BKS AERO CHARTER, LTD. See BKS AIR TRANSPORT, LTD

BKS AIR TRANSPORT, LTD.: United Kingdom (1951-1970). Four ex-Crewsair, Ltd. directors form Aero Charters, Ltd. on October 12, 1951 to provide contract services and charter flights. Crewsair’s Douglas DC-3, accepted in lieu of severance, is provided a base at Southend Airport, but is immediately leased to Skyways, Ltd. for a nine-week charter in Kuwait. Upon its return, it is overhauled.

One of the original owners, J. P. Falconer, drops out in January 1952 and on February 7, the remaining three directors, James W. Barnby, Thomas D. Keegan, and Cyril Stevens, reregister their company as BKS Aero Charter, Ltd., capitalizing it at ?3,000. Revenue services commence the same day as the refurbished DC-3 transports livestock from Southend to Florence and Milan. Two more DC-3s are purchased in April and May and are christened Whitten Brown and John Alcock, joining a former Crewsair, Ltd. Avro Anson I purchased at the same time.

A variety of ad hoc charters are undertaken and destinations flown include Paris (LBG), Basel, Nicosia, Nantes, Luxembourg, Athens, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Karachi, Oslo, Helsinki, Hamburg, Ankara, Calais, and Johannesburg, the latter as subcharters for Tropic Airways. The Anson is sold in July and 2 more DC-3s, the Charles Lindbergh and Kingsford Smith, are added in October. Enplanements for the year total 3,700.

Mediterranean charter flights commence in February 1953 and in March two of its DC-3s are leased to Air Charter, Ltd. for a month. During these months, the company receives government permission to open a number of internal scheduled routes as well as additional inclusive-tour destinations. A DC-3 undertakes the first scheduled flight on May 18, West Hartlepool-London (Northolt).

Other scheduled frequencies opened at this time include Newcastle-Jersey, Isle of Man, and West Hartlepool. Inclusive-tours are also flown and in June, a fifth DC-3 is acquired and named Jean Batten. Two more Ansons are added in August. Airline employment climbs to 50 and passenger boardings more than double to 7,717. At year’s end, the company name is changed to BKS Air Transport, Ltd., signifying a commitment to scheduled operations.

The Jean Batten enters service in February 1954. Two more Ansons are purchased in April, although one will be sold in August; four Austers are also brought in. During the summer, scheduled Isle of Wight-Newcastle and West Hartlepool flights begin while all previous inclusive-tour and scheduled services are maintained. Bookings for the year are 11,235. A Vickers Viking is purchased in December and christened Jim Mollison. In 1955 it will be followed by three more: in January (unnamed), February (Amy Johnson), and October (BertHinkler).

The carrier’s first year-round international scheduled service is inaugurated in May as DC-3s fly Leeds/Southend to Belfast, Dusseldorf, and Paris (LBG); frequencies run as high as 10 per week during the summer. Also during the summer, services are begun from Leeds to Ostend, Jersey, and the Isle of Wight and to Paris (LBG) via Southend.

Both inclusive-tour and ad hoc charters are also flown and the year’s passenger boardings advance to 28,142. To assist with the short-range services, two Airspeed AS.65 Consuls are acquired. One Anson is sold and the unnamed Viking purchased in January is withdrawn.

The Consuls and DC-3s maintain the previously opened scheduled services in 1956 while also opening a new one from Newcastle to the Isle of Wight via West Hartlepool, Leeds, and Bournemouth, plus direct services from Belfast to Edinburgh. Between November 16 and December 14, company Vikings participate in the delivery of Hungarian refugees from Austria to the U. K., bringing in 500 people in 13 flights. Bookings for the year accelerate to 45,007.

The Viking Amy Johnson is sold in January 1957. Direct Newcas-tle-Dublin service is initiated on April 1, the first flown under terms of the new Anglo-Irish air treaty. The associated company BKS Air Survey, Ltd. is now established. On July 27, an Airspeed AS.57 Ambassador is purchased from British European Airways Corporation (BEA) and placed in service on the Newcastle-Dublin route in August. Also in August, the Charles Lindberg is sold; the Viking Jim Mollison is sold in December.

Two more Ambassadors are purchased from British European Airways Corporation (BEA) in May 1958 and, at month’s end, join the first in regularly scheduled services from Newcastle to Basel and Belfast via Edinburgh, Dublin, and Jersey; Newcastle to Belfast; and Newcastle via Heathrow to Bilbao and Santander. On June 4, weekly Newcastle-Bergen scheduled flights begin. A full schedule of summer tour flights is also flown.

