Dan-Air

Dan Air Services
IATA ICAO Call sign
DA DAN DAN-AIR
Founded21 May 1953 (1953-05-21)
Ceased operations27 November 1992 (1992-11-27)
(merged into British Airways)
Hubs
Focus citiesNewcastle upon Tyne
Parent companyDavies and Newman
Headquarters
Key people

Dan-Air (legally Dan Air Services Limited) was an airline based in the United Kingdom and a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based shipbroking firm Davies and Newman. It was started in 1953 with a single aircraft. Initially, it operated cargo and passenger charter flights from Southend (1953–1955) and Blackbushe airports (1955–1960) using a variety of piston-engined aircraft[5] before moving to a new base at Gatwick Airport in 1960, followed by expansion into inclusive tour (IT) charter flights and all-year round scheduled services.[6] The introduction of two de Havilland Comet series 4 jet aircraft in 1966 made Dan-Air the second British independent airline after British United Airways to begin sustained jet operations.

The early 1970s saw the acquisition of a pair of Boeing 707 long-haul jets for use on affinity group and Advance Booking Charter flights to Canada and the United States.[7][8] In 1973, Dan-Air became the first British airline to operate the Boeing 727 trijet. By the mid-1970s, it had become Britain's largest independent airline, both in terms of passengers carried and fleet size, operating the country's largest charter fleet. This was also the time a Dan-Air staff member, Yvonne Pope Sintes became Britain's[9] and Europe's first female jet captain.[10][11]

By the early 1980s, the airline had also become the leading operator of fixed wing oil industry support flights, operating a fleet of 13 Hawker Siddeley 748 turboprops between bases on the Scottish mainland and the Shetland Islands under contract to firms involved in North Sea oil exploration.[12] In 1983, Dan-Air was the first airline to launch commercial operations with British Aerospace 146 regional jet. The acquisition of an Airbus A300 in 1986 marked Dan-Air's widebody debut and the late 1980s saw a major expansion of their scheduled activities, including the introduction of two-class services on trunk routes. Passenger numbers peaked in 1989 at 6.2 million (1.8 million on scheduled services).[13]

Lack of vertical integration with a tour operator, and an inefficient fleet mix dominated by ageing Boeing 727s and BAC One-Elevens made Dan-Air uncompetitive, resulting in increasing marginalisation and growing financial difficulties as well as a change in senior management and strategy by the early 1990s.[14] Following unsuccessful attempts to merge Dan-Air with a competitor, the ailing airline was sold to British Airways in 1992 for the nominal sum of £1.

  1. ^ "World Airline Directory", Flight International, Flightglobal.com: 71, archived from the original on 2 November 2012, retrieved 7 January 2012
  2. ^ "World Airline Directory", Flight International, Flightglobal.com: 84, 27 March – 2 April 1991, archived from the original on 2 November 2012, retrieved 7 January 2012
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference D_N_James_ProgressReport was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "World Airline Directory", Flight International, Flightglobal.com: 75, 25–31 March 1992, archived from the original on 2 November 2012, retrieved 7 January 2012
  5. ^ Simons 1993, p. 10, 31.
  6. ^ Heathcote-Smith 1973, p. 836.
  7. ^ Simons 1993, pp. 71–73, 83–84, 120.
  8. ^ "Dan-Air", Flight International, Flightglobal.com: 519, 9 October 1975, archived from the original on 19 October 2012, retrieved 7 January 2012
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference UK_female_aviators was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Simons 1993, pp. 113–115.
  11. ^ "Yvonne Pope Sintes obituary". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  12. ^ Simons 1993, pp. 93–100.
  13. ^ Simons 1993, p. 254.
  14. ^ Simons 1993, pp. 188–190, 193–4, 200–1, 220, 256.