Daughley Hills-Grove-Hills forms IASL at St. Mary’s airport in June 1945, equipping his new company with 2 Percival P.44 Proctor 5s. One of the aircraft is leased out; however, the second begins nonscheduled services between the Scilly Isles and Land’s End in the spring of 1946, continuing the flights through the summer season. The principal cargo is cut flowers.
When the second Proctor 5 is returned in early 1947, it begins flying passenger charters and joyrides from London (Croydon Airport); the pilot is a lady, Miss Monique “Aggie” Agazarian, the former Air Transport Auxiliary flyer who had been appointed the company’s office manager the year before. A de Havilland DH 89A Dragon Rapide is now leased, permitting the carrier to mount nonscheduled services into Europe.
Early in 1948, Miss Agazarian is named managing director of the London half of the company. With the assistance of two additional pilots and two more Dragon Rapides purchased in April and May, respectively, she begins offering profitable and successful pleasure flights from London (LHR). Indeed, the ?1, 15-minute cruises prove so popular that an Airspeed AS.65 Consul must (briefly) be acquired to provide additional capacity. Additionally, charters are flown from London’s other airfields at Croydon and Northolt. As they also prove a success, it is decided, at the close of the summer season, to end the charter flights from the Scilly Isles and concentrate operations at London. On December 31, Island Air Services (London), Ltd. is registered with Miss Agazarian as chairman; the new firm takes over all facilities and equipment of its predecessor.
Pleasure flights continue to constitute the company’s primary business in 1949. During the year, Chairman Agazarian marries Ray Ren-dall, a former RAF pilot whom she had recruited to fly for the concern. The fleet is rationalized to contain four Dragon Rapids, plus one leased from Airwork, Ltd., for the summer.
In March 1950, the company signs a British European Airways Corporation (BEA) associate agreement to provide scheduled services to Deauville. These flights, in association with Birkett Air Service,
Ltd. , commence on July 1; passengers are hauled primarily on weekend gambling jaunts. La Baule and Le Touquet are also added to the return route network during the summer while pleasure flights from London (LHR) are also continued. The international frequencies do not prove financially viable and are discontinued at the end of the 1951 season.
All company efforts are now placed into the short pleasure flights out of London’s airports. As most of this traffic occurs from Heathrow Airport, the Croydon base is shut down at the end of 1952 and its operations are transferred to London (LHR) where Miss Jean Edwards becomes operations manager. Operations continue almost unchanged for the next four years.
When airport officials ban pleasure flying from London (LHR) in 1956 due to the increase in scheduled airline traffic, IAS transfers its business to London (Ramsgate) Airport. Pleasure flights from the new location dry up almost completely in 1957 and, when combined with the loss of a DH 89A in a June takeoff accident, this down turn forces financially depleted IASL to sell off its aircraft and go out of business.
ISLAND AIRLINES (1): United States (1929-1991). Island Airlines (1) is founded at Port Clinton, Ohio, by ex-barnstormer Milton “Red” Hersberger in 1929 to fly mail from Sandusky and Port Clinton to the Lake Erie islands. This small airline, originally known as Erie Isle Airways, is dramatically enlarged into a passenger-carrying operation on November 4, 1936 through the acquisition of a Ford Trimotor 4-AT-38 from Air Service of Pittsburgh. The Ford 4-AT-5 is acquired on June 10,1937.
Under the name Air Tours, Inc., Hersberger’s Fords transport tourists, ice fishermen, permanent and summer residents, sightseers, and supplies to South, Middle, and North Bass and Rattlesnake Islands, a chain lying some 10 miles into the lake near Toledo. The Ford 4-AT-5 is sold to the Central Flying School at Little Rock, Arkansas, on July 10, 1941 while a 4-AT-42 is purchased from Mike Murphy’s Murphy Flying Service of Findlay, Ohio, on October 9 after two years of use as a neon sign carrier for Marathon Oil.
