Dan-Air

Dan Air Services

IATA	ICAO	Callsign
DA	DAN	DAN-AIR

Founded

1953

Ceased operations

1992 (merged into British Airways)

Hubs

Focus cities

Newcastle Airport

Fleet size

36 aircraft (32 jets and four turboprops) at 5 November 1992

Destinations

worldwide

Company slogan

Fly your exports to the Continent by Dan-Air! (1950s and early 1960s)
Be independent, fly Dan-Air! (1970s)
Dan-Air Scheduled Services—We're going places! (mid-1980s)
More scheduled flights to Europe than any other airline. Dan-Air (1992)

Parent company

Davies and Newman Holdings plc

Headquarters

City of London: Bilbao House (1953–1987)
Central London: New City Court (1987–1991)
Horley, Surrey: Newman House (1991–1992)

Key people

F.E.F. Newman (1953–1990)
D.N. James (1990–1992)

Dan-Air (Dan Air Services Limited) was an airline based in the United Kingdom, and was a wholly owned subsidiary of London shipbroking firm Davies and Newman. It was started in 1953 with a single aircraft.

Initially, it operated cargo and passenger charter flights from Southend (1953–1955) and Blackbushe airports (1955–1960) using a variety of piston-engined aircraft. before moving to a new base at London Gatwick Airport in 1960, followed by expansion into inclusive tour (IT) charter flights and all-year round scheduled services. The introduction of two de Havilland Comet series 4 jet aircraft in 1966 made Dan-Air the second British independent airline after British United Airways to begin sustained jet operations.

The collapse in 1968 of British Eagle, a rival independent, resulted in further growth of Dan-Air's IT operations the following year, when more Comets and a pair of BAC One-Elevens joined the fleet. The company opened its first overseas base in 1969 at Berlin Tegel Airport in what was then West Berlin, and operated its first transatlantic flight the same year.

The early 1970s saw the acquisition of a pair of Boeing 707 long-haul jets for use on affinity group and Advance Booking Charter flights to Canada and the United States. In 1973, Dan-Air became the first British airline to operate the Boeing 727 trijet. By the mid-1970s, it had become Britain's largest independent airline, both in terms of passengers carried and fleet size, operating the country's largest charter fleet. This was also the time a Dan-Air staff member became Britain's and Europe's first female jet captain.

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Wikipedia