Court Line
Encyclopedia
Court Line was a prominent British
holiday
charter airline during the early 1970s based at Luton Airport
in Bedfordshire
. It also provided bus services in Luton
and surrounding areas.
It helped pioneer the concept of "cheap and cheerful" package tours to Spain
and other destinations in the "Med"
in conjunction with Clarksons Holidays
, thus taking part in the establishment of a whole new way of holidaymaking for the British public.
Both the airline and its associated tour operator
, Clarksons Travel Group
, went bankrupt
in August 1974, with at least £7m
owing to 100,000 holidaymakers.
in 1957. In 1960, it became Autair (Luton). On 27 September 1963, it changed to Autair International Airways.
Autair started as a division of Autair Helicopters, a helicopter
operator established in the early 1950s. (Autair's helicopter
interests were subsequently hived off into a separate company.) It began public transport operations with an ex-British European Airways
(BEA) Douglas DC-3
, used on contract work for other airlines. More DC-3s and Vickers Viking
s were bought. The first of the latter joined the fleet in 1962. Both types operated freight and passenger services, including a growing number of inclusive tour (IT) flights. One of the earliest charter customers for Autair's DC-3s was ex-naval officer Tom Gullick, who would later head Clarksons
. (Clarksons began its relationship with Autair by contracting the airline's Vikings to ferry day-trippers between up to ten UK departure points and Rotterdam
during the Dutch
bulbfield season.) Airspeed Ambassadors and a leased Handley Page Herald
were introduced in 1963. The former were the airline's first pressurise
d aircraft while the latter was its first turboprop
.
On 1 October 1963, the airline commenced scheduled services between Blackpool
and Luton
with Vikings. The route was subsequently operated with Ambassadors and extended to Glasgow
on 24 May 1966.
In the following years, all piston
-engined aircraft types were withdrawn and replaced with Hawker Siddeley 748 and Handley Page Herald turboprops. Three Heralds operated the company's scheduled services, including the main London
—Teesside
route.
1964 saw the formation of Clarksons Holidays with Tom Gullick as managing director. Over the next few years, Clarksons would become Autair's and its successor Court Line's most important tour operator customer.
In April 1965, Court Line — a shipping company that could trace its history back to 1905 — purchased Autair's entire share capital
for £215,000.
Autair became a jet
operator in 1968, when three brand-new BAC One-Eleven
400 series joined its fleet. The new jets mainly operated IT flights.
1968 was also the year Clarkson's customer base had grown to 175,000 (up from 4,000 in 1964), many of whom flew to their holiday destination on Autair's new jets.
By spring 1969, five One-Eleven 400s operated Autair's IT flights, primarily under contract to Clarksons Tours
. These carried the bulk of the airline's half-a-million annual charter passengers, which far outnumbered the 66,000 using its scheduled services each year.
From 1 April 1969, the airline's scheduled operation in London was consolidated at Heathrow
, joining Teesside services which had already transferred to London's premier airport from the company's Luton base on 1 November 1967.
In summer 1969, Autair announced its decision to withdraw all scheduled services "irrevocably", following an unsuccessful request for government subsidies. By that time, the airline's scheduled network served Belfast
, Blackpool, Carlisle, the Channel Islands
, Dundee
, Glasgow, Hull
, the Isle of Man
, London and Teesside in the UK, Dublin in the Republic of Ireland
and Amsterdam
in the Netherlands
. Scheduled services accounted for 12% of Autair's turnover. The airline's scheduled operation was estimated to have generated an annual loss of £150,000 (only London—Teesside was said to be profitable).
On 31 October 1969, scheduled services were stopped and all turboprop aircraft sold. This was followed by an order for seven of the bigger 500 series One-Eleven.
and strategy that focused exclusively on the then fast-growing package holiday
market. As the larger One-Eleven 500s were delivered, all but one of the smaller, former Autair 400 series One-Elevens were retired.
The corporate look was an all-over colour design
by Peter Murdoch. In keeping with the holiday "feel-good factor", One-Elevens were painted in the following distinctive, eye-catching pastel colour combinations: yellow/gold/orange, pink/rose/magenta, pale violet/mauve/purple, light green/mid-green/forest green. These were named Halcyon Skies. Aircrew wore trendy uniforms designed by Mary Quant
. This was part of making passengers feel that the flight was a "fun part" of their holiday. For many, it would be their first flying experience.
Other airlines and tour operators were quick to jump on the burgeoning package holiday bandwagon. This resulted in increasingly fierce competition between operators and led to a price warfare to fill planes and hotels. Under Tom Gullick's management, Shipping Industrial Holdings subsidiary Clarksons Holidays became the undisputed cut-price leader in the IT market. By 1973, Clarksons carried 1.1m holidaymakers — almost 1968's whole industry total — and contracted over 70% of Court Line's charter capacity. Its meteoric rise was entirely volume-based. It generated the required volumes by ruthlessly undercutting rivals and outbidding them to win the race for securing accommodation in popular overseas holiday resorts, especially in Spain. Thus, in the early 1970s, a holiday in Majorca or on the Costa del Sol
became affordable for the average person for the first time.
Court Line was also a UK pioneer of the "time charter" concept, whereby the airline entered into long-term relationships with tour operators. "Time charter" was modelled on similar long-term arrangements between ship owners and charterer
s in the oil tanker
business. It resulted in greater economic security for the charter airline industry and enabled it to acquire new aircraft on more favourable terms.
space inside its aircraft's cabins. The extra space obtained was equivalent to three seats on the One-Eleven 400. This enabled it to increase seating densities
and reduce individual seat rates to allow tour operators to hold on to their market shares in a price-sensitive environment.
The concept itself consisted of pre-packed meals or snacks — usually, Spam
salads out and sandwiches back — loaded into a small, two-shelf compartment in the seat back in front of each passenger. The meal/snack for the outbound journey could be found in the top compartment, the one for the return trip in the lower section. The latter contained a pellet of dry ice placed under the plastic food container. This simple refrigeration technique prevented food for the return trip that would spend several hours inside a small, confined space from going off. For the airline's cabin staff
, it eliminated handling trays while airborne and resulted in a reduction of their workload. To prevent outbound passengers from consuming meals intended for return passengers, locks needed to be installed on the lower compartment that could only be opened by cabin staff during the aircraft's turnaround at the destination airport although these were not always effective at deterring determined passengers.