A fourth Tri-Motor, 4-AT-53, is purchased from a private Dallas owner on December 7, 1944 and up-engined with war surplus Wright N3N engines in June 1946. On July 27, the crashed remains of a Ford 5-AT-27 and Ford 5-AT-40 are purchased for spare parts from Cubana (Compania Nacional Cubana de Aviacion, S. A.).
In May 1949, a 4-AT-38 is also up-engined with war surplus Wright N3N engines. In 1950-1952, a 5-AT-40 is repaired, employing a variety of spare parts as diverse as wheels from a Lockheed Model 18 and Oleo struts from a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. On January 28 of the latter year, the aircraft is sold to a private Idaho owner, who will sell it to Johnson Flying Service 18 months later.
In August 1953, Ralph Dietrick of Sandusky, Ohio, owner of rival Sky Tours (which operates a Ford 4-AT-42) and several of his associates, purchase Island Airlines for $95,000, merging the two operations under the Island banner and the official name Travelair Taxi, Inc. The Post Office contract is retained.
Unable to achieve takeoff from Kelley’s Island in early evening on July 31, 1954, a 4-AT-53 crashes; 2 of the 12 passengers aboard are injured and the aircraft must be written off. First flown by United Air Lines 20 years earlier, a Boeing 247D is acquired during the year. Island will add another leaf on its wreath of fame as the last commercial operator of the famous B-247D.
Headquarters of the 6-station, 25-mile-long route are moved to Sandusky from Port Clinton in 1961 and the Tri-Motors, still flying a quarter of a century after their purchase, gain national attention as the last of their breed still in regularly scheduled U. S. passenger service. Competing with ferryboats, Dietrick’s Tri-Motors and Boeing, backed up by 5 Cessna 172s, transport upwards of 60,000 passengers per year during the late 1960s and 1970s, more than 90% in the Fords.
The larger Tri-Motor, 5-AT-11, is purchased in June 1966. Proving too expensive to operate over the carrier’s short segments, it is sold in November 1968. Early in 1969, the Boeing 247D, which has been grounded for some time due to lack of spare parts, is purchased by a U. K. enthusiast.
The 4-AT-42 is withdrawn in 1972, following an August 21 crash at Port Clinton. Its remains are sold to Allan T. Chaney of Hebron, Ohio. The Ford 4-AT-38 loses power while taking off from Put-in-Bay Airport and crashes at South Bass Island on July 1, 1977; pilot David Martin is injured severely. It is rebuilt by Kal-Aero and is flown again, beginning in March 1980.
In February 1982, the Ford 4-AT-38 is withdrawn and put up for sale at an asking price of $950,000. Company headquarters are moved back to Port Clinton. Airline employment stands at 11 and the fleet comes to comprise 2 Cessna 207s, 3 Cessna 172s, and 1 de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter.
Tragedy strikes in 1983. Having received a call, the pilot of a Cessna 207A with three medevac passengers, takes off from Toledo on the night of December 9 to fly to the aid of a heart attack victim on Put-in-Bay Island. Before disappearing, the aircraft radios the sheriff’s department to report that it has encountered fog. Wreckage is found the next morning at a point approximately 45 mi. W of the point of origin and there are no survivors.
Flights continue in 1984 and the Ford 4-AT-38 is sold to Mercury Aviation Companies of Richmond Heights, Ohio, on August 12, 1985. As a postscript, the Ford 4-AT-38 passes to Allan T. Chaney, who barnstorms it around the midwest and southeast for six years, giving the media free promotional rides with which to attract paying passengers. The aircraft is sold in 1991 to Kermit A. Weeks for $650,000, who currently exhibits it at his Weeks Air Museum at Miami.
Meanwhile, operations continue apace for the Port Clinton-based small regional in 1986-1987, with some 22,000 passengers transported during the latter year. There is little change over the next three years, although a contract is received from UPS (United Parcel Service), along with the almost 60-year-old mail delivery task. In 1990, as recession deepens, the owners seek and find a buyer.
