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European routes , including the new points of Tunis and Djerba , while in October , an Eagle 1-11 became the first commercial jet to arrive at Innsbruck .
The Britannias were still earning their keep with a mix of scheduled , charter , and contract work . One of their more unusual flights was undertaken in March 1966 , when a Britannia left LHR on a month-long , 26,000-mile ( 42,000km ), round-the-world ‘ aerial safari ’ charter .
In May 1966 , Eagle sold two Britannias to startup charter company Air Spain ( JA ). Subsequently , Eagle agreed to act as UK sales agent , even though both companies were effectively in competition for the Spanish IT market . In 1966 , for the first time , Eagle carried
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over one million passengers , for an operating profit of £ 585,000 ( US $ 1.6 million ).
The following year opened inauspiciously : yet again , Eagle ’ s renewed application for scheduled long-haul routes was rejected . Under the rules , it needed to first prove that suitable aircraft were available to operate such service . In order to comply , Eagle had ordered two new Boeing 707s ; so , the airline now had two large jet aircraft but no immediate work for them . Boeing took one aircraft back and Eagle leased the other to Middle East Airlines ( MEA ). Better news came with the granting of two-year IT licenses for Bermuda / Nassau and Nairobi / Mombasa in East Africa . But , despite a very strong case , rights for transatlantic scheduled services still eluded the airline .
Looking to reduce the Britannia fleet long-term , Eagle again invested in two Boeing 707s bought from QANTAS early
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in 1968 for initial deployment on Caribbean / US charters and , later , European IT flights . This was timely , as the US authorities had just agreed on an extension of Eagle ’ s permit for increased frequencies and also for departures from other European cities . At around £ 60 ( US $ 165 ) a head , bookings soon rolled in : enough to fill 200 round trips with a potential value of £ 2 million ( US $ 5.5 million ).
While all seemed to be going in Eagle ’ s favor , trouble loomed in the background . In a climate of economic downturn , the British Government devalued the pound in November 1967 , simultaneously imposing a £ 50 ( US $ 138 ) -per-head foreign travel currency limit . This had the effect of depressing the following summer ’ s IT program , costing the airline over £ 1 million ( US $ 2.75 million ) in lost bookings . Adding to the woes , the Far East military contract came to an end , as the RAF ’ s Air Support Command now had sufficient capacity of its
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23 Viscount VR-BBH wears a basic Eagle livery at Heathrow in 1962 . A registration beginning with VR-B indicates that this aircraft was registered to Eagle Airways ( Bermuda ), Ltd . // PAUL ZOGG COLLECTION ( ZOGGAVIA )
24 25 After Cunard severed ties with Eagle Airways , the company rebranded itself as British Eagle International Airlines , as seen on the company ’ s April 1 , 1964 timetable and on Britannia New Frontier , photographed at Heathrow in 1962 . // TIMETABLE : DAVID H . STRINGER COLLECTION , PHOTO : PAUL ZOGG COLLECTION ( ZOGGAVIA )
26 27 British Eagle ’ s Summer 1966 system timetable and Viscount G-AOCC , photographed at Manchester in 1967 . // TIMETABLE : MAURICE WICKSTEAD COLLECTION , PHOTO : PAUL ZOGG COLLECTION ( ZOGGAVIA )
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