In addition to Court Line/Clarksons, Great Universal Stores
(GUS) subsidiary Global was a major proponent of "seat-back" catering among the UK's leading contemporary tour operators. It demanded that package holiday costs be driven down to the bare minimum by replacing the traditional meal service on holiday charter flights with something much cheaper that would simply give passengers "a slice of pie". Industry insiders referred to Global's new inflight catering concept as Global Pie. The cost advantage industry leaders such as Court Line/Clarksons and Global gained over their rivals as a result of their onboard catering innovation eventually forced every other major UK charter airline to adopt "seat-back" catering on most flights serving short- and medium-haul IT destinations.
an airline to operate the Lockheed
widebody
. The aircraft were acquired on long-term lease from Airlease International, a consortium of eleven British banks and financial institutions. They were uniquely customised for Court with double-width doors to speed up passenger evacuation and featured integral passenger stairs and baggage conveyors to facilitate operations at smaller airports. The introduction of these brand-new widebodies was a big gamble for a small airline operating in a seasonal market with tight margins as the new jets had about three-and-a-half times the One-Eleven's passenger capacity (400 vs. 119). Court took the view that the market would grow and that such large aircraft could be operated profitably. In addition, it was looking to expand into new holiday markets in the US
and the Caribbean
. This, at the time, was wholly new territory for the UK package tour market. The acquisition of Leeward Islands Air Transport
(LIAT), a regional airline based in the Caribbean, in 1972 was part of Court's long-haul expansion strategy.
The introduction of the TriStar led to an increase in maintenance personnel and the modification of an existing hangar at the airline's Luton base to accommodate the new widebody. It also resulted in the purchase of a former Royal Air Force
Blackburn Beverley
cargo transporter from the Royal Aircraft Establishment
to airlift Rolls-Royce RB211
replacement engines and/or other essential spares in case the planes developed a serious technical fault at an overseas station that prevented them from returning to Luton.
The airline's total investment in widebodied equipment amounted to US$
55m.
In 1972, Clarksons's loss grew to £4.8m. This was almost 2½ times as much as the combined loss of Thomson Holidays
(£1.6m) and Horizon Holidays
(£388,000), its closest rivals.
By 1973, Clarksons carried over a million passengers and accounted for 40% of Court Line's turnover.
During the 1973–74 winter season, Clarksons's plight worsened. At the time, the UK was in the grip of a recession
, as a result of the early 1970s energy crisis
caused by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' oil boycott of the West in the aftermath of the 1973 Arab–Israeli War. This was a punitive measure directed against these countries for their support of Israel
during that war. It led to a drastic reduction in the availability of petroleum products — including jet fuel
. This in turn resulted in a tripling of the oil price in October 1973 and a subsequent quadrupling.
1974 became known as the worst year for the UK package tour industry. At the beginning of the year, Britain
plunged into the three-day working week
, as a consequence of the miners' strike that had been called to topple the Heath Government. This immediately reduced package holiday bookings by 30%. Clarksons, Court Line's main customer and in-house tour operator since April 1973, was facing mounting financial pressure and Vladimir Raitz
's Horizon Holidays, another of the airline's major customers, collapsed during that time. Following Court Line's takeover of Clarksons the previous year for a nominal £1 (excluding a £3.4m "subsidy" from the airline's parent company to cover the tour operator's projected 1973 loss), it purchased the Horizon
group's goodwill
for £600,000 — including the acquisition of 58% of Horizon Midlands for £400,000 — from the administrator. The deal, which became effective in February 1974, was based on payment of £1 for each Horizon customer Court Line expected to carry over the following three years. The airline's decision to purchase Clarksons as well as Horizon was intended to protect its business. In reality, these deals did little to help improve Court Line's increasingly bleak prospects. As soon as Court Line began diverting Horizon customers onto its planes, British Caledonian (BCal) threatened having Horizon compulsorily wound up if Court Line did not agree to settle Horizon's outstanding debts of over £100,000. BCal's threat forced Court Line to sub-charter a fully crewed BCal One-Eleven
jet for Horizon's flying programme and to provide it with additional business. In addition to BCal forcing Court Line to compensate it for the loss of Horizon's business, Thomson
's money-back guarantee — a scheme widely copied by other rival tour operators — further reduced the number of Horizon holidaymakers travelling on Court Line's jets. As a result, Court Line carried far fewer Horizon customers than it had anticipated. Clarksons's financial position further deteriorated. In a desperate attempt to fill the group's planes and hotel rooms so that it could stay afloat, Clarksons continued selling holiday packages below cost, with a fortnight all-inclusive holiday to Majorca selling for as little as £50.
s in North Devon
and on Tyneside
to the latter for £60m turned out to be "too little too late" to stave off the company's impending collapse.
On 15 August 1974, Court Line went bankrupt, with all flights cancelled, its charter fleet comprising two TriStars and nine One-Eleven 500s grounded, all 1,150 staff losing their jobs and as many as 49,000 holidaymakers stranded overseas with no means of getting home. To enable stranded holidaymakers to return to the UK at no additional cost to them, the collapsed group's rivals organised an airlift through the Tour Operators' Study Group (TOSG), the package holiday industry association. This operation was paid for using the £3.5m bond the failed group's tour operators had deposited with TOSG.
The Association of British Travel Agents
(ABTA) set up a fund to provide an insurance against such an event in the future. This was a compulsory bonding scheme
for travel companies that transported their customers by air. It was administered by TOSG.
On 16 August 1974, all of the group's UK-based subsidiaries went into voluntary liquidation. This included Court Line and Clarksons.
LIAT and South Africa
based Court Line Helicopters, were among Court Line's overseas subsidiaries. Both survived the UK parent company's collapse.
In addition to the early-'70s oil crisis
and the three-day week
, there were other factors that had caused the collapse of the group of companies that included Court Line and Clarksons.