ISLAND AIRLINES (2): P. O. Box 2640, Nantucket Memorial Airport, Nantucket, Massachusetts 02584, United States; Phone (508) 228-7575; Fax (508) 775-6645; Http://www. nantucket. net/trans/ islandair; Code IS; Year Founded 1992. William J. McGrath Jr. establishes Island Airlines at Nantucket in 1992 to provide FAA Part 135 charter flights to the mainland. Small-scale operations commence with 3 Cessna 402s and 1 Beech 18 freighter.
ISLAND AIRLINES HAWAII: United States (1977-1984). IAH is
Established at Honolulu in January 1977 to offer a courier express service for small package delivery. Employing a fleet of 3 Beech 18s, the carrier begins regularly scheduled flights from Honolulu to Kahului on June 5. Soon the aircraft are making pickups at the airports at Waimea, Lanai, Kauai, Kona, and Molokai. In addition to airport-to-door, $35-per-package delivery for Hawaii business, interline services are also arranged with incoming major carriers.
FTKs total 11,599 and advance each year thereafter for the remainder of the decade: up 286.5% to 44,833 in 1978; 644% to 333,682 in 1979; and 25.4% to 418,153 in 1980. Expenses outpace revenues in each year. The latter climb from $26,953 in 1977 to $1.43 million in 1980; however, the former advance from $186,283 in 1977 to $1.73 million in 1980. The cumulative loss is $626,832.
Despite the fact that the fleet is upgraded by the addition of a Convair CV-440 and three Douglas DC-3s, the 1980s also begin on a mixed basis.
Airline employment in 1981 is up from 60 to 76 and freight advances 54% to 643,589 FTKs. On the other hand, revenues are $2.25 million and expenses are $2.55 million. Still, the $300,000 operating loss is a $1,563 improvement.
In 1982, three CV-600s join the fleet of replacing the CV-440 and Douglas transports. As the recession deepens through 1983, losses continue. Service is steadily downgraded and suspended at Lihue, Lanai
City, Kahului, Kaunakakai, Kalaupapa, Hilo, and Kona. Operations cease in 1984.
ISLAND AIRWAYS, LTD. See UNION AIR, LTD.
ISLAND AVIATION, LTD. See AIR BC, LTD.
ISLAND EXPRESS AIRLINES: 750 Southwest 34th Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33315, United States; Phone (954) 359-0383; Fax (954) 359-7944; Code 2S; Year Founded 1995. IEA is established by Ruben Acrich at Ft. Lauderdale in late 1995 to offer charter flights to destinations in south Florida. President Acrich begins revenue operations with a single Cessna 402C.
The fleet is significantly enhanced during 1996. Two more Cessna 402Cs arrive and allow the inauguration of scheduled flights. Meanwhile, charters are operated with 11 de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beavers, 2 DHC-2T TurboBeavers, 3 DHC-3 Otters, and 2 TurboOtters. Enplanements reach 18,204.
Services continue in 1997 as passenger boardings advance 4.9% to 19,097. Customer bookings plunge 22.3% to 15,000 in 1998.
Passenger boardings plunge another 46.3% in 1999 to 8,000.
Flights continue without headline or incident until December 14, 2000. On that date, Flight 938, a Cessna 310Q with one pilot, is en route from Lewiston, Maine to Albany, New York, when one of its engines ices up. While attempting to make an emergency landing at Keene, New Hampshire, the aircraft crashes into a hill 7 mi. SW of the runway. The pilot is killed and the aircraft and its cargo are destroyed.
ISLAND EXPRESS HELICOPTER SERVICE: 1175 Queens Highway South, Long Beach, California 90802, United States; Phone (310) 510-2525; Fax (310) 510-9671; Http://www. islandexpress. com; Year Founded 1981. IEHS is established at Long Beach Dugherty Field in March 1982 to provide several-times-daily flights between Long Beach and San Pedro and Catalina Island. John Moore, who will become owner/president, is the first and only employee. Not only does he pilot the helicopter, he also answers the phone and arranges to pick up passengers.
