Hillman's Airways
Hillman's Airways of Maylands Aerodrome, Harold Wood, Romford. Head Office at London Road, Romford.
Hillman's Airways was a 1930s British airline that later became part of British Airways.
The company was formed in November 1931 as Hillman's Saloon Coaches and Airways Limited by Edward Henry Hillman who was a coach operator in Essex. His other business, operating buses and coaches, was sold to London Transport in 1934 following a change in government rules on the expansion of bus routes.[1]
The airline's first service was a charter flight on 25 December 1931.
It started a scheduled service on 1 April 1932 between Romford and Clacton using a De Havilland Puss Moth and a De Havilland Fox Moth; with a fare of £1 return it was operated every three hours due to the popularity.
A De Havilland Dragon was bought to operate an international service between Romford and Paris Le Bourget.
From 1 December 1934 the airline was given a contract to fly air mail between London, Liverpool, Glasgow and Belfast formerly operated by the Railway Air Services. Following the award of the contract Hillman changed the legal name from Hillman's Airways Limited to Edward Henry Hillman Limited and the airline extended its services to continental Europe, including Ostend and Brussels. On 1 June 1934 the airline moved its operating base to Stapleford Aerodrome.
Just before Hillman died, on 31 December 1934, aged 45, the company became a public company.
1935 Amalgamated with Spartan Airways and United Airways.
The new airline was registered under the name of Allied British Airways on 29th September 1935 but one month later it had dropped the ‘Allied’ to become British Airways.
Soon the airline was flying from Croydon and Gatwick where it proved to be an embarrassment to Imperial Airways which were by then flying Fokkers and Lockheeds.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Obituary of Edward Hillman