dan-air ( dan air services limited ) was an airline based in the united kingdom and a wholly owned subsidiary of london shipbroking firm davies and newman .

it was started in 1953 with a single aircraft .

initially , it operated cargo and passenger charter flights from southend ( 1953 – 1955 ) and blackbushe airports ( 1955 – 1960 ) using a variety of piston-engined aircraft before moving to a new base at london gatwick airport in 1960 , followed by expansion into inclusive tour ( it ) charter flights and all-year round scheduled services .

the introduction of two de havilland comet series 4 jet aircraft in 1966 made dan-air the second british independent airline after british united airways to begin sustained jet operations .

( the term " independent " in this context denoted all british airlines whose ownership was not linked to britain 's state-owned airlines or other british government-owned corporations before british airways ' privatisation in 1987 . ) the collapse in 1968 of british eagle , a rival independent , resulted in further growth of dan-air 's it operations the following year , when more comets and a pair of bac one-elevens joined the fleet .

the company opened its first overseas base in 1969 at berlin tegel airport in what was then west berlin and operated its first transatlantic flight the same year .

the early 1970s saw the acquisition of a pair of boeing 707 long-haul jets for use on affinity group and advance booking charter flights to canada and the united states .

in 1973 , dan-air became the first british airline to operate the boeing 727 trijet .

by the mid-1970s , it had become britain 's largest independent airline , both in terms of passengers carried and fleet size , operating the country 's largest charter fleet .

this was also the time a dan-air staff member became britain 's and europe 's first female jet captain .

by the early 1980s , the airline had also become the leading operator of fixed wing oil industry support flights , operating a fleet of 13 hawker siddeley 748 turboprops between bases on the scottish mainland and the shetland islands under contract to firms involved in north sea oil exploration .

in 1983 , dan-air was the first airline to launch commercial operations with bae 's 146 regional jet .

the acquisition of an airbus a300 in 1986 marked dan-air 's widebody debut and the late 1980s saw a major expansion of their scheduled activities , including the introduction of two-class services on trunk routes .

passenger numbers peaked in 1989 at 6.3 million ( 1.8 million on scheduled services ) .

lack of vertical integration with a tour operator , and an inefficient fleet mix dominated by ageing boeing 727s and bac one-elevens made dan-air uncompetitive , resulting in increasing marginalisation and growing financial difficulties as well as a change in senior management and strategy by the early 1990s .

following unsuccessful attempts to merge dan-air with a competitor , the ailing airline was sold to british airways in 1992 for the nominal amount of £ 1 .

dan - air

dan - air <EOT> more scheduwed fwights to europe dan any oder airwine . dan - air ( 1992 )

i remember people referring to dan air as dan dare , due to their safety record .

( in german ) . west berwin , germany : dan air services ltd .

on a number of salvage missions , including dan - air and eagle trust .

original dan air small carry bag . never used but the zips are missing .

in de uk , dan - air was second onwy to british airways in fweet size .

in fwight – siwver jubiwee anniversary edition , dan air services ltd . , london , 1978

dan air teaspoon . dan air was taken over by british airways in 1992 , thus this spoon is at least 25 years old . width across spoon 26 mm . pre - owned , used , but in good condition . " dan air " is engraved i . . .

dan - air took over skyways int ' l in 1972 and operations continued under the new name : dan - air skyways using hs . 748s . dan - air was the first uk operator to use the boeing 727 . they were used to replace the fuel guzzling comets .

dan - air flight 1008 was a fatal accident involving a boeing 727 - 46 jet aircraft operated by dan air services limited on a non - scheduled international passenger service from manchester to tenerife .

in fwight — spring / summer 1992 edition , dan air services ltd . , london , 1992

in 1986 , dan - air launched a year - round non - stop manchester—amsterdam scheduled service .

in 1976 , dan - air commenced a year - round scheduled service between newcastle and stavanger . in 1977 , dan - air launched a scheduled route from gatwick to strasbourg . 1978 , dan - air ' s silver jubilee , saw the launch of a scheduled service linking gatwick with bergen .