Enplanements for the first month total 31.
Operations continue and by 2000 President Moore and Operations Director John Moore oversee the work of 5 pilots and fly 4 Eurocopter AS-350B A-Stars from a heliport at Avalon, on Catalina Island and a newly built state-of-the-art heliport at the site of the Queen Mary exhibit at Long Beach. Mrs. Patti Moore, vice president and personnel director/accountant, helps the company project a family image for its customers.
ISLAND HELICOPTER CORPORATION: United States (19681997). IHC is established as an FBO and charter division of Transleisure Corporation at Garden City, New York, in 1968 to provide passenger charter and flight-seeing services from a base at that Long Island city’s Island Heliport. Operations commence with a fleet of 2 Sikorsky S-62As and 3 S-55s.
In May 1971, IHC inaugurates scheduled passenger services from Garden City to the Wall Street and 34th Street East Heliports in Manhattan. These are suspended for lack of traffic in April 1974. Nonscheduled operations continue apace, however, during the remainder of the decade.
By 1978, Chairman/CEO Frederick Fine and President Arthur C. Schneider oversee a workforce of 70 and have increased their fleet by the addition of 9 Bell 206 JetRangers and 10 Bell Model 47Gs.
The operator forms a subsidiary in 1981, New York Helicopter Corporation, to provide scheduled passenger shuttle services. Flights continue in 1982.
While on final approach to the heliport at New York City on August 14, 1983, an SA-360C, with a pilot and five passengers, loses power and strikes a barrier at the edge of the landing point. Four people receive minor injuries, although the helicopter is badly damaged.
When Transleisure files for Chapter XI bankruptcy reorganization in April 1984, IHC is separated out and allowed to continue over the next decade.
Donald J. Gault is president in 1994-1997 and employs 16 full - and 8 part-time pilots. The fleet now includes 5 Bell 206L LongRangers, 4 S-58Ts, and 1 each Bell 206B JetRanger and Eurocopter AS-355F Twinstar.
The company continues, with lessening gain, to offer agricultural, medevac, aerial photo, and external load services. As it has since its beginning, the company specializes in aerial tours of New York City. Four different flight-seeing tours are offered: United Nations, Statue of Liberty, Skyscraper, and Ultimate Delight; the latter tour combines elements of the other three.
A brief news item in the August 18, 1997 issue of Travel Weekly reads simply: “N. Y. closes Island Helicopters.”
ISLAND HELICOPTERS KAUAI: P. O. Box 831, Lihue, Hawaii 96766, United States; Phone (808) 245-8588; Fax (808) 245-6258; Http://www. islandhelicopters. com; Year Founded 1980. One of the
State’s oldest rotary-wing operators, IHK is established at Lihue by Curt and Bonnie Loftstedt in 1980. Over the next 20 years, the FAA Part 135 company comes to specialize in two major services: personalized, small group passenger tours and flight-seeing and aerial photography charters on behalf of the television and motion picture industry. Indeed, former Vietnam War helicopter pilot Loftsted’s resume includes a number of well-known productions and the flyer, widely respected throughout the film industry, is often the first to be called when aerial photography in Hawaii is required for the movies or television.
Painted in rainbow livery, the charter operator’s helicopters have been seen in some of the films they have helped to shoot, including King Kong and the Tom Selleck television series Magnum PI. IHK has also participated in filming the motion pictures Raiders of the Lost Ark, North, George of the Jungle, and Six Days/Seven Nights. Other television series include Hawaii 5.0 and Fantasy Island. Various commercials, Discovery Channel and ESPN specials, and documentaries are also logged in the company’s scrapbooks.
Small groups of passengers flown on tours of Kauai have also been a staple of the operator’s business since its beginning. Special attention has always been taken to provide ecologically friendly flights designed to preserve the natural beauty of the islands sights and sounds. When in the late 1990s, the FAA began to require helicopter tour operators to fly no lower than 1,500 feet, Island, based on its previous compliance to existing regulations and its spotless safety record, was the first company granted a 500-foot above-ground-level altitude deviation. By the end of the decade, IHK is making over 5,000 annual flights, transporting in excess of 25,000 passengers yearly.
