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revoked Eagle ’ s Caribbean licenses . Now the banks lost confidence and withdrew their support . With outstanding debts of £ 1.5 million ( US $ 3.6 million ) and no other prospect of salvation , British Eagle had little option left but to cease trading .
At midnight on November 6 , 1968 , one of Britain ’ s mostrespected and best-loved airlines closed its doors . On the following day , an Eagle Britannia , carrying a cargo of oranges from Tel Aviv , touched down at LHR for the very last time .
For most of his airline career , Bamberg had battled ceaselessly against the might of the lossmaking state airline corporations . Contrarily , in 1968 he was honored as Commander of the
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British Empire ( CBE ) for services to aviation . In a volte-face , the 1969 parliamentary Edwards Committee recommended that a ‘ Second Force ’ airline should compete with BEA and BOAC on selected long and short-haul routes . This came to pass in the early 1970s with the creation of British Caledonian Airways ( BR ). Sadly , it was too late for Eagle , which could well have been a prime contender .
Harold Bamberg retained ownership of Eagle Flying Services , a charter , maintenance , and Beech distributorship , and made several attempts to start third-level and cargo services , but none of these came to fruition . After a lifetime of achievement , he passed away in September 2022 at the age of 98 .
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In 20 years , Eagle had never suffered an industrial dispute , and it is a tribute to the spirit of the airline and the strong bond among its staff that , although the numbers are dwindling , reunions are still held periodically .
Note : dollar conversions are at the rate prevailing at the time .
The author would like to thank Dave Welch , Anne Wilson ( former Eagle crew members ), Tony Merton Jones ( Editor , Propliner magazine ) and Eric Tarrant ( Eagle archivist ) for their valuable contributions to this article .
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32 G-AVZZ was a Boeing 707 purchased from QANTAS in 1968 . Initially used on US and Caribbean charters , the 707 also served on IT ( Inclusive Tour ) flights within Europe . // PAUL ZOGG COLLECTION ( ZOGGAVIA )
33 British Eagle ’ s first jets - British Aircraft Corp . BAC 1-11s - were introduced in April 1966 . G-ATTP Swift was photographed at Zurich . // PAUL ZOGG COLLECTION ( ZOGGAVIA )
34 British Eagle ’ s April 1 , 1968 system timetable . The airline would cease operations in November of that year . // DAVID H . STRINGER COLLECTION
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