AIRWAYS HISTORY
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large increase in commitments , Eagle progressively increased its Viking fleet to 18 aircraft . Spare charter capacity still remained available , and Eagle put it to good use late in 1956 , uplifting more than 1,200 refugees from Austria in the wake of the Hungarian Uprising .
Early in 1957 , the company reorganized into two divisions : Eagle Airways for scheduled operations and Eagle Aviation for charters , IT , and military flights .
Charters took Eagle ’ s aircraft to some unusual destinations . One was Sofia , Bulgaria , in 1955 to carry the British Olympic Football team . Flying home , a worried-looking stewardess appeared on the flight-deck reporting that the aircraft seemed to be falling apart . Quickly heading aft , the captain soon identified the problem — loose overhead panels and luggage racks . At a time of growing Cold War xenophobia , it appeared that , during the
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52 AIRWAYS MAGAZINE JULY 2024 www . airwaysmag . com