In 2000, the fleet includes 4 Bell 206B JetRangers and 1 Eurocopter AS-350B A-Star.
ISLAND HOPPER CHOPPER (PTY.), LTD.: Australia (19861987). This single-machine helicopter airline is formed at Perth in the fall of 1986 to offer scheduled rotary-wing flights to Rottnest Island; the Sikorsky S-61N begins operations on December 20. Unable to compete with Rottnest Airlines (Pty.), Ltd. and other services, the company ceases operations on April 30, 1987.
ISLAND HOPPERS HAWAII AERIAL TOURS: Gate 29, Hilo Airport, Hilo, Hawaii 96720, United States; Phone 808 969-2000; Fax 808 331-2079; Http://www. fly-hawaii. com; Year Founded 1990. Phil Auldridge establishes this Part 135 concern on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1990 to offer air tours, charters, flight lessons, and plane rentals. Daily air tours are provided over Hilo and Kona and by the end of the decade, an average of 900 sight-seeing flights are made annually, transporting over 1,800 passengers.
The fleet in 2000 includes 6 Cessna 172s and Piper Warriors.
ISLAND MAIL: United States (1966-1979). IM is originally set up at Anacortes, Washington, in the spring of 1966 to fly mail under contract to Island Sky Ferries and Skyline Air Service. Employing Cessna light-planes and a refurbished Stinson SR Reliant, the company begins flying its mail routes in the Puget Sound and San Juan Islands area on July 1.
Even after the sponsors become part of the new Puget Sound Airlines in August 1967, IM operations continue apace throughout the remainder of the decade and into the 1970s. The company base is relocated to Friday Harbor in 1973 and services are continued until the enterprise ends in 1979.
ISLAND PACIFIC AIR: United States (1975-1978). Mike Hartley establishes IPA at Honolulu during the first quarter of 1975 to provide scheduled passenger and cargo services to all of the state’s main islands. Employing Cessna 402s, Hartley begins revenue flights on April 16 and these continue until early 1978 when the company is purchased by and merged into Air Hawaii (2).
ISLAND SKY FERRIES: United States (1950-1967). This company, originally formed by Robert F. and Margaret Ann Schoen in 1947 as Or-cas Island Air Service, is purchased by Dr. Wallace Howarth in the spring of 1950, who changes its name to Island Air. The Schoens’ partner, Roy Franklin, and a Stinson 108 Voyager remain with the company, which is managed by Howarth’s son David, just returned from the U. S. Army.
Electing not to continue the operation, the younger Howarth sells the tiny airline in 1951 to Harold and Virginia Ferris, owners of Eastsound Airfield on Orcas Island. They also retain Franklin’s services, but rename their acquisition ISF. The fleet is enlarged by the addition of the Ferris’ Voyager and two small Cessnas. On June 1, 1953, Roy Franklin becomes the new owner.
Adding Piper lightplanes, ISF continues to provide nonscheduled flights to Bellingham via the islands of the San Juan group. On June 1, 1956, scheduled service is inaugurated to Seattle. Meanwhile, throughout the decade and into the next, a contract is held with the U. S. Forest Service to fly forest fire patrols over Mount Baker National Forest.
In 1962, Franklin travels to Texas and purchases a refurbished Lockheed Model 10A Electra for use on passenger services to the islands from Seattle. However, Travelers do not visit and the pioneer aircraft is sold. Operations continue apace in 1963.
During the summer of 1964, the decision is taken to offer scheduled passenger and package third-level flights to Seattle. Employing Cessna lightplanes, the company begins revenue service on September 24. Two years later, the airline joins with Skyline Air Service to found the contract mail subsidiary Island Mail, Inc., which begins revenue flights from a hub on Anacortes on July 1, 1966. ISF continues scheduled and charter services until August 28, 1967, when it is taken over by Puget Sound Airlines.