During the year, the DC-3 Jean Batten, 1 Anson, 1 Auster, and the Viking Bert Hinkler are sold and, in October, 1 Bristol 170 Mk. 31 Freighter is purchased.

BKS Air Transport, Ltd. sells its first DC-3, the Whitten Brown, in January 1959. It next opens a thrice-weekly Newcastle-London (LHR) Ambassador service on April 6. Belfast-Newcastle Ambassador service begins on May 23 and Leeds to Dublin flights commence on July 31. Later in the year, frequencies are commenced Leeds and Bradford to Dusseldorf and Rotterdam. Meanwhile, ad hoc and inclusive-tour charter flights continue. A total of 83,877 passengers are carried on the year.

With the Bristol 170 Mk. 31 purchased in 1958 and a Mk. 21 leased from Keegan Aviation, Ltd. in April, the company inaugurates a Liverpool-Dublin car ferry service on April 25, 1960. An unnamed DC-3 is added to the fleet in May, followed by an Avro 19 in August. Another Mk.21 Freighter is leased from North-South Airlines, Ltd. in September. Five-times-per-week London to Belfast and Leeds to Belfast flights start on October 3. Five (later three) Hawker Siddeley HS 748s are now ordered as DC-3 replacements. In December, a license swap is made with British European Airways Corporation (BEA); the state carrier receives the BKS ticket for scheduled London and Southend to Oporto service while the independent receives BEA’s grant of London to Bordeaux and Biarritz. The number of scheduled passengers flown during the year climbs to 141,175.

The first of three Vickers Viscount 708s leased from Maitland Drew-ery Aviation, Ltd. is delivered on May 29, 1961 and enters service London-Newcastle on June 6. The second Viscount 708 starts flying on June 14. A Southend-Lille car ferry route is opened in the summer. All of the previous scheduled and tour services are maintained.

While completing a positioning flight and on approach to Carlisle Airport, the C-47B Kingsford Smith with four crew crashes at Groglin Fell on October 17; there are no survivors.

The Viscounts are returned at year’s end. In the spring of 1962, the scheduled routes from Newcastle-Bergen, Guernsey, and Stavanger are suspended as are those from Leeds to Dusseldorf and Rotterdam. In March, however, frequency on the popular Newcastle-London route is increased. Various ad hoc and inclusive-tour charters are again flown during the summer. On September 30, an HS 748 is leased from Skyways Coach-Air, Ltd. and is placed on the Leeds to London route next day. The North-South Airlines, Ltd. Bristol Freighter is returned late in the year.

In 1963, the fleet comprises 4 AS-57s, 3 DC-3s, and 1 Bristol 170. Orders are placed for HS 748s and Bristol Britannia 102s and an Avro Anson I is destroyed in a nonfatal crash at Guiseley, Yorkshire, on April 9. The company’s first owned HS 748 is delivered on April 20, allowing return of the Skyways, Ltd. machine.

The summer scheduled and tour services are maintained and scheduled twice-weekly London (LHR)-Newcastle all-cargo DC-3 flights commence on November 5. On November 26, an Ambassador, converted to freighter standard, begins a month of racehorse transport work. A total of 261,098 passengers are flown on the year.

BKS Air Transport, Ltd. in 1964 launches Hawker Siddeley HS 748 inclusive-tour flights to northern Spain and Portugal. The company’s first Bristol Britannia 102, purchased in March, enters service on April 24 over the London (LHR)-Newcastle route. On June 10, British European Airways Corporation (BEA) purchases a 30% interest, later increased to 50%, in BKS Air Transport, Ltd. The last of the original founders still affiliated, Cyril Stevens remains as chairman/managing director.

A London-Teesside route is opened on November 2. It is seen as a forerunner of a planned network of routes that will be established to serve this north of England point from Ireland and the Continent. Bookings exceed 300,000 for the year.

With a fleet of 3 HS 748s, 4 Britannias 102s and 3 DC-3s, the carrier flies a total of 450,859 passengers in 1965. Airline employment is 424. Heavy losses are suffered as the result of a poor winter season.

The company’s Bristol 170 Mk. 31 Freighter is sold in March 1966 and a Viscount 745 is purchased from United Airlines in April. Arrangements are now completed with Channel Airways, Ltd. for the lease of 6 Viscount 700s; 4 are added during the year with 3 returned at season’s end. An unnamed DC-3 is sold in May, followed by the John Alcock in June. Scheduled Ambassador service is introduced on July 1 from Newcastle to Paris (LBG) via Leeds.