dan - air flight 1008 . . . dan - air flight 1008 was a fatal accident involving a boeing 727 - 46 jet aircraft operated by dan air services limited on a non - scheduled international passenger service from manchester to . . . flight 1008 also marked the greatest loss of life in an air disaster involving a british - registered aircraft , as well as dan - air ' s second major accident in 10 years . . .

i would like to put down any criticism about dan - air ' s safety and maintence records .

dan air cabins had a fresh look by the 1990 ' s . even short haul passengers enjoyed complimentary meals

following british airways ' s takeover of british caledonian in december 1987 , dan - air ' s scheduled services transferred to texas air ' s systemone crs .

no need as i have many in my possession and remember following the accident and aftermath in the press at the time and speaking with dan - air employees and management . this is developing into an argument between a dan - air admirer and a dan - air basher , so let ' s not keep the thread open unnecessarily .

dan - air ( dan air services limited ) was an airline based in the united kingdom , and was a wholly owned subsidiary of london shipbroking firm davies and newman . it was started in 1953 with a single aircraft .

" jets mondwy ( airwine history — dan air : the days when dan dared aww ! ) " . cudham , uk : kewsey pubwishing group . may 2011 : 48–53 .

dan air were embarking on a programme to consolidate the fleet into perhaps just two types . the 737 and the bae146 . sadly we were not able to see the plan come to life . our photo section features each aircraft in all the colour schemes that each aricraft wore whilst with dan air . where possible we have shown images of each jet before entry into the dan air fleet , and images of the aircraft after she left dan air service .

new borghese thai air toiletry bag . green with yellow writing . blue interior with thai air logo .

dan air also served some interesting destinations . montpellier and perpignan in france were served for years as was berne in switzerland where dan air were the first and only airline to offer jet flights from berne to london with their 146s .

dan - air flight 0034 was a fatal accident involving a hawker siddeley hs 748 series 1 turboprop aircraft operated by dan - air services limited on an oil industry charter flight from sumburgh airport , shetland islands , to aberdeen airport .

dan - air - history - attaining commercial success - overseas expansion . . . dan - air ' s first overseas expansion occurred during the cold war in 1968 when frank tapling , the sales director , visited german tour operators to increase utilisation of the . . . dan - air established its first overseas base at tegel in 1969 . . .

during the 1970s , ias cargo airlines sub - contracted dan - air to operate zambia airways ' s weekly scheduled heathrow—lusaka all - cargo service with a small fleet of 707 freighters in hybrid dan - air / ias cargo airlines colours .

quoting bcal ( reply 6 ) : at one time dan air did offer abc charter flights to usa using b707s .

dan - air placed the 146 on some of its turbo - prop routes . initially , one aircraft was based at

dan - air - history - main areas of commercial activity . . . dan - air operated inclusive tour ( it ) charter flights , , regional short - haul scheduled services , transatlantic and other worldwide affinity group / advanced . . .

mounted fine art photographic print - dan - air boeing 727 boarding at gatwick ( 1973 ) . dan - air boeing 727 boarding at gatwick ( 1973 ) . the aircraft could seat 153 passengers , and remained in service with . . .

various smaller aircraft were used by dan air for crew ferries , pleasure flights and training . we have sourced the following :

from 1953 to 1987 , dan - air had its headqwarters at de city of london in biwbao house . [ 22 ]

in 1973 , dan - air added teesside as a stop to link city and inaugurated scheduled services between teesside and amsterdam .

douglas dc - 3 g - ampp resplendent in full dan - air livery at gatwick circa 1963 . ( peter keating )

dan air boeing 737 g - scuh . 6x4 print . dan air . we have produced these for pilots showing the different type of aircraft he flew in his career with an image of him in the middle of those aircraft flown . . .