ISLANDS AVIATION (ISLANDS NATIONAIR) (PTY.), LTD.: P. O. Box 488, Boroko, Port Moresby, Central Province, Papua New Guinea; Phone 675 325-4055; Fax 675 311-2611; Http://pinelodge. com. pg/islandsair. html; Code CN; Year Founded 1991. CN, a subsidiary of Islands Helicopter Services (Pty.), Ltd., is established at Port Moresby in July 1991 to provide fixed-wing scheduled and passenger air charter services throughout the nation. David Pidduck is chairman, with Tony Skelton as general manager. The fleet includes the rotary-wing operator’s 9 Bell 206L LongRangers plus 1 Beech 58 Baron, 3 Beech Super King Air 200s, 1 Cessna 206, 3 each de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otters and Embraer EMB-110P1 Ban-deirantes plus 2 Pilatus-Britten-Norman PBN-2 Islanders.
From bases at Nadzab, Mt. Hagen, Port Moresby, and Rabaul, flights are initiated and continued in 1992-1995 linking those destinations, as well as Buka, Goroka, and Hoskins. During these years, only six LongRangers are devoted to the charter services of Islands Helicopter Services (Pty.), Ltd.
In April 1996, Malaysia-based Mofaz Air purchases a 40% stake. Flights continue in 1997-2000, during which time the workforce grows to 140. Scheduled destinations visited include Boang, Buiolo, Cape Orford, Gonalia, Goroka, Jacquinot Bay, Kavieng, Kerema, Lae, Lihir Island, Malekolon, Manguna, Mount Hagen, Port Moresby, Rabaul, Sauer, Tadji, and Wewak.
ISLANDS HELICOPTER SERVICES (PTY.), LTD. See ISLANDS AVIATIONS (ISLANDS NATIONAIR) (PTY.), LTD.
ISLANDS NATIONAIR (PTY.), LTD. See ISLANDS AVIATION (ISLANDS NATIONAIR, [PTY.], LTD.)
ISLANDSFLUG, H. F.: Reykjavik Airport, Reykjavik, IS-101, Iceland; Phone 354 (91) 570-8090; Fax 354 (91) 570-8091; http:// Www. islandsflug. is; Code HH; Year Founded 1991. Islandsflug is set up at Reykjavik Airport in 1991 to offer scheduled domestic passenger services. Gunnar Thor is president, with Omar Ben as general manager. A workforce of 45 is assembled and revenue flights commence with a fleet comprising 3 Dornier 228-212s, 1 Fairchild Metro III, and 1 Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain.
Flights continue in 1992-1998, during which years an Aero International (Regional) ATR42-320 and a Boeing 737-2M8A are also placed into service.
Islandsflug is now the second largest airline in scheduled and charter flight operation in Iceland, serving 16 domestic destinations with annual boardings in excess of 100,000.
Additionally, the company operates the largest flight school in the nation, employing 12 small training planes.
During the first quarter of 1999, the B-737-2M8A is wet-leased to Caraibenne des Transportes Aeriens. This joint venture was established by Air France, Air Martinique, S. A., Air Saint Martin, S. A., and SATA (Societe Antillaise de Transportes Aeriens, S. A.-Air Guadeloupe) to replace the French major on its Caribbean routes from Fort de France and Pointe-a-Pitre to Cayenne, Miami, and Port au Prince. The Icelandic Boeing will be returned as soon as Caraibenne is able to secure a pair of B-737-300s.
In June, the marketing name Icebird Airlines, H. F. is introduced for the carrier’s foreign operations. Domestic destinations visited include Akureyri, Bidudalut, Egisstadir, Gjogur, Saudarkrokur, Sigluftjoerdur, and Vestmannaeyjar. A B-737-3Q8QC is operated on behalf of DHL Worldwide Express.