British Air Services, Ltd. (Britavia), is formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of British European Airways Corporation (BEA) in February 1967 to administer the affairs of associated carriers, including BKS Air Transport, Ltd. An Ambassador is withdrawn on February 13 and, in March, two HS 748s are sold to Skyways Coach-Air, Ltd. while the third is returned to its manufacturer on July 11. Three more Viscount 700s, leased from Channel Airways, Ltd., are added during the first quarter.

On May 1, a new Bloodstock and Contract Cargo Division is formed to oversee the increasingly lucrative transport of racehorses. The company becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of the state airline on October

1. Allowed by British European Airways Corporation (BEA) to operate under its own name, the carrier continues to concentrate on its regional services to the northern part of Great Britain. The last Ambassador passenger service is flown on October 31, Belfast-Newcastle. Twice-weekly all-cargo Belfast to Leeds and Newcastle Ambassador flights are initiated on November 2. On December 31, the Channel Airways, Ltd. Viscounts are returned; however, two HS 748s are leased from Skyways Coach-Air, Ltd. Over 500,000 passengers are transported during the year.

The Skyways Coach-Air, Ltd. HS 748s are returned in March 1968, preparatory to the transfer of three ex-BEA Viscount 806s to BKS Air Transport, Ltd. in April followed by a fourth in July.

While putting down at London (LHR) with a cargo of eight horses on a service from Deauville on July 3, an Airspeed AS.57 Ambassador 2 with eight crew lands badly. It smashes into a pair of parked aircraft, catching fire and flipping onto its back; six aboard are killed, along with all of the horses.

The last remaining Ambassador is now transferred to the Bloodstock and Contract Cargo Division. On October 31, the last Belfast-Edinburgh service is flown; the route is now transferred to Cambrian Airways, Ltd. in exchange for a frequency from Belfast to Liverpool. Two Ambassadors and a Britannia 102 are withdrawn during the year.

The company’s lone Avro 19 is sold in January 1969. The first of two HS 121 Trident 1Es to be delivered on the year arrives at the company’s

Newcastle base on February 4, followed by the second on March 5. Another Britannia 102 is withdrawn in February 21, after completing its final service, Newcastle to London (LHR). The first Trident 1E begins commercial flying on April 1, London (LHR)-Newcastle while the second begins service with a Newcastle-Palma inclusive-tour flight on April 9. Viscount tour flights from Leeds to the Mediterranean begin on May 1.

Arriving from Paris (Orly) on July 26, an Airspeed As.57 Ambassador 2 freighter, with three crew and five passengers, suffers the failure of its nosewheel upon landing at London (LGW); there are no fatalities. The last Ambassador is withdrawn in October.

A Britannia 102 and the Viscount 745 are withdrawn in January 1970, followed by the last 3 Viscount 700s in March. The fleet now comprises 2 Trident 1Es and 6 Viscount 806s. Scheduled and inclusive ad hoc tour operations continue as before. On November 1, BKS Air Transport, Ltd. is renamed Northeast Airlines, Ltd.

Years later Arthur Whitlock will publish his memoirs of BKS as Behind the Cockpit Door: The Illustrated Memoirs of an Airline Pilot (Braunton, Eng.: Merlin Books, 1991).

BLACK SEA AIRLINES (CHERNOMORSKIE AVIALINII): Ulitsa Golbubye Dali 58/48, Ulitsa Lenina 204, Sochi, Southern Zone, 354000, Russia; Phone 7 (8622) 454308; Fax 7 (8622) 455614; Year Founded 1996. This Russo-Armenian joint venture company is established in 1996 to offer domestic and regional passenger charter services. V. E. Zumadzhyan is general director and he begins, and continues, flights with a pair of Tupolev Tu-134As.

BLACK SWAN JET CHARTER: 7930 Airport Blvd., Houston, Texas 77061, United States; Phone (713) 644-4359; Fax (713) 6402752; Year Founded 1983. Black Swan is set up at Houston in 1983 to

Offer executive and small group passenger charters, many in support of oil barons and others in the energy industry. By 2000, the company’s 8 pilots operate 1 each Cessna 650 Citation III, British Aerospace BAe (HS) 125-400 Hawker, Beech King Air 90, and King Air 100 from Hobby Airport.

BLACKHAWK AIRWAYS: United States (1970-1995). Mark T. Jacobsen establishes the Gail Force Corporation as an FBO at Rockford, Illinois, in 1970. Later, as part of the company enterprise, Jacobson establishes an airline division to operate FAA Part 135 all-cargo services. Revenue flights commence under the name Gail Force Air Charters.

