British European Airways

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For other uses of BEA see Bea

British European Airways, or BEA, was formed in 1946 by an Act of Parliament. The airline operated European and North African routes from airports around the United Kingdom. BEA was the largest domestic airline within the United Kingdom at the time, operating flights to major British cities, including London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast and Glasgow.

Components

British Airways
BA Cityflyer
Franchisees
British Mediterranean Airways (Until Late Summer 2007)
Comair
GB Airways
Loganair
Sun Air
Destinations
British Airways destinations
British Airways franchise destinations
Heritage
Imperial Airways
British Airways Ltd
British European Airways (BEA)
British South American Airways
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC)
Other
British Airways ethnic liveries
Timeline of British Airways
Speedbird

The airline was also the first customer for British short- and medium-haul airliners of the 1950s and 1960s, including the Vickers Viscount, Vickers Vanguard, BAC One-Eleven 500 and Hawker-Siddeley Trident.

In 1969 BEA formed a charter subsidiary BEA Airtours to provide inclusive tour holiday charters.

BEA ceased operations in 1974 when it was merged with the British Overseas Airways Corporation to form British Airways.

[edit] Aircraft Operated

[edit] Incidents and accidents

Hawker-Siddeley Trident 1C (G-ARPC), built 1962 and destroyed in a fire at London (Heathrow) Airport in 1975.

On 5 January 1953, Vickers Viking G-AJDL crashed on approach to Belfast-Nutts Corner Airport owing to an error of judgement by the pilot. All 27 on board died.
On 14 March 1957, Flight "Beeline 411" operated by Vickers Viscount G-ALWE crashed on approach to Manchester Airport owing to a flap failure which was due to fatigue. All 20 occupants on board died, as well as two on the ground.
On 23 October 1957, Vickers Viscount G-AOJA crashed after overshooting on approach to Belfast-Nutts Corner Airport, cause not determined. All seven occupants died.
Munich air disaster - on February 6, 1958, the British European Airways Flight "Beeline 609" crashed in a blizzard on its third attempt to take off from an icy runway at the Munich-Riem airport in Germany. On board the plane was the Manchester United football team, along with a number of supporters and journalists. Twenty-three of the 43 passengers on board the aircraft died in the disaster. The charter flight was operated by British European Airways with an Airspeed Ambassador G-ALZU 'Lord Burghley'.
On 22 October 1958, Flight "Beeline 142" operated by Vickers Viscount G-ANHC was hit by an Italian Air Force F-86 Sabre and crashed with the loss of all 31 on board.
On 21 December 1961, De Havilland Comet 4B G-ARJM stalled on take-off from Esenborga Airport, Ankara, Turkey. The aircraft was being operated for Cyprus Airways. The aircraft was destroyed, with the loss of six crew and 20 passengers.
On 27 October 1965, Vickers Vanguard G-APEE on a flight from Edingburgh crashed on to the runway during an approach in bad weather at London Heathrow Airport. All 36 on board died.
On 12 October 1967, Flight "Beeline 284" operated by De Havilland Comet 4 G-ARCO on behalf of Cyprus Airways exploded in mid-air over the Mediterranean and crashed into the sea with the loss of all 66 on board. Explosion was caused by a high exposive device under one of the passenger seats.
On 2 October 1971, British European Airways Flight "Beeline 706", operated by Vickers Vanguard G-APEC, crashed near Aarsele, Belgium following a mid-air explosive decompresion caused by a fatigue failure. All 63 on board died.
On 18 June 1972, British European Airways Flight "Beeline 548", operated by a British European Airways (BEA) Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C G-ARPI, crashed two minutes after takeoff from Heathrow Airport, killing all 118 passengers and crew. The crash occurred close to the town of Staines, Middlesex.

[edit] Trivia

The airline IATA code was BE with the callsign Beeline.

On 10 June 1965 a BEA Trident 1 (G-ARPR) operating Flight "Beeline 343" from Paris to London Heathrow Airport, made the world's first fully-automatic landing of a commercial airliner with fare-paying passengers.