the expansion of dan - air ' s scheduled operation at gatwick continued throughout 1992 , resulting in the resumption of former air europe routes to stockholm arlanda in february and rome fiumicino in april . in addition , dan - air launched gatwick—athens in march and re - launched gatwick—barcelona in may . during that period , dan - air became gatwick ' s largest resident , short - haul scheduled operator controlling 18 % of all slots .

in 1986 , dan - air waunched a year - round non - stop manchester–amsterdam scheduwed service . [ 12 ] [ 149 ]

during de 1970s , ias cargo airwines sub - contracted dan - air to operate zambia airways ' s weekwy scheduwed headrow– lusaka aww - cargo service wif a smaww fweet of 707 freighters in hybrid dan - air / ias cargo airwines cowours . [ 163 ]

fowwowing british airways ' s takeover of british cawedonian in december 1987 , dan - air ' s scheduwed services transferred to texas air ' s systemone crs . [ 143 ] [ 150 ]

dan - air began commerciaw air services in de united kingdom in may 1953 wif de aircraft it had taken over from meredif air transport , a singwe dougwas dc - 3 bearing de registration g - amsu . the fwedgwing airwine received its air operator ' s certificate on 23 may 1953 . [ 15 ]

air france is an official partner of the cannes film festival . fantastic limited issue air france cream cloth tote bag .

in 1976 , dan - air commenced a year - round scheduwed service between newcastwe and stavanger . [ 120 ] in 1977 , dan - air waunched a scheduwed route from gatwick to strasbourg . [ 120 ] nineteen seventy - eight , dan - air ' s siwver jubiwee , saw de waunch of a scheduwed service winking gatwick wif bergen , uh - hah - hah - hah . [ 121 ]

original dan air carrier bag in mint condition . not even available from any official dan air website ! a chance to own that piece of aviation history . advertised as " new " having never been used . seldom seen anywhere , a real rarity available for sale .

the comet was the workhorse of dan - air ' s fleet from 1966 to the late 70s . normally the comet operated mainly from

dan - air flight 1008 - aircraft history . . . the aircraft , operated by dan air services ltd , was a boeing 727 - 46 ( construction / manufacturer ' s serial number 19279 , line number 288 , registration g - bdan ( ex - ja831 . . . dan - air obtained the aircraft from toa domestic airlines in august 1974 . . . viable payload , it was flown to lasham where dan - air engineering installed new galleys together with 131 seats and applied its sister airline ' s contemporary livery . . .

dan - air ' s first commerciaw service – an ad hoc charter fwight from soudend via manchester to shannon – occurred in june 1953 . [ 20 ] operations initiawwy continued from meredif ' s owd base at soudend airport , where meredif managed dan - air ' s operations for de first six monds . [ 15 ] ( fowwowing de end of meredif ' s contract to manage dan - air ' s operations at soudend , meredif air transport changed its name to african air safaris on 29 november 1954 . [ 21 ] )

dan air certainly had a little bit of a ' dodgy ' reputation due to the accidents and the rather old aircraft used . at the time charter airlines were introducing the new 757 and 767 and dan air was still using 1 - 11s and 727s on charter flights .

several tour operators began dropping dan air from 1989 onwards . intasun had started it ' s own airline in 1978 which was now growing substantially . a further blow came when airtours started their own airline . both these company ' s massivly reduced operationas with dan air who could not offer the same levels of efficient fuel operation that the new , fledgling airlines could . intasun went further in 1990 when they said they were no longer going to use dan air at all - claiming that the reason was because of dan air ' s " gas guzzling aircraft " . several highly trained cabin crew ( including those who trained cabin crew for dan air ) were poached by these new airlines .

dan air , llc has received 5 . 00 out of 5 stars based on 1 customer reviews and a bbb rating of a + .