One of these factors was the parent company's precariously highly geared investment in the shipping and leisure industry sectors.
According to some insider reports at the time, Court Line itself was a viable business. However, a proposed management buyout
was rejected as its liquidation value
was needed to pay off the parent company's debts.
The Department of Trade and Industry final report into the Court Line collapse concludes:
and Monarch Airlines
respectively purchased four and two of the One-Eleven 500 narrowbodies
. These aircraft needed to be re-registered to avoid having them impounded by overseas airport authorities in lieu of the airport user charges Court Line owed them.
Court Line employed 670 people at that time (as of March 1970).
Court Line employed 1,150 people at that time (as of March 1974).
A Court Line aircraft was involved in a runway collision
at Luton Airport. This accident killed one of the occupants of the other aircraft. Another Court Line aircraft on lease to Cyprus Airways
became stranded at Cyprus
's main airport as a result of the Turkish invasion
of the island and was subsequently impounded.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
holiday
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
charter airline during the early 1970s based at Luton Airport
London Luton Airport
London Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town centre in the Borough of Luton in Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway...
in Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
. It also provided bus services in Luton
Luton
Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
and surrounding areas.
It helped pioneer the concept of "cheap and cheerful" package tours to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and other destinations in the "Med"
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
in conjunction with Clarksons Holidays
Clarksons Travel Group
Clarksons Travel Group was a package tour operator in the UK during the 1960s and early 1970s. The company ran into financial difficulties and was taken over by its major supplier of air travel, Court Line...
, thus taking part in the establishment of a whole new way of holidaymaking for the British public.
Both the airline and its associated tour operator
Tour operator
A tour operator typically combines tour and travel components to create a holiday. The most common example of a tour operator's product would be a flight on a charter airline plus a transfer from the airport to a hotel and the services of a local representative, all for one price. Niche tour...
, Clarksons Travel Group
Clarksons Travel Group
Clarksons Travel Group was a package tour operator in the UK during the 1960s and early 1970s. The company ran into financial difficulties and was taken over by its major supplier of air travel, Court Line...
, went bankrupt
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
in August 1974, with at least £7m
Million
One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106...
owing to 100,000 holidaymakers.
Autair
The airline, originally named Argus Air Transport, was formed at London Luton AirportLondon Luton Airport
London Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town centre in the Borough of Luton in Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway...
in 1957. In 1960, it became Autair (Luton). On 27 September 1963, it changed to Autair International Airways.
Autair started as a division of Autair Helicopters, a helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
operator established in the early 1950s. (Autair's helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
interests were subsequently hived off into a separate company.) It began public transport operations with an ex-British European Airways
British European Airways
British European Airways or British European Airways Corporation was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. The airline operated European and North African routes from airports around the United Kingdom...
(BEA) Douglas DC-3
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...
, used on contract work for other airlines. More DC-3s and Vickers Viking
Vickers VC.1 Viking
The Vickers VC.1 Viking was a British twin-engine short-range airliner derived from the Vickers Wellington bomber and built by Vickers Armstrongs Limited at Brooklands near Weybridge in Surrey. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the Viking was an important airliner with British airlines...
s were bought. The first of the latter joined the fleet in 1962. Both types operated freight and passenger services, including a growing number of inclusive tour (IT) flights. One of the earliest charter customers for Autair's DC-3s was ex-naval officer Tom Gullick, who would later head Clarksons
Clarksons Travel Group
Clarksons Travel Group was a package tour operator in the UK during the 1960s and early 1970s. The company ran into financial difficulties and was taken over by its major supplier of air travel, Court Line...
. (Clarksons began its relationship with Autair by contracting the airline's Vikings to ferry day-trippers between up to ten UK departure points and Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
during the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
bulbfield season.) Airspeed Ambassadors and a leased Handley Page Herald
Handley Page Dart Herald
The Handley Page Dart Herald was a 1950s British turboprop passenger aircraft.-Design and development:In the mid 1950s the Handley Page Aircraft Company developed a new fast short-range regional airliner, intended to replace the venerable Douglas DC-3, particularly in third-world countries...
were introduced in 1963. The former were the airline's first pressurise
Cabin pressurization
Cabin pressurization is the pumping of compressed air into an aircraft cabin to maintain a safe and comfortable environment for crew and passengers when flying at altitude.-Need for cabin pressurization:...
d aircraft while the latter was its first turboprop
Turboprop
A turboprop engine is a type of turbine engine which drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear.The gas turbine is designed specifically for this application, with almost all of its output being used to drive the propeller...
.
On 1 October 1963, the airline commenced scheduled services between Blackpool
Blackpool Airport
Blackpool International Airport is an international airport on the Fylde coast of Lancashire, England, in the Borough of Fylde, just outside the Borough of Blackpool. It was formerly known as Squires Gate Airport....
and Luton
London Luton Airport
London Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town centre in the Borough of Luton in Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway...
with Vikings. The route was subsequently operated with Ambassadors and extended to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
on 24 May 1966.
In the following years, all piston
Piston
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from...
-engined aircraft types were withdrawn and replaced with Hawker Siddeley 748 and Handley Page Herald turboprops. Three Heralds operated the company's scheduled services, including the main London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
—Teesside
Teesside
Teesside is the name given to the conurbation in the north east of England made up of the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar, Billingham and surrounding settlements near the River Tees. It was also the name of a local government district between 1968 and 1974—the County Borough of...
route.
1964 saw the formation of Clarksons Holidays with Tom Gullick as managing director. Over the next few years, Clarksons would become Autair's and its successor Court Line's most important tour operator customer.
In April 1965, Court Line — a shipping company that could trace its history back to 1905 — purchased Autair's entire share capital
Share capital
Share capital or issued capital or capital stock refers to the portion of a company's equity that has been obtained by trading stock to a shareholder for cash or an equivalent item of capital value...
for £215,000.