Services continue during the next five years; however, during this time, the company moves to Rock County Airport at Janesville-Beloit, Wisconsin, and is renamed. Flights continue to link the carrier’s base with various Midwest destinations, including Chicago (MDW), Columbus, Dayton, St. Louis, Springfield, and Minneapolis (MSP).

Six Beech 18s constitute the fleet until 1977, when the total is increased to 10. Freight poundage flown this year, the first for which there are figures, is 3.4 million. Cargo accelerates by 16.9% in 1978 to 4.09 million pounds. In 1979, the company’s 10 Beech 18s haul 4.52 pounds of freight, an increase of 10.5%.

The fleet is increased in 1980 by the addition of 2 more Beech 18s, plus 1 Beech B-50 Twin Bonanza and a Beech B-80 Queenaire. Still, cargo for the scheduled freight commuter plunges by 52.4% to 2.15 million-ton kilometers.

The number of pounds of freight operated falls 49.3% in 1981 to 1.09 million, forcing the withdrawal of two Beech 18s.

Following two years of traffic declines, Blackhawk’s 10 Beech 18s reverse that trend in 1982, transporting a total of 1.94-million pounds of cargo, a 77.9% boost.

In 1983, 1 each: Beech Bonanza, Beech B-80 Queen Air, Cessna 140, Cessna 180F, and North American AT-6G are acquired. They join the Beech 18s in boosting cargo 18.4% to 2.3 million pounds hauled.

Atotal of 3,112,000 pounds of cargo are transported in 1984, a 35.5% boost. Blackhawk suspends its scheduled operations in February 1985 and becomes a full-time charter operator. Regular, if nonscheduled, flights continue apace for the remainder of the decade and into the next.

Chairman Jacobsen and President Richard Wixon oversees 22 employees in 1993-1994 and his services are offered essentially without change from the start-up years. The fleet now consists of 5 Beech 18s, 2 Beech 58 Barons, 1 Piper PA-31-310 Navajo, 1 Beech King Air, and

1  Cessna 182. In 1995, Blackhawk is renamed Gail Force Express.

BLACKPOOL AND WEST COAST AIR SERVICES, LTD.: United Kingdom (1933-1937). Supported by Olley Air Services, Ltd., Blackpool and West Coast Air Services, Ltd., is registered on April 3, 1933. The fleet comprises 1 de Havilland DH 84 Dragon and

2  DH 83 Fox Moths, christened Progress I and Progress //.Regularly scheduled Blackpool-Liverpool daily flights begin on June 22, along with Blackpool-Isle of Man via Liverpool services, which are flown twice daily during the summer.

A British Post Office mail contract is received in early 1935 for the Liverpool-Isle of Man route; flying in opposite directions, two new DH 84s initiate the service on February 3. Two new direct services are offered from the Isle of Man, one to Belfast and one to Carlisle, beginning on June 1. The company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Olley Air Services, Ltd.

The carrier puts up initial capitalization to allow registration of Aer Lingus Irish Airlines on May 22, 1936. The company’s original DH 84 is transferred to Dublin, where it is christened lolar (Eagle). Five days later the two companies, acting under the joint marketing title Irish Sea Airways, Ltd., initiate service from Bristol-Dublin. Thrice-weekly Irish Sea Airways, Ltd. summer service Dublin-Isle of Man is started on May 30. On September 14, the partners commence weekday Dublin-Liverpool DH 84 service and simultaneously extend the Bristol route once per weekday to London (Croydon).

In January 1937, the carrier receives its first DH 86, which is assigned to the Irish Sea Airways, Ltd. operation. In February, the Isle of Man-Liverpool mail contract is reconfirmed. The Irish government holding company Aer Rianta takes over the capital shareholding of Aer Lingus Irish Airlines on April 5; however, the Anglo-Irish airline partnership continues.

Outside the partnership, the carrier begins a route Manchester-Isle of Man via Liverpool and Blackpool on May 14. The Dublin-Isle of Man summer season of Irish Seas Airways begins the same day and continues until September 4. The carrier is merged with Isle of Man Air Services, Ltd. in September, but is briefly allowed to continue under its previous identity. On November 2, the carrier is fully amalgamated into Isle of Man Air Services, Ltd. when the latter receives the Liverpool-Isle of Man-Belfast mail contract; the Irish Sea Airways, Ltd. operation is renamed West Coast Air Services, Ltd.