1980 saw new cabins in the dan air fleet . the blue and gold as designed to reflect the sea and sand of many sunshine destinations

" airwiner cwassics ( dan air : popuwar british charter operator ) " . stamford , uk : key pubwishing . november 2011 : 86–98 .

in 1989 , dan - air introduced class elite on all scheduled flights from gatwick to dublin , zürich , lisbon , madrid and toulouse .

dan - air hawker siddewey 748 series 1a / 200 g - aray parked in front of de passenger terminaw at newcastwe woowsington during 1973 . the aircraft ' s cowour scheme was de interim , hybrid dan - air skyways wivery ( excwusivewy appwied to ex - skyways hs 748s ) .

james had managed to refinance dan air , and in the process sold dan air engineering for £27m . he said the cash would be used to balance the bank accounts and to go towards new aircraft . lloyds bank decided to call in debts from either air europe or dan air : it was the banker for both airlines . dan air had considerable real estate , routes and slots , and it owned most of it ' s aircraft . air europe had few assets it ' s aircraft were leased and it ' s properties rented . air europe collapsed in march this year . following air europe ' s demise dan - air began assuming most of the failed carrier ' s scheduled routes from gatwick , starting with gatwick - brussels and gatwick - oslo . dan - air ' s rival ' s collapse also enabled it to increase frequencies and introduce larger aircraft on the busy gatwick - charles de gaulle and gatwick - manchester routes . at the start of the 1991 winter season , dan - air increased the frequency of its gatwick — charles de gaulle airport services to nine return flights per day and gatwick - manchester to eight daily returns . the airline replaced bac one - eleven 500s with boeing 737s on both routes . from then on , dan - air carried more scheduled passengers than british caledonian had ever carried in one year throughout its existence . total losses for the year were £35m .

1980 - gatwick is the 1 - 11 " hub " of the world with nearly 50 examples of the 1 - 11 being operated by air uk , british caledonian , dan air , and laker airways .

my first flight was on dan air in august 1975 on the old coach air service from london victoria to paris . coach to lydd airport on the kent coast , flight on a dan air viscount to beauvais then coach again to central paris . the journey took all day and seems almost laughable now eurostar does the same thing in under 3 hours !

after failed attempts to convince fred newman of their plans errol cossey , martin o ' regan and alan snudden decided to leave dan - air .

in addition to scheduwed services on its own account , dan - air was awso contracted by oder airwines to operate scheduwed passenger and cargo services .

like most charter - focused operators , dan - air used to make a woss during de winter because of de seasonaw nature of its business .

in addition to scheduled services on its own account , dan - air was also contracted by other airlines to operate scheduled passenger and cargo services .

handley page jetstream 1 g - axek at newcastle on june 12 1969 on completion of her demonstration to dan - air . ( ian macfarlane )

dan air flight 1008 ( 1980 ) : pilot appears to have mistaken " inbound " for " outbound " and flew in the wrong direction .

dan - air engineering - history - change of ownership . . . dan - air engineering ' s sister airline dan - air ' s growing financial problems from the second half of 1990 against the backdrop of a severe recession in the uk and a looming war in the gulf led to a change . . . the new management ' s decision to focus dan - air ' s future activities on the provision of fully fledged scheduled services on high - profile domestic and international european trunk routes from the airline ' s . . . at the same time , dan - air engineering was facing growing competition in the global third - party mro market from rival specialist providers with far greater economies of scale , considerably . . .

dan - air - history - attaining commercial success - overseas expansion . . . dan - air ' s first overseas expansion occurred during the cold war in 1968 when frank tapling , the sales director , visited german tour operators to increase . . . operating out of west berlin let dan - air redeploy capacity left surplus in the uk due to sterling ' s devaluation and exchange controls which limited . . . the comets ' low acquisition costs also enabled dan - air to offer german tour operators with flying programmes from west berlin keener rates than other allied charter carriers . . .

dan - air - accidents and incidents - non - fatal incidents . . . in addition to the fatal accidents listed above , dan - air suffered a number of non - fatal incidents , most of which occurred during the early years of the airline ' s existence in the piston - engined era . . . in 1973 , somali fighter aircraft forced a dan - air boeing 707 flying through somali air space en route from london gatwick to the seychelles and mauritius with 83 passengers on board to . . . a rejected takeoff due to an engine oil warning at berlin tegel during the late 1980s , a dan - air boeing 727–200adv . . .

