 | |
| Founded | 1947 |
|---|---|
| Ceased operations | 1960 (member of Airwork group; merged with Hunting-Clan Air Transport to form British United Airways) |
| Hubs | Southend Airport Stansted |
| Fleet size | 18 aircraft (3 Douglas DC-4, 6 Bristol 170 Superfreighter Mark 32, 3 Bristol 170 Freighter Mark 31, 6 Avro 685 York) [as of April 1958] |
| Destinations | worldwide |
| Parent company | Airwork (1958–1960) |
| Headquarters | Central London |
| Key people | F.A. Laker, E.N. Jennings, G.W. Forster, D.A. Whybrow |
Air Charter was an early post-World War II private, British independent[nb 1] airline formed in 1947. The airline conducted regular trooping flights to Cyprus as well as worldwide passenger and freight charter flights from its bases at Southend Airport and Stansted. Following Freddie Laker's acquisition of Air Charter in 1951, Aviation Traders and Aviation Traders (Engineering) became associated companies.[1] From 1955, it also operated scheduled coach-air/vehicle ferry services. These initially linked London and Paris (via Southend and Calais). In 1958, the process of transferring Air Charter's coach-air/vehicle ferry operation to sister company Channel Air Bridge began.[2][3][4] In 1959, Air Charter became part of the Airwork group.[3][4] In 1960, Airwork joined with Hunting-Clan to form British United Airways (BUA).[4]
Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Fly me, I'm Freddie!, Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, pp. 25/6
- ^ Flight International, 18 April 1958, World Airline Directory ..., p. 525
- ^ a b Airliner World – Britain's Carferry Airlines, Key Publishing, Avenel, NJ, USA, July 2005, p. 34
- ^ a b c Merton-Jones 1972, p. 10