AIRWAYS HISTORY
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known as Cunard-Eagle , with Bamberg remaining as managing director , it was envisaged that Cunard ’ s long North Atlantic experience and extensive US sales network would benefit Eagle ’ s aspirations of seriously breaking into this market . For a while this seemed to be within reach , but ultimately it would be a factor in the airline ’ s demise .
Coincidentally , Eagle leased a Bristol Britannia 300 Series from Cubana ( CU ) for long-distance charter work . Sporting Eagle ’ s new livery with a bold letter ‘ E ’ on the tail , the Britannia flew its first service to Christmas Island in conjunction with the UK ’ s nuclear test program . Later , it was used for both government work and Caribbean charters in association with Cunard ’ s North American cruise market .
With the impending closure of Blackbushe Airport , Eagle made its final switch to London-Heathrow in March 1960 . From here , Eagle ’ s summer timetable advertised scheduled flights to eight European destinations , plus two points from Birmingham / Manchester . In June , the DC-6s began operating summer passenger charters to Montréal and New York City while , from October , Eagle ’ s new Bristol Britannia undertook the first ‘ Skycoach ’ service to Nassau and Bermuda . Aided by promotional fares , loads on the
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Bermuda-New York run continued to improve with almost 20,000 passengers carried during the year . Endeavoring to extend its influence in the Caribbean , Eagle gained a license to extend its Nassau service to Kingston and Montego Bay .
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On the surface , all appeared to be going well but , behind the scenes , there were ominous signs . The 1960 formation of the Air Transport Licensing Board ( ATLB ) gave hope that routes would be more fairly distributed in the future . In reality ,
54 AIRWAYS MAGAZINE JULY 2024 www . airwaysmag . com