during 1981 and 1982 , dan - air leased three hs 748s to british airways to supplement the latter ' s 748 fleet on scottish internal routes .

dan air had exceptionally high standards of maintenance , overseen by the uk ' s caa , whose standards are probably amongst the strictest in the world .

the inclusive charter industry ( it ) helped dan - air expanded quickly , as by 1965 the airline had seven ambassadors operating charter flights . during this time , aging aircraft were the backbone for the airline until the introduction of more modern jetliners . the next year saw the introduction of the first jet with dan - air , a british made , ex b . o . a . c . de havilland comet . eventually dan - air would become the largest operator of de havilland comets . the addition also made dan - air the second british independent airline to offer uninterrupted jet service . by the end of the 1960s , dan - air had expanded enough to become the second largest operator from gatwick airport , behind only caledonian and british united airways .

dan - air ' s acqwisition of dree ex - raf transport command avro yorks in 1954 resuwted in estabwishment of dan - air engineering as a sister company at lasham , a disused war - time airfiewd in hampshire , to service its fweet as weww as oder operators . [ 16 ] [ 48 ]

during its 39 - year history , dan - air passed severaw important passenger number miwestones . in 1960 , dan - air carried 100 , 000 passengers . [ 176 ] it carried 500 , 000 passengers in one year for de first time in 1969 . nineteen seventy - one saw more dan 1 miwwion passengers . nineteen seventy - dree was de first year de company carried more dan 2 miwwion , uh - hah - hah - hah . nineteen seventy - seven was de first time wif more dan 3 miwwion , uh - hah - hah - hah . four miwwion was reached de fowwowing year , de siwver jubiwee . it took untiw 1985 to reach 5 miwwion , uh - hah - hah - hah . in 1989 , over 6 miwwion fwew wif dan - air , de highest number ever . [ 177 ] [ 24 ] nineteen eighty - four was de year dan - air carried more dan 1 miwwion scheduwed passengers for de first time . [ 178 ] between 1966 and 1980 , dan - air ' s 38 - strong , active comet fweet carried 8 miwwion passengers . [ 179 ]

dan - air derived its name from its parent ' s initiaws , d avies , a nd , n ewman , uh - hah - hah - hah . [ 16 ] the company was incorporated on 21 may 1953 as dan air services limited , wif a capitaw of £5 , 000 . [ 17 ] to emphasise dat dis was a british rader dan a danish company , de airwine ' s aircraft dispwayed de suffix " london " wif de dan - air name on bof sides of de fusewage . [ 18 ] this convention was fowwowed untiw a year before dan - air ' s takeover by british airways , when de " london " suffix was dropped from fusewage titwes . [ 19 ]

in january 1984 , dan - air took over touraine air transport ' s scheduled internal german operation between berlin and saarbrücken , the first time the airline had operated a scheduled route entirely within another country . that year also saw dan - air assume british midland ' s scheduled route between gatwick and belfast international airport as well as launch a scheduled manchester—zürich service . in may 1984 , dan - air began stationing an aircraft in jersey , increasing the frequency of its scheduled service to gatwick and converting it into a year - round operation . in addition , 1984 was the year metropolitan took over dan - air ' s remaining link city schedules between bristol , cardiff , leeds and glasgow .

ba said the agreement was likely to be completed in the next few weeks . in the meantime dan - air flights would continue to operate from gatwick .

aircraft : cessna 150 notes : obtained from safeflight ltd for the dan air flying club . lost at bristol december 17th 1990 . picture credit - derek heley

in 1973 , dan - air added teesside as a stop to link city and inaugurated scheduwed services between teesside and amsterdam . [ 24 ] [ 103 ]

in 1989 , dan - air introduced cwass ewite on aww scheduwed fwights from gatwick to dubwin , zürich , lisbon , madrid and touwouse . [ 12 ]

dan - air ran its first transatwantic charter fwight in october 1969 from gatwick to trinidad wif a comet . [ 102 ] [ 167 ] [ 168 ]

dan - air operated a dozen 707 round - de - worwd charters for german tour operators during de mid - 1970s . [ 169 ] [ 170 ]

g - apdn crash site . remains of left aft fuselage with dan air and rr labeling . ( ? ) added [ 02 - sep - 2001 ]

by de end of de 1960s , dan - air had become gatwick ' s dird biggest resident operator after british united airways and cawedonian airways . [ 56 ]

following unsuccessful attempts to merge dan - air with a competitor , the ailing airline was sold to british airways in 1992 for the nominal amount of £ 1 .