Airline employment stands at 160 at the beginning of 2000. Wearing a special livery in honor of its employer, the Spanish tour operator Sunbird, a B-737-3Q8 is based at Palma de Mallorca at the end of March to fly tourists to and from northern Europe. Both of the company’s ATR42-320s are turned over to Flugfelag Islands, H. F. (3) on May 21, although one is also advertised for sale in June with Piedmont Aviation Services.
In order to create a larger carrier in fact as well as by alliance, the small airlines of the French Caribbean are actually merged into SATA (Societe Antillaise de Transports Aeriens, S. A.-Air Guadeloupe) during July. They had been flying the Antilles as part of the umbrella Caraibenne des Transportes Aeriens joint venture
The surviving partner, controlled by 70% majority owner Groupe Dubreuil, which had previously owned the French carrier Regional Airlines, S. A., is then renamed Air Caraibes, S. A. (2). The enlarged airline maintains the local service routes of three previous independents. It also retains the Islandsflug B-737-2M8A, previously chartered for Caraibenne des Transportes Aeriens, and employs it to operate daily roundtrips from Fort-de-France and Pointe-a-Pitre to Miami via Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
On September 29, the company receives permission from the UN Sanctions Committee for the initiation of charter flights between Paris (CDG) and Baghdad. It is anticipated that such flights may begin in October using a B-737-3Q8.
Flown for Sunbird during the summer, a B-737-3Q8 is repainted and sent to Bahamasair, Ltd. for its winter charter schedule that begins in late November.
ISLE OF MAN AIR SERVICES, LTD.: United Kingdom (1935-1947). A major supporter of Blackpool and West Coast Air Services, Ltd., Olley Air Services, Ltd. provides total capitalization of ?1,000 and registers IOMAS as an airport company on January 21, 1935. On September 27, 1937, Olley, with the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co., Ltd. and London, Midland and Scottish Railway as partners, merges the airline and the FBO, providing it with a fleet of 1 DH 84 and 6 DH 89As.
Blackpool and West Coast Air Services, Ltd. is allowed to fly under its own identity until November 2. On that date, its former mail contract for the Liverpool-Isle of Man-Belfast route is reconfirmed to IOMAS and its Irish Seas Airways, Ltd. arrangement with Aer Lingus Irish Airlines is renamed West Coast Air Services, Ltd. Previous Blackpool direct routes to England and Ireland from the Isle of Man are continued.
Enplanements since start-up total 3,925.
Between May and October 1938, IOMAS operates a service to the Isle of Man from Leeds and Bradford via Liverpool and Blackpool. In accordance with the Air Navigation Order of September 16, the new ATLB on October 21 confirms the carrier’s routes from the Isle of Man to Manchester, Liverpool, Manchester, Belfast, and Carlisle. The year’s passenger traffic swells to 21,279.
On September 3, 1939, war is declared on Germany and all civil flying ceases. On November 20, the carrier is allowed to resume limited service from the Isle of Man to Liverpool and Belfast. The year’s bookings are 12,185.
On May 5, 1940, the Secretary of State for Air signs an agreement with seven independent carriers governing the wartime routes and services to be operated; the coordinating body IOMAS joins is the Associated Airways Joint Committee. Passenger boardings for the year are 9,264. Throughout the war, the Isle of Man-Liverpool route is flown and passenger bookings vary: 12,052 (1941); 11,664 (1942); 12,147 (1943); 14,567 (1944); and 16,172 (1945).
During the summer of 1946, the carrier introduces vacation flights to the island from Manchester, Carlisle, Blackpool, Glasgow, and Belfast. British European Airways Corporation (BEA) is formed on August 1 and the year’s final bookings achieve a carrier highpoint of 24,104. On February 1, 1947, IOMAS is one of 10 ex-AAJC carriers acquired and merged into BEA.
