The Bacon brothers, owners of the Sivewright Bacon and Company shipping agency, register an air transport subsidiary, Sivewright Airways, as an airline charter company on July 23, 1946. Based at Manchester, the company purchases a new Avro 19 on August 13, christening it the Salfordia. For the remainder of the summer, the aircraft flies passengers on an nonscheduled basis between Manchester, the Isle of Man, and Jersey. At the end of the season, the aircraft is leased by a wealthy summer for winter work in South Africa.
Channel Island charters resume in January 1947 and in March, a second Avro 19, named Mancunia, is added to the fleet. As the popularity of company services improve, a Miles M.57 Aerovan 4 is purchased in July and christened Oldhamia. It is followed on August 30 by acquisition of a Douglas DC-3 named Ecclesia from Scottish Aviation, Ltd. Within weeks, it is sent to India to participate for two months in Operation India, the transfer of Hindu refugees from newly formed Pakistan into India. A Miles M.65 Gemini is obtained in October and is called Palatinia. On December 29, another DC-3 is purchased from Scottish Aviation, Ltd. and christened, but is not delivered.
The Avro 19 Mancunia is destroyed in a January 7, 1948 forced landing near Knutsford. It is replaced by a new machine, also named Mancunia, in March, along with two de Havilland DH 89A Dragon Rapides. Spring charters out of Manchester commence in March. The DC-3 Bar-tonia is received on April 27.
Between October 19 and November 15, the Ecclesia participates in the Berlin Airlift, flying three-ton loads into the former German capital from Hamburg. The Douglas will complete 32 sorties and 87 hours flying time on the lift, carrying in over 116 tons of supplies. A variety of long-range DC-3 flights are made during the year with destinations including Australia, Saudi Arabia, and East Africa.
The long-range charters continue in 1949, beginning with DC-3 flights to Egypt and Germany. Summer work from Manchester to Jersey and the Isle of Man resume in April. Another Dragon Rapide is added in June and on July 4 another DC-3 is purchased, from British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and named Lancastria. A wide number of long-range charters are also flown to such destinations as Nairobi, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Accra, Paris, Copenhagen, and Edinburgh.
Isle of Man and Jersey services are again flown in 1950, together with long-range charters similar to those mounted in 1949. Following the summer season, both the Oldhamia and Palatinia are sold in October. British European Airways Corporation (BEA) now serves notice that it will fly the Channel Island routes on a scheduled basis in future years; however, both BEA and BOAC employ company DC-3s to fly certain of its freight contracts.
Having lost its main source of aerial income, Sivewright Airways ceases flying in March 1951; selling off its DC-3s, it reverts to a ground transport organization.
World History