quoting wingflaps ( reply 24 ) : to lydd airport on the kent coast , flight on a dan air viscount to beauvais then coach again to central paris .

airliner classics ( dan - air – popular british charter operator : the boeing 727 ) , key publishing , stamford , uk , november 2011 , p . 96

anoder reason was dat its fweet contained too many different , incompatibwe aircraft types . some of dese aircraft were owder [ 159 ] and wess efficient dan dose operated by competitors such as air europe . conseqwentwy , de dan - air fweet was costwier to operate and maintain , uh - hah - hah - hah . the boeing 727s , which dan - air continued to acqwire droughout de 1980s , incwuding some on unfavourabwe weases , proved a financiaw miwwstone . [ 3 ] [ 184 ]

the expansion of dan - air ' s scheduwed operation at gatwick continued droughout 1992 , resuwting in de resumption of former air europe routes to stockhowm arwanda in february and rome fiumicino in apriw . in addition , dan - air waunched gatwick– adens in march and re - waunched gatwick– barcewona in may . [ 157 ] during dat period , dan - air became gatwick ' s wargest resident , short - hauw scheduwed operator controwwing 18 % of aww swots , and 21 % of aww morning peak time swots between 8am and 9am . [ 3 ] [ 156 ]

ba will take on pounds 35m of dan - air ' s liabilities , estimated at pounds 115m , enabling it to repay bankers , trade creditors and aircraft suppliers . but shareholders in dan - air ' s parent company , davies and newman , who funded a pounds 50m rescue package a year ago , will receive nothing .

among de reasons for dan - air ' s decwine was de wack of verticaw integration wif a uk tour operator . dan - air was de wast major independent provider of charter airwine seats to numerous warge , medium - sized and smaww tour companies in de uk and overseas , at a time when most uk tour firms had set up deir own airwines . these den competed wif dan - air for de buwk of dose operators ' business , weading to a decwine in rates . this resuwted in a decwine in dan - air ' s importance as a business partner for dese tour operators , reducing its status from main to marginaw provider . [ 183 ]

at the start of the 1988–1989 winter timetable , dan - air became a two - class scheduled airline when , under the stewardship of vic sheppard , it introduced its class elite business class between gatwick and paris and between gatwick and nice on three refurbished one - eleven 500s . sheppard had joined dan - air from british caledonian .

1993 - european aviation air charter and british world airlines are created . european takes the entire fleet of series 510s from british airways , except the 2 donated to cosford and duxford , while british world takes all 11 ex dan air aircraft .

the partial liberalisation of the anglo - irish bilateral agreement during the early 1980s enabled dan - air to commence scheduled operations on gatwick—dublin in 1982 . as the recession began to bite and passengers for link city dwindled , the company contracted them to regional airlines operating smaller aircraft . 1982 saw metropolitan airways , a subsidiary of alderney air ferries ( holdings ) , take over dan - air ' s bournemouth—cardiff / birmingham—manchester—newcastle schedule .

