Dan Air
Dan Air Services Ltd of New Broad Street, London
1953 Meredith Air Transport encountered financial difficulties - their backers, Davies and Newman, took over the single aircraft and founded Dan Air.[1]
1953 Started seasonal charter passenger flights using a single DC3 aircraft[2] at Southend. Involved in the second Berlin airlift.
1955 Moved operations to Blackbushe Airport.
1960 Moved to Gatwick Airport.
Became involved in tour charter flights.
Acquired the first of many Comets, which replaced the piston-engined aircraft relatively cheaply.
1969 The company's main shareholders were Davies and Newman[3]; Frederick Edward Fry Newman was head of the company.
1971 After Davies and Newman went public, added trans-Atlantic flights to the schedule; the fleet consisted of 2 Boeing 707s, 12 Comet IVs, 5 BAC 1-11s, one HS 748 and one Nord 262.[4]
Became the country's largest independent airline as well as largest charter operator.
1980s Became the largest operator of oil-industry support flights.
1989 Traffic was up but profits had vanished.
1991 The engineering division was sold
1992 "Britain's oldest airline" was acquired by British Airways for £1[5]