ISLE ROYAL SEAPLANE SERVICE. See SHAWANO FLYING SERVICE
ISLE ROYALE AIRWAYS: United States (1965). A Great Lakes-based flying boat operator, IRA is set up at Houghton, Michigan, in 1965 to provide scheduled passenger and cargo services to Rock Harbor, on Isle Royale, by way of Copper Harbor. Although Grumman G-21A Goose (and Beech 18) revenue flights are inaugurated, they cannot be maintained to year’s end.
ISLE ROYALE SEAPLANE SERVICE: United States (1975). IRSS
Is established at Isle Royale, Michigan, during the summer of 1975 to provide scheduled passenger services to small communities in the Upper Peninsula. Employing Piper and Cessna floatplanes, the company offers daily roundtrips during the summer season.
ISLENAAIRLINES (ISLENA DE INVERSIONES, S. A.): P. O. Box 402, Ave San Isidro, Re Parque Central, La Celba, Honduras; Phone (504) 432 631; Fax (504) 432 632; Http://www. intertel. hn/ tourism/islena; Code WC; Year Founded 1981. Islena is established at La Celba in 1981 when Arturo Alvarado Wood begins flying a Cessna 206 on nonscheduled flights to the island of Roatan. As the air taxi grows, it begins flying to the capital at Tegucigalpa where, in 1989, it is reformed to offer scheduled third-level passenger and cargo services to domestic destinations, as well as communities in neighboring Central American republics. General Manager Wood’s company begins these revenue operations with 3 de Havilland Canada DHC-6-200 Twin Otters and 1 Fairchild F-27J Friendship.
The fleet is radically altered in 1990 as all of the start-up equipment is removed and replaced with 1 Beech King Air 90 and 2 Embraer EMB-110P2 Bandeirantes. A second King Air 90 arrives in 1991, along with an EMB-110P1, a different leased F-27J, and a Grumman G-159 Gulf-stream I.
Operations continue apace in 1992 as the company continues to expand both its frequencies and flight equipment. Added this year is a Beech 99, an F-27A, and an F-27M. The leased F-27J is destroyed on the ground at Miami by Hurricane Andrew on August 24.
Another Beech 99 is delivered in 1993 along with a Shorts 360. These replace the Gulfstream I, which is sold in Guatemala.
In 1994, the company charters one each Boeing 727-251 and B-727-2B7, which are in turn subleased to the new Bogota-based subsidiary Islena Colombia, S. A. A Let L-410UVP is acquired.
In 1995, orders are placed for two Avions de Transport Regional ATR42-320s, the first of which is delivered by year’s end.
The second ATR arrives in early 1996 and is employed to inaugurate new routes to Managua and Guatemala City.
While taking off from La Ceiba on March 3, 1997, the Let L-410UVP with 2 crew and 19 passengers fails to climb. It returns to Runway 6 after its gear has been retracted and consequently skids 450 meters. Although the aircraft must be written off, there are no fatalities.
From the La Celba hub, President/CEO Wood’s company in 1998 visits eight destinations, including Grand Cayman in the British West Indies. Two more used ATR42-320s arrive, one in December and the other in January 1999.
Airline employment stands at 250 at the beginning of 2000. Scheduled destinations visited include Cauquira, Grand Cayman Island, Gua-naja, La Ceiba, Patacios, Puerto Lempira, Roatan, San Pedro Sula, and Trujillo. Late in the year, the company repaints its aircraft in the colors of Grupo TACA.
ISLENA COLOMBIA, S. A.: P. O. Box 402, Ave San Isidro, Re Par-que Central, La Ceiba, Honduras; Phone (504) 432 683; Fax (504) 432 632; Year Founded 1994. IC is organized at Bogota in 1994 as a
Subsidiary of the Honduran carrier Islena Airlines (Islena de Inver-siones, S. A.). One each Boeing 727-251 and B-727-2B7 is acquired by the parent and leased to the new entrant, allowing it to commence revenue operations. Later in the year, a B-727-25 freighter is also chartered from AVENSA (Aerovias Venezolanas, S. A.). Operations continue apace in 1995-1998.
World History