Autair became a jet
Jet aircraft
A jet aircraft is an aircraft propelled by jet engines. Jet aircraft generally fly much faster than propeller-powered aircraft and at higher altitudes – as high as . At these altitudes, jet engines achieve maximum efficiency over long distances. The engines in propeller-powered aircraft...
operator in 1968, when three brand-new BAC One-Eleven
BAC One-Eleven
The British Aircraft Corporation One-Eleven, also known as the BAC-111, BAC-1-11 or BAC 1-11, was a British short-range jet airliner of the 1960s and 1970s...
400 series joined its fleet. The new jets mainly operated IT flights.
1968 was also the year Clarkson's customer base had grown to 175,000 (up from 4,000 in 1964), many of whom flew to their holiday destination on Autair's new jets.
By spring 1969, five One-Eleven 400s operated Autair's IT flights, primarily under contract to Clarksons Tours
Clarksons Travel Group
Clarksons Travel Group was a package tour operator in the UK during the 1960s and early 1970s. The company ran into financial difficulties and was taken over by its major supplier of air travel, Court Line...
. These carried the bulk of the airline's half-a-million annual charter passengers, which far outnumbered the 66,000 using its scheduled services each year.
From 1 April 1969, the airline's scheduled operation in London was consolidated at Heathrow
London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...
, joining Teesside services which had already transferred to London's premier airport from the company's Luton base on 1 November 1967.
In summer 1969, Autair announced its decision to withdraw all scheduled services "irrevocably", following an unsuccessful request for government subsidies. By that time, the airline's scheduled network served Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Blackpool, Carlisle, the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
, Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
, Glasgow, Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
, the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
, London and Teesside in the UK, Dublin in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
and Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Scheduled services accounted for 12% of Autair's turnover. The airline's scheduled operation was estimated to have generated an annual loss of £150,000 (only London—Teesside was said to be profitable).
On 31 October 1969, scheduled services were stopped and all turboprop aircraft sold. This was followed by an order for seven of the bigger 500 series One-Eleven.
Court Line
To coincide with the arrival of the first BAC One-Eleven 500, the airline changed its name on 1 January 1970 to Court Line and introduced a new corporate lookCorporate identity
In Corporate Communications, a corporate identity is the "persona" of a corporation which is designed to accord with and facilitate the attainment of business objectives...
and strategy that focused exclusively on the then fast-growing package holiday
Package holiday
A package holiday or package tour consists of transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided like a rental car, activities or outings during the holiday. Transport can be via charter airline to a foreign country...
market. As the larger One-Eleven 500s were delivered, all but one of the smaller, former Autair 400 series One-Elevens were retired.
The corporate look was an all-over colour design
Aircraft livery
Aircraft livery is a paint scheme applied to an aircraft, generally to fuselage, wings, empennage , or jet engines. Most airlines have a standard paint scheme for their aircraft fleet, usually prominently displaying the airline logo or name. From time to time special liveries are introduced, for...
by Peter Murdoch. In keeping with the holiday "feel-good factor", One-Elevens were painted in the following distinctive, eye-catching pastel colour combinations: yellow/gold/orange, pink/rose/magenta, pale violet/mauve/purple, light green/mid-green/forest green. These were named Halcyon Skies. Aircrew wore trendy uniforms designed by Mary Quant
Mary Quant
Mary Quant OBE FCSD is a British] fashion designer and British fashion icon, who was instrumental in the mod fashion movement. She was one of the designers who took credit for inventing the miniskirt and hot pants. Born in Blackheath, London, to Welsh parents, Quant brought fun and fantasy to...
. This was part of making passengers feel that the flight was a "fun part" of their holiday. For many, it would be their first flying experience.
Other airlines and tour operators were quick to jump on the burgeoning package holiday bandwagon. This resulted in increasingly fierce competition between operators and led to a price warfare to fill planes and hotels. Under Tom Gullick's management, Shipping Industrial Holdings subsidiary Clarksons Holidays became the undisputed cut-price leader in the IT market. By 1973, Clarksons carried 1.1m holidaymakers — almost 1968's whole industry total — and contracted over 70% of Court Line's charter capacity. Its meteoric rise was entirely volume-based. It generated the required volumes by ruthlessly undercutting rivals and outbidding them to win the race for securing accommodation in popular overseas holiday resorts, especially in Spain. Thus, in the early 1970s, a holiday in Majorca or on the Costa del Sol
Costa del Sol
The Costa del Sol is a region in the south of Spain, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, comprising the coastal towns and communities along the Mediterranean coastline of the Málaga province. The Costa del Sol is situated between two lesser known costas: Costa de la Luz and Costa Tropical...
became affordable for the average person for the first time.
Court Line was also a UK pioneer of the "time charter" concept, whereby the airline entered into long-term relationships with tour operators. "Time charter" was modelled on similar long-term arrangements between ship owners and charterer
Chartering (shipping)
Chartering is an activity within the shipping industry. In some cases a charterer may own cargo and employ a shipbroker to find a ship to deliver the cargo for a certain price, called freight rate. Freight rates may be on a per-ton basis over a certain route or alternatively may be expressed in...
s in the oil tanker
Oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...
business. It resulted in greater economic security for the charter airline industry and enabled it to acquire new aircraft on more favourable terms.
"Seat-back" catering
Court Line invented "seat-back" catering, a new concept that permitted a reduction in the amount of galleyGalley (kitchen)
The galley is the compartment of a ship, train or aircraft where food is cooked and prepared. It can also refer to a land based kitchen on a naval base or a particular formed household kitchen.-Ship's kitchen:...
space inside its aircraft's cabins. The extra space obtained was equivalent to three seats on the One-Eleven 400. This enabled it to increase seating densities
Airline seat
An airline seat is a chair on an airliner in which passengers are accommodated for the duration of the journey. Such seats are usually arranged in rows running across the airplane's fuselage...
and reduce individual seat rates to allow tour operators to hold on to their market shares in a price-sensitive environment.
The concept itself consisted of pre-packed meals or snacks — usually, Spam
Spam (food)
Spam is a canned precooked meat product made by the Hormel Foods Corporation, first introduced in 1937. The labeled ingredients in the classic variety of Spam are chopped pork shoulder meat, with ham meat added, salt, water, modified potato starch as a binder, and sodium nitrite as a preservative...
salads out and sandwiches back — loaded into a small, two-shelf compartment in the seat back in front of each passenger. The meal/snack for the outbound journey could be found in the top compartment, the one for the return trip in the lower section. The latter contained a pellet of dry ice placed under the plastic food container. This simple refrigeration technique prevented food for the return trip that would spend several hours inside a small, confined space from going off. For the airline's cabin staff
Flight attendant
Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...
