British European Airways (BEA)
1946 August: British European Airways took over the European services operated by BOAC, which were shorthaul routes from Northolt. BEA used the unpressurised Douglas DC-3 and the Vickers Viking for these routes; for several years Northolt was one of the busiest airports in the world.
1950 16 April: The first scheduled BEA service from London Airport, a Vickers Viking, took off for Paris.
1 July: The world’s first regular, scheduled helicopter passenger service, between Cardiff and Liverpool, was opened by BEA.
28 July: The world’s first gas turbine-powered service was flown by BEA from Northolt to Le Bourget, Paris using a Vickers V630 Viscount aircraft.
1954 30 October: BEA operated its final service from Northolt.
1965 10 June: BEA made the world's first fully-automatic landing of a commercial airliner carrying fare-paying passengers (a Trident 1 from Paris to Heathrow)
1968 November: Super One-Eleven aircraft entered scheduled service on German internal routes for BEA.
1974 31 March: BOAC and BEA were dissolved following the formation of the British Airways Group.
See Also
Sources of Information
- History of BA [1]