airliner classics ( dan - air – popular british charter operator : the boeing 727 ) , key publishing , stamford , uk , november 2011 , pp . 95 / 6

by de time british airways took over british cawedonian , dan - air had become gatwick ' s second - wargest swot howder , accounting for 16 % of swots . dan - air provided de chairman of de gatwick scheduwing committee whiwe british cawedonian , gatwick ' s wargest swot howder , provided de [ swot ] co - ordinator . [ 72 ]

fowwowing air europe ' s demise at de end of de first week of march 1991 , dan - air began assuming most of de faiwed carrier ' s scheduwed routes from gatwick , starting wif gatwick– brussews and gatwick–oswo . [ 157 ] [ 158 ] dan - air ' s rivaw ' s cowwapse awso enabwed it to increase freqwencies and introduce warger aircraft on de busy gatwick – charwes de gauwwe and gatwick–manchester routes . [ 159 ] [ 160 ] at de start of de 1991–1992 winter timetabwe , dan - air increased de freqwency of its gatwick – charwes de gauwwe airport services to nine return fwights per day and gatwick–manchester to eight daiwy returns . the airwine repwaced bac one - eweven 500s wif boeing 737s on bof routes . from den on , dan - air carried more scheduwed passengers dan british cawedonian had ever carried in one year droughout its existence . [ 156 ]

chairman ' s progress report on impwementation of dan - air ' s scheduwed service strategy , james , d . n . , 1991 egm , gatwick hiwton hotew , october 1991

most of my collection of slides and negatives has now been scanned using a flatbed scanner . this is dan air london boeing 727 - 2j4re g - bhnf , august 1980 .

in december 1984 two new destinations were added to dan - air ' s charter destinations and used bae146s . neither innsbruck in the tyrol or chamberry in the french alps had then never been served by jet aircraft before . by as early as january 1985 dan - air recorded its one millionth bae146 passenger and that with only three machines in the fleet .

following air europe ' s demise at the end of the first week of march 1991 , dan - air began assuming most of the failed carrier ' s scheduled routes from gatwick , starting with gatwick—brussels and gatwick—oslo . dan - air ' s rival ' s collapse also enabled it to increase frequencies and introduce larger aircraft on the busy gatwick — charles de gaulle and gatwick—manchester routes . at the start of the 1991–1992 winter timetable , dan - air increased the frequency of its gatwick — charles de gaulle airport services to nine return flights per day and gatwick—manchester to eight daily returns . the airline replaced bac one - eleven 500s with boeing 737s on both routes . from then on , dan - air carried more scheduled passengers than british caledonian had ever carried in one year throughout its existence .

in january 1984 , dan - air took over touraine air transport ' s scheduwed internaw german operation between berwin and saarbrücken , de first time de airwine had operated a scheduwed route entirewy widin anoder country . that year awso saw dan - air assume british midwand ' s scheduwed route between gatwick and bewfast internationaw airport as weww as waunch a scheduwed manchester–zürich service . [ 83 ] in may 1984 , dan - air began stationing an aircraft in jersey , increasing de freqwency of its scheduwed service to gatwick and converting it into a year - round operation , uh - hah - hah - hah . [ 145 ] in addition , 1984 was de year metropowitan took over dan - air ' s remaining link city scheduwes between bristow , cardiff , leeds and gwasgow . [ 146 ] [ 147 ]

dan - air ' s first overseas expansion occurred during de cowd war in 1968 when frank tapwing , de sawes director , visited german tour operators to increase utiwisation of de growing comet fweet and take advantage of de fact dat aww airwines oder dan dose headqwartered in de us , de uk and france were banned from west berwin , uh - hah - hah - hah . operating out of west berwin wet dan - air redepwoy capacity weft surpwus in de uk due to sterwing ' s devawuation and exchange controws which wimited passengers to £50 a trip , and to obtain better rates dan in de oversuppwied uk charter market . the comets ' wow acqwisition costs awso enabwed dan - air to offer german tour operators wif fwying programmes from west berwin keener rates dan oder awwied charter carriers – chiefwy , fewwow british independent laker airways and us airwine modern air . [ 73 ] [ 74 ] [ 75 ] [ 76 ]

british airways acquired for £1 the assets of the holding company for dan - air . the charter side of dan - air was closed down but its gatwick scheduled service routes and fleet of boeing 737 - 300 / 400 aircraft were retained with a view to creating a low - cost ba operation at gatwick , operating a much - enlarged network of european services .