, it eliminated handling trays while airborne and resulted in a reduction of their workload. To prevent outbound passengers from consuming meals intended for return passengers, locks needed to be installed on the lower compartment that could only be opened by cabin staff during the aircraft's turnaround at the destination airport although these were not always effective at deterring determined passengers.
In addition to Court Line/Clarksons, Great Universal Stores
GUS (retailer)
GUS plc was a FTSE 100 retailing group based in the United Kingdom. GUS is an abbreviation of Great Universal Stores, the company's former name before 2001...
(GUS) subsidiary Global was a major proponent of "seat-back" catering among the UK's leading contemporary tour operators. It demanded that package holiday costs be driven down to the bare minimum by replacing the traditional meal service on holiday charter flights with something much cheaper that would simply give passengers "a slice of pie". Industry insiders referred to Global's new inflight catering concept as Global Pie. The cost advantage industry leaders such as Court Line/Clarksons and Global gained over their rivals as a result of their onboard catering innovation eventually forced every other major UK charter airline to adopt "seat-back" catering on most flights serving short- and medium-haul IT destinations.
Widebody era
In 1973, Court Line took delivery of a pair of Lockheed L-1011 Tristars and became the first EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an airline to operate the Lockheed
Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...
widebody
Wide-body aircraft
A wide-body aircraft is a large airliner with two passenger aisles, also known as a widebody aircraft or twin-aisle aircraft. The typical fuselage diameter is . In the typical wide-body economy cabin, passengers are seated seven to ten abreast, allowing a total capacity of 200 to 850 passengers...
. The aircraft were acquired on long-term lease from Airlease International, a consortium of eleven British banks and financial institutions. They were uniquely customised for Court with double-width doors to speed up passenger evacuation and featured integral passenger stairs and baggage conveyors to facilitate operations at smaller airports. The introduction of these brand-new widebodies was a big gamble for a small airline operating in a seasonal market with tight margins as the new jets had about three-and-a-half times the One-Eleven's passenger capacity (400 vs. 119). Court took the view that the market would grow and that such large aircraft could be operated profitably. In addition, it was looking to expand into new holiday markets in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. This, at the time, was wholly new territory for the UK package tour market. The acquisition of Leeward Islands Air Transport
Leeward Islands Air Transport
Leeward Islands Air Transport, known as LIAT, is an airline headquartered on the grounds of V. C. Bird International Airport in Saint George Parish, Antigua. It operates high-frequency interisland scheduled services serving 22 destinations in the Caribbean...
(LIAT), a regional airline based in the Caribbean, in 1972 was part of Court's long-haul expansion strategy.
The introduction of the TriStar led to an increase in maintenance personnel and the modification of an existing hangar at the airline's Luton base to accommodate the new widebody. It also resulted in the purchase of a former Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
Blackburn Beverley
Blackburn Beverley
The Blackburn B-101 Beverley was a 1950s British heavy transport aircraft built by Blackburn and General Aircraft and flown by squadrons of Royal Air Force Transport Command from 1957 until 1967.-Design and development:...
cargo transporter from the Royal Aircraft Establishment
Royal Aircraft Establishment
The Royal Aircraft Establishment , was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence , before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.The first site was at Farnborough...
to airlift Rolls-Royce RB211
Rolls-Royce RB211
The Rolls-Royce RB211 is a family of high-bypass turbofan engines made by Rolls-Royce plc and capable of generating 37,400 to 60,600 pounds-force thrust. Originally developed for the Lockheed L-1011 , it entered service in 1972 and was the only engine to power this aircraft type...
replacement engines and/or other essential spares in case the planes developed a serious technical fault at an overseas station that prevented them from returning to Luton.
The airline's total investment in widebodied equipment amounted to US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
55m.
Hard times
As early as 1971, Clarksons lost as much as £2.6m despite increasing its turnover by £9m to £31m. Industry sources estimated that this equated to a loss of £4 per head.In 1972, Clarksons's loss grew to £4.8m. This was almost 2½ times as much as the combined loss of Thomson Holidays
Thomson Holidays
Thomson Holidays is a UK based travel operator and part of TUI Travel PLC. The company was founded as part of the Thomson Travel Group in 1965 following the acquisition of three package holiday travel agencies and the airline Britannia Airways by Roy Thomson...
(£1.6m) and Horizon Holidays
Horizon Travel
Horizon Travel or the Horizon Holiday Group was a British package holiday company no longer in existence, but was one of the first ventures into the package holiday market.-Foundation:The company was co-founded by Vladimir Raitz on 12 October 1949...
(£388,000), its closest rivals.
By 1973, Clarksons carried over a million passengers and accounted for 40% of Court Line's turnover.
During the 1973–74 winter season, Clarksons's plight worsened. At the time, the UK was in the grip of a recession
Recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity. During recessions, many macroeconomic indicators vary in a similar way...
, as a result of the early 1970s energy crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
caused by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' oil boycott of the West in the aftermath of the 1973 Arab–Israeli War. This was a punitive measure directed against these countries for their support of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
during that war. It led to a drastic reduction in the availability of petroleum products — including jet fuel
Jet fuel
Jet fuel is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is clear to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial aviation are Jet A and Jet A-1 which are produced to a standardized international specification...
. This in turn resulted in a tripling of the oil price in October 1973 and a subsequent quadrupling.
1974 became known as the worst year for the UK package tour industry. At the beginning of the year, Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
plunged into the three-day working week
Three-Day Week
The Three-Day Week was one of several measures introduced in the United Kingdom by the Conservative Government 1970–1974 to conserve electricity, the production of which was severely limited due to industrial action by coal miners...
