Airways Magazine July 2024 | Page 51

AIRWAYS HISTORY British Eagle
8 Eagle ’ s first scheduled services were operated with Vickers Vikings . This example was photographed at Blackbushe in 1958 . // PAUL ZOGG COLLECTION ( ZOGGAVIA ) as a result of tireless lobbying by Bamberg and other operators , which resulted in slightly more relaxed rules permitting independent airlines to apply for scheduled routes , provided that they did not conflict with the state-owned carriers . So , early in June 1953 , an Eagle Viking inaugurated the first scheduled route to Belgrade via Munich . Eagle Airways was registered in July in order to develop regular passenger operations . Following this , a second route to Aalborg , Denmark , and Gothenburg , Sweden , was opened to farepaying passengers in late October 1953 .
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In 1955 – ever seeking new areas of business – Eagle began flying inclusive tour ( IT ) charters as a result of its purchase of the Sir Henry Lunn Travel organization . That summer , Eagle ’ s Vikings carried tourists to the south of France , Austria , Spain , and Italy . Concurrently , scheduled authority was granted for Luxembourg-Munich-Innsbruck and Vienna from Manchester , where a second engineering facility was opened . To cover this
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