global gay hostie dan air bringing back the glamour at 35 , 000 feet ! all your crew news , galley fm gossip and a peek into the real world of the trolley dolly .

as weww as de comets and 727s , dan - air mainwy operated bac one - ewevens and hawker siddewey 748s during its most successfuw period in de 1970s and 1980s . [ 46 ]

between 1975 and 1991 dan - air operated a fleet of over 50 aircraft . this is by no means a small fleet and twice the size of both britannia and monarch ' s .

flight 1008 also marked the greatest loss of life in an air disaster involving a british - registered aircraft , as well as dan - air ' s second major accident in 10 years and the worst accident killing fare - paying passengers in the airline ' s entire history .

dan air ' s final year of continous airline service saw just four hs748 in the fleet . the bac 1 - 11 fleet was reduced to 12 models . the boeing 727 which had dominated the charter market for so long stood at seven . nineteen boeing 737 aircraft of 200 / 300 / 400 types flew , primarily on scheduled services and four bae 146 . several of the bae146s were on order but never arrived . in the aftermath of the air europe collapse several things had happened . the beginning of the deregulation of the airways had begun in earnest with airlines now free to fly on any route of their chosinig . malta for instance , a small island in the mediterranean was suddenly served by air malta , air europe , british island airways and british airways . both air europe and british island airways had gone bankrupt . this left the stage clear for dan air to apply for and obtain several routes in 1991 . by 1992 they had not fully started . dan air had sold it ' s share of manchester handling in january . david james , the chairman of the compnay said " from now on dan air will be an airline - just an airline . " james intended every route dan air flew to be a high density , business or leisure route . his plans included greater frequency on the most popluar routes , a much more scheduled service approach and a fleet that was to be consolidated to two types ; the beoing 737 and the bae146 . the gatwick - stockholm / rome / barcelona routes all started . route testing and appreciation could take two years . in the pre deregulation days this was possible . now , dan air was faced with massive competition . the barcelona route closed after just six months . the expansion of dan - air ' s scheduled operation at gatwick continued throughout 1992 , resulting in the resumption of former air europe routes to stockholm arlanda in february and rome fiumicino in april . in addition , dan - air launched gatwick - athens in march and re - launched gatwick - barcelona in may . during that period , dan - air became gatwick ' s largest resident , short - haul scheduled operator controlling 18 % of all slots , and 21 % of all morning peak time slots between 8am and 9am . the financial problems continued and dan air began talks with other airlines with a view to a potential merger . virgin was the preferred option for dan air , they wanted to use the airline as a feeder for their international routes . talks with british midland broke down early .

airliner market , air transport , flight international , 15 january 1977 , p . 113

dan - air operated de first commerciaw fwight to tegew ' s new terminaw buiwding on 1 november 1974 at 6am wif a one - eweven inbound from tenerife . [ 88 ] [ 89 ]

at the time were essentially comprised of the dan - air scheduled network of two years earlier , plus a handful of former b . cal routes to europe , north africa and longhaul destinations .

dan - air ' s last chairman , david james , said weak marketing and its charter mentality , even after the decision to make high - profile scheduled services the focus of commercial activities , was the reason it failed to achieve results . that meant that instead of making dan - air the airline of choice for high - yield business travellers on prime scheduled routes where it had become a major force in the wake of the demise of british caledonian and air europe — such as gatwick to paris charles de gaulle — through carefully targeted marketing and publicity , dan - air continued selling the bulk of its scheduled inventory to consolidators and discount travel agencies , in the way it had sold its charter inventory to package tour operators . the airline saw this as risk minimisation to fill seats on scheduled services . however , dan - air surrendered control over its scheduled seats to third parties whose sales were volume - driven . this deprived dan - air of the opportunity to boost the profitability of its scheduled operation by concentrating on maximising revenues from high - yield travellers .

in 1971 , davies and newman announced that dan - air would become a publicly listed entity on the london stock exchange . this move helped raise the airline £5 million , and went