, as a consequence of the miners' strike that had been called to topple the Heath Government. This immediately reduced package holiday bookings by 30%. Clarksons, Court Line's main customer and in-house tour operator since April 1973, was facing mounting financial pressure and Vladimir Raitz
Vladimir Raitz
Vladimir Gavrilovich Raitz is the co-founder of the Horizon Holiday Group, who pioneered the first mass package holidays abroad. His family left the Soviet Union when he was 6, and variously passed through Berlin and Warsaw, before they settled in London. He attended Mill Hill School, London and...
's Horizon Holidays, another of the airline's major customers, collapsed during that time. Following Court Line's takeover of Clarksons the previous year for a nominal £1 (excluding a £3.4m "subsidy" from the airline's parent company to cover the tour operator's projected 1973 loss), it purchased the Horizon
Horizon Travel
Horizon Travel or the Horizon Holiday Group was a British package holiday company no longer in existence, but was one of the first ventures into the package holiday market.-Foundation:The company was co-founded by Vladimir Raitz on 12 October 1949...
group's goodwill
Goodwill (accounting)
Goodwill is an accounting concept meaning the value of an entity over and above the value of its assets. The term was originally used in accounting to express the intangible but quantifiable "prudent value" of an ongoing business beyond its assets, resulting perhaps because the reputation the firm...
for £600,000 — including the acquisition of 58% of Horizon Midlands for £400,000 — from the administrator. The deal, which became effective in February 1974, was based on payment of £1 for each Horizon customer Court Line expected to carry over the following three years. The airline's decision to purchase Clarksons as well as Horizon was intended to protect its business. In reality, these deals did little to help improve Court Line's increasingly bleak prospects. As soon as Court Line began diverting Horizon customers onto its planes, British Caledonian (BCal) threatened having Horizon compulsorily wound up if Court Line did not agree to settle Horizon's outstanding debts of over £100,000. BCal's threat forced Court Line to sub-charter a fully crewed BCal One-Eleven
BAC One-Eleven
The British Aircraft Corporation One-Eleven, also known as the BAC-111, BAC-1-11 or BAC 1-11, was a British short-range jet airliner of the 1960s and 1970s...
jet for Horizon's flying programme and to provide it with additional business. In addition to BCal forcing Court Line to compensate it for the loss of Horizon's business, Thomson
Thomson Holidays
Thomson Holidays is a UK based travel operator and part of TUI Travel PLC. The company was founded as part of the Thomson Travel Group in 1965 following the acquisition of three package holiday travel agencies and the airline Britannia Airways by Roy Thomson...
's money-back guarantee — a scheme widely copied by other rival tour operators — further reduced the number of Horizon holidaymakers travelling on Court Line's jets. As a result, Court Line carried far fewer Horizon customers than it had anticipated. Clarksons's financial position further deteriorated. In a desperate attempt to fill the group's planes and hotel rooms so that it could stay afloat, Clarksons continued selling holiday packages below cost, with a fortnight all-inclusive holiday to Majorca selling for as little as £50.
Bankruptcy
A deal between the Court Line group and the Wilson Government to sell the former's shipyardShipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
s in North Devon
North Devon
North Devon is the northern part of the English county of Devon. It is also the name of a local government district in Devon. Its council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth...
and on Tyneside
Tyneside
Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...
to the latter for £60m turned out to be "too little too late" to stave off the company's impending collapse.
On 15 August 1974, Court Line went bankrupt, with all flights cancelled, its charter fleet comprising two TriStars and nine One-Eleven 500s grounded, all 1,150 staff losing their jobs and as many as 49,000 holidaymakers stranded overseas with no means of getting home. To enable stranded holidaymakers to return to the UK at no additional cost to them, the collapsed group's rivals organised an airlift through the Tour Operators' Study Group (TOSG), the package holiday industry association. This operation was paid for using the £3.5m bond the failed group's tour operators had deposited with TOSG.
The Association of British Travel Agents
Association of British Travel Agents
-History:Previously known as Association of British Travel Agents, its name was changed on 1 July 2007 to ABTA, The Travel Association to reflect its wider representation of the travel industry.On 1 July 2008 it merged with the Federation of Tour Operators ....
(ABTA) set up a fund to provide an insurance against such an event in the future. This was a compulsory bonding scheme
Air Travel Organisers' Licensing
Air Travel Organisers' Licensing is a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority scheme to protect people who have purchased package holidays and flights from a member tour operator....
for travel companies that transported their customers by air. It was administered by TOSG.
On 16 August 1974, all of the group's UK-based subsidiaries went into voluntary liquidation. This included Court Line and Clarksons.
LIAT and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
based Court Line Helicopters, were among Court Line's overseas subsidiaries. Both survived the UK parent company's collapse.
Factors behind collapse
In addition to the early-'70s oil crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
and the three-day week
Three-Day Week
The Three-Day Week was one of several measures introduced in the United Kingdom by the Conservative Government 1970–1974 to conserve electricity, the production of which was severely limited due to industrial action by coal miners...
, there were other factors that had caused the collapse of the group of companies that included Court Line and Clarksons.
One of these factors was the parent company's precariously highly geared investment in the shipping and leisure industry sectors.
According to some insider reports at the time, Court Line itself was a viable business. However, a proposed management buyout
Management buyout
A management buyout is a form of acquisition where a company's existing managers acquire a large part or all of the company.- Overview :Management buyouts are similar in all major legal aspects to any other acquisition of a company...
was rejected as its liquidation value
Liquidation value
Liquidation value is the likely price of an asset when it is allowed insufficient time to sell on the open market, thereby reducing its exposure to potential buyers. Liquidation value is typically lower than fair market value...
was needed to pay off the parent company's debts.
The Department of Trade and Industry final report into the Court Line collapse concludes:
"The short answer is that there was no single reason for the collapse, which was caused by a number of contributory factors. Court Line expanded rapidly in many directions, some of which were both logical and justifiable, others not. The overall management was throughout inadequate and it was in any event never supported by the necessary financial control. This meant that as Court Line expanded, it became progressively vulnerable to any substantial setback in any of its areas of activities. When a serious setback occurred, triggered off by the oil crisis of autumn 1973, it immediately affected the shipping, aviation, and leisure divisions. The group was so highly geared, so structured and having such inadequate financial control, that it might well have been brought down by a substantial reverse in any of its major activities. As it was the cumulative effect on all three divisions, when all the cash resources which would otherwise have been available had been invested unprofitably in the Caribbean, meant that the position progressively deteriorated and rendered the collapse in August 1974 unavoidable."
