Air Charter Limited
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|
| 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 independentairline 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. 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. In 1959, Air Charter became part of the Airwork group. In 1960, Airwork joined with Hunting-Clan to form British United Airways (BUA).
Following its formation in early 1947, Air Charter Limited started operations from London's old Croydon Airport with two Dragon Rapides. In early 1948, these were joined by an Airspeed Consul to operate light passenger and freight charters. Operations with these twin-engined aircraft continued until February 1951.
Freddie Laker followed up his acquisition of bankrupt Surrey Flying Services in February 1951 with the purchase of loss-making Air Charter later the same year. Before the end of the year, in late November, he bought Don Bennett's Fairflight, another struggling independent airline. Laker's main motivation to take over these airlines was his eligibility to use those companies' tax losses to offset Aviation Traders' profits as a convenient way to reduce his taxable earnings. The Fairflight acquisition enabled Laker to take over that company's lucrative Government contract to transport refugees, goods and raw materials between West Berlin and West Germany as part of the second "Little Berlin Airlift". Within a year of assuming that contract, Laker ran 70 flights a week linking Berlin with Hamburg and Hanover.
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