AIRWAYS HISTORY
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4 5 Eagle acquired its first DC-3 in 1950 . By the end of 1952 , the fleet consisted of three ‘ Dakotas ’. // EAGLE ARCHIVES UK VIA MAURICE WICKSTEAD
6 7 In 1953 , Eagle operated its first scheduled flights for the public under its own name : to Belgrade via Munich , followed by Aalborg and Gothenburg . In1955 , scheduled service was extended from the UK to Luxembourg , Innsbruck , and Vienna . // EAGLE ARCHIVES UK VIA MAURICE WICKSTEAD
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with Jersey ( Channel Islands ) franchised under agreement from British European Airways ( BEA ) and fulfilling Bamberg ’ s ambition to enter the scheduled passenger market . By this time , Eagle had relocated to Luton Airport following the closure of Aldermaston .
Eagle undertook frequent ad-hoc flights on behalf of the Air Ministry , moving military personnel and supplies to Britain ’ s numerous overseas bases . In August 1951 , these were formalized into a contract for London-Singapore service . Eagle flew two specially converted Yorks to repatriate injured servicemen from the Korean War . From July 1951 , Eagle ’ s Avro York fleet uplifted 10,700 civilian and military passengers and clockedup almost one million miles ( 1.609 million km ), including the longest ever charter of the time : two round trips carrying cattle between Karachi and Brazil over a total distance of 37,000 miles ( 59,546 km ).
Toward the end of 1952 — and despite his airline ’ s progress — Bamberg was becoming increasingly frustrated with the obstacles placed in his way by government officials , who had been instructed to protect the state-owned carriers ( BOAC and BEA ) at all costs . On the verge of abandoning the airline business altogether , he sold the entire fleet of Yorks to Skyways for £ 160,000 . Yet , his innate love of aviation persuaded him not to abandon Eagle completely , but to take the company in a different direction .
With just three Dakotas ( DC- 3s ), Eagle settled into a new
role as a short-haul charter operator , mainly flying around Europe , though with occasional forays to the Middle East and West Africa . In a significant move , Eagle purchased Aviation Servicing , renaming it Eagle Aircraft Services ( EAS ), which provided in-house and contract maintenance expertise . The EAS facility was located at Blackbushe Airport , south of London , and all operations were transferred there . At the same time , Eagle obtained three twinengine Vickers Vikings , but it soon became evident that these passenger-configured machines did not fit into mixed passenger / freight charter operations and they were sold in March 1953 .
Only a few weeks after disposing of the Vikings , Eagle was again in the market for this type of aircraft . This came about
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