Disposal of airline's assets
Following the spectacular crash of Court Line and Clarksons at the height of the 1974 holiday season, the failed carrier's fairly new aircraft were acquired by other airlines. Cathay Pacific took the L-1011 TriStar widebodies while Dan-AirDan-Air
Dan-Air was a leading private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline based in the United Kingdom....
and Monarch Airlines
Monarch Airlines
Monarch Airlines, often shortened to and trading as Monarch, is a British charter and scheduled airline based at London Luton Airport in Luton. It is one of the United Kingdom's largest charter airlines, operating to Europe, the United States, the Caribbean, India and Africa, serving mainly leisure...
respectively purchased four and two of the One-Eleven 500 narrowbodies
Narrow-body aircraft
A narrow-body aircraft is an airliner with a fuselage aircraft cabin width typically of 3 to 4 metres , and airline seat arranged 2 to 6 abreast along a single aisle...
. These aircraft needed to be re-registered to avoid having them impounded by overseas airport authorities in lieu of the airport user charges Court Line owed them.
Autair
- Airspeed AmbassadorAirspeed AmbassadorThe Airspeed AS.57 Ambassador was a British twin piston engined airliner that first flew on 10 July 1947 and served in small numbers through the 1950s and 1960s.-Design and development:...
- BAC One-ElevenBAC One-ElevenThe British Aircraft Corporation One-Eleven, also known as the BAC-111, BAC-1-11 or BAC 1-11, was a British short-range jet airliner of the 1960s and 1970s...
400 - Douglas DC-3Douglas DC-3The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made...
- Douglas DC-4Douglas DC-4The Douglas DC-4 is a four-engined propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s in a military role...
- Handley Page Dart HeraldHandley Page Dart HeraldThe Handley Page Dart Herald was a 1950s British turboprop passenger aircraft.-Design and development:In the mid 1950s the Handley Page Aircraft Company developed a new fast short-range regional airliner, intended to replace the venerable Douglas DC-3, particularly in third-world countries...
- Hawker Siddeley HS 125British Aerospace BAe 125The British Aerospace 125 is a twin-engined mid-size corporate jet, with newer variants now marketed as the Hawker 800. It was known as the Hawker Siddeley HS.125 until 1977...
- Hawker Siddeley HS 748Avro 748The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 is a medium-sized turboprop airliner originally designed by the British firm Avro in the late 1950s as a replacement for the now-aged DC-3s then in widespread service as feederliners. Avro concentrated on performance, notably for STOL operations, and found a dedicated...
- Vickers VikingVickers VC.1 VikingThe Vickers VC.1 Viking was a British twin-engine short-range airliner derived from the Vickers Wellington bomber and built by Vickers Armstrongs Limited at Brooklands near Weybridge in Surrey. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the Viking was an important airliner with British airlines...
Court Line
- BAC One-ElevenBAC One-ElevenThe British Aircraft Corporation One-Eleven, also known as the BAC-111, BAC-1-11 or BAC 1-11, was a British short-range jet airliner of the 1960s and 1970s...
400/500 - Blackburn BeverleyBlackburn BeverleyThe Blackburn B-101 Beverley was a 1950s British heavy transport aircraft built by Blackburn and General Aircraft and flown by squadrons of Royal Air Force Transport Command from 1957 until 1967.-Design and development:...
- Hawker Siddeley HS 125British Aerospace BAe 125The British Aerospace 125 is a twin-engined mid-size corporate jet, with newer variants now marketed as the Hawker 800. It was known as the Hawker Siddeley HS.125 until 1977...
- Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1
- Piper NavajoPiper PA-31 NavajoThe Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engine aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also licence-built in a number of Latin American countries. Targeted at small-scale cargo and feeder liner operations and...
1970
| Aircraft | Number |
|---|---|
| BAC One-Eleven 500 BAC One-Eleven The British Aircraft Corporation One-Eleven, also known as the BAC-111, BAC-1-11 or BAC 1-11, was a British short-range jet airliner of the 1960s and 1970s... |
7 |
| BAC One-Eleven 400 BAC One-Eleven The British Aircraft Corporation One-Eleven, also known as the BAC-111, BAC-1-11 or BAC 1-11, was a British short-range jet airliner of the 1960s and 1970s... |
1 |
| Bell JetRanger Bell 206 The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- or twin-engine helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter program, the 206 failed to be selected... |
1 |
| Total | 9 |
Court Line employed 670 people at that time (as of March 1970).
1974
| Aircraft | Number |
|---|---|
| Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1 Lockheed L-1011 The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, commonly referred to as the L-1011 or TriStar, is a medium-to-long range, widebody passenger trijet airliner. It was the third widebody airliner to enter commercial operations, following the Boeing 747 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10. Between 1968 and 1984, Lockheed... |
2 |
| BAC One-Eleven 500 BAC One-Eleven The British Aircraft Corporation One-Eleven, also known as the BAC-111, BAC-1-11 or BAC 1-11, was a British short-range jet airliner of the 1960s and 1970s... |
9 |
| Hawker Siddeley HS 125 British Aerospace BAe 125 The British Aerospace 125 is a twin-engined mid-size corporate jet, with newer variants now marketed as the Hawker 800. It was known as the Hawker Siddeley HS.125 until 1977... |
1 |
| Bell JetRanger Bell 206 The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- or twin-engine helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter program, the 206 failed to be selected... |
1 |
| Cameron 0-84 Balloon | 1 |
| Total | 14 |
Court Line employed 1,150 people at that time (as of March 1974).
