silver City merger, p. 342
  6. ^ a b Flight International, 17 April 1959, World Airline Directory ... The British carriers ... British Aviation Services Ltd., p. 532
  7. ^ Flight International, 18 April 1958, World Airline Directory ..., p. 527
  8. ^ Aeroplane — Britain's Biggest Independent Airline, Vol. 102, No. 2625, pp. 143/4, Temple Press, London, 8 February 1962
  9. ^ Fly me, I'm Freddie!, Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, pp. 75/6


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