British United Island Airways

British United Island Airways
IATA ICAO Call sign
UK — —
Founded1968
Ceased operations1970 (became
British Island Airways)
HubsSouthampton,
Blackpool,
Gatwick
Focus citiesJersey,
Guernsey,
Isle of Man
Fleet size11 aircraft
(7 Dart Herald 200,
4 Douglas DC-3 freighters
(as of March 1970))[1])
DestinationsEurope
Parent companyBUA (Holdings)
HeadquartersLondon Gatwick Airport
Key peopleHon. A. Cayzer,
Alan Bristow,
Wg Cdr L.B. "Bill" Elwin

British United Island Airways (BUIA) was formed in November 1968 as part of a reorganisation of the BUA group of companies.[2] It was a regional sister airline of British United Airways (BUA), Britain's largest wholly private, independent[nb 1] airline of the 1960s. It operated a network of regional, short-haul scheduled routes linking a variety of destinations within Europe, including year-round services from both Channel Islands to BUA's Gatwick base.

BUIA's origins could be traced to the BUA group's acquisition of Jersey Airlines and Silver City Airways in 1962. BUA's management amalgamated the Channel Islands scheduled passenger and freight services of these airlines (named the Duchess Services by Jersey Airlines) and Silver City's northern division to create a single airline, BUA (C.I.).[3][4]

BUIA's creation followed the BUA group's 1968 reorganisation.[2] It involved merging the operations of Channels Islands-based BUA (C.I.), Isle of Man based British United (Manx) Airways and Morton Air Services.[5][6][7]

When British & Commonwealth (B&C), the BUA group's majority shareholder, decided to sell BUA to Caledonian Airways in November 1970, BUIA was not part of this deal. Prior to BUA's sale to Caledonian, BUIA changed its name to British Island Airways (BIA).[7]

  1. ^ World Airlines 1970 ..., Flight International, 26 March 1970, p. 475
  2. ^ a b BUA Group's Structure, World News ..., Flight International, 17 October 1968, p. 596
  3. ^ World Airline Survey, Flight International, 11 April 1963, p. 517
  4. ^ BUA(CI) go it alone, Air Transport ..., Flight International, 11 January 1968, p. 48
  5. ^ New BUA Airline, Air Transport ..., Flight International, 17 October 1968, p. 598
  6. ^ New BUA Airline, Air Transport ..., Flight International, 17 October 1968, p. 599
  7. ^ a b Independence for BUIA, Air Transport, Flight International, 30 July 1970, p. 151


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