Accidents and incidents
Autair suffered two accidents, one of which involved the loss of lives.- The first of these occurred on 14 September 1967. One of the airline's Ambassadors (registration: G-ALZS) overranOvershoot (aviation)In aviation, an overshoot is an aborted landing. See: Go-around and Runway safety area.In air combat maneuvering, also called dogfighting, an overshoot can refer to three different situations. The first is referred to as a wingline overshoot...
the runwayRunwayAccording to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...
at Luton Airport at the end of a non-scheduled passenger flight from LuxembourgLuxembourg-Findel International AirportFindel Airport is the main airport in Luxembourg.It is Luxembourg's only international airport and is the only airport in the country with a paved runway. It is located away from Luxembourg City....
. The aircraft had approachedFinal approach (aviation)A final approach is the last leg in an aircraft's approach to landing. In aviation radio terminology, it is often shortened to "final".In a standard airport landing pattern, which is usually used under visual meteorological conditions , aircraft turn from base leg to final within one to two miles...
Luton in darkness. VisibilityVisibilityIn meteorology, visibility is a measure of the distance at which an object or light can be clearly discerned. It is reported within surface weather observations and METAR code either in meters or statute miles, depending upon the country. Visibility affects all forms of traffic: roads, sailing...
was 1,800m and the cloud baseCloud baseThis article refers to meteorology. For the airborne base of the TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, see Cloudbase.The cloud base is the lowest altitude of the visible portion of the cloud...
300ft. Following touchdownTouchdownA touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
, the pilot in commandPilot in commandThe pilot in command of an aircraft is the person aboard the aircraft who is ultimately responsible for its operation and safety during flight. This would be the "captain" in a typical two- or three-pilot flight crew, or "pilot" if there is only one certified and qualified pilot at the controls of...
retracted the aircraft's flapsFlap (aircraft)Flaps are normally hinged surfaces mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed an aircraft can be safely flown at and to increase the angle of descent for landing without increasing air speed. They shorten takeoff and landing distances as well as...
in the takeoffTakeoffTakeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle goes from the ground to flying in the air.For horizontal takeoff aircraft this usually involves starting with a transition from moving along the ground on a runway. For balloons, helicopters and some specialized fixed-wing aircraft , no...
position and applied brakes intermittently. The aircraft overranOvershoot (aviation)In aviation, an overshoot is an aborted landing. See: Go-around and Runway safety area.In air combat maneuvering, also called dogfighting, an overshoot can refer to three different situations. The first is referred to as a wingline overshoot...
the runway and came to a stop in soft clayClayClay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
. This caused the undercarriageUndercarriageThe undercarriage or landing gear in aviation, is the structure that supports an aircraft on the ground and allows it to taxi, takeoff and land...
to collapse. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and had to be written off. However, there were no fatalities among the 69 occupants (four crew and 64 passengers).
- The second took place on 23 December 1967. A Hawker Siddeley HS 125British Aerospace BAe 125The British Aerospace 125 is a twin-engined mid-size corporate jet, with newer variants now marketed as the Hawker 800. It was known as the Hawker Siddeley HS.125 until 1977...
(registration: G-AVGW) crashed shortly after taking off from Luton Airport, killing both pilotsAviatorAn aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
. The aircraft had been on a training flightFlight trainingFlight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills....
. The crash occurred when the crew simulated an engine failure on takeoff. The HS 125 lost height rapidly and hit the roof of a nearby factory. This resulted in a post-crash fire.
A Court Line aircraft was involved in a runway collision
Runway incursion
A runway incursion is an incident where an unauthorized aircraft, vehicle or person is on a runway. This adversely affects runway safety, as it creates the risk that an airplane taking off or landing will collide with the object...
at Luton Airport. This accident killed one of the occupants of the other aircraft. Another Court Line aircraft on lease to Cyprus Airways
Cyprus Airways
Cyprus Airways is the national airline of Cyprus, a public limited company with its head offices located in the capital of the island, Nicosia. It operates scheduled services to 41 destinations in Europe, the Middle East and the Gulf. It flies from both airports of the island, Larnaca and Paphos,...
became stranded at Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
's main airport as a result of the Turkish invasion
Turkish invasion of Cyprus
The Turkish invasion of Cyprus, launched on 20 July 1974, was a Turkish military invasion in response to a Greek military junta backed coup in Cyprus...
of the island and was subsequently impounded.
- On 18 April 1974, BAC One-ElevenBAC One-ElevenThe British Aircraft Corporation One-Eleven, also known as the BAC-111, BAC-1-11 or BAC 1-11, was a British short-range jet airliner of the 1960s and 1970s...
G-AXMJ was involved in a ground collisionCourt Line Flight 95Court Line Flight 95 was an international charter flight from London Luton Airport, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom, to Munich-Riem Airport, West Germany, operated on 18 April 1974 by Court Line Ltd BAC One-Eleven 518 G-AXMJ. During its take-off run, Piper PA-23 Aztec G-AYDE of McAlpine Aviation...
with Piper PA-23 AztecPiper Aztec-Accidents and incidents:*On 18 April 1974, Aztec G-AYDE was involved in a ground collision with BAC One-Eleven G-AXMJ at London Luton Airport after the pilot of the Aztec entered the active runway without clearance. He was killed and his passenger was injured...
G-AYDE during take-off from Luton Airport, BedfordshireBedfordshireBedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
. The Aztec had entered the active runway without permission. The pilot of the Aztec was killed and his passenger was injured. The One-Eleven aborted its take-off and an emergency evacuation was performed with all 93 people on board escaping uninjured. The Aztec was written off and the substantially damaged One-Eleven was repaired and returned to service.
- A Court Line BAC One-Eleven leased to Cyprus AirwaysCyprus AirwaysCyprus Airways is the national airline of Cyprus, a public limited company with its head offices located in the capital of the island, Nicosia. It operates scheduled services to 41 destinations in Europe, the Middle East and the Gulf. It flies from both airports of the island, Larnaca and Paphos,...
was stranded in 1974 at Nicosia Airport following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. It was retrieved by British AirwaysBritish AirwaysBritish Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
engineers in 1977, but was immediately impounded on its arrival in Britain by Court Line's insurers to help pay off the debts the now defunct company owed. The aircraft was returned to Cyprus Airways in 1978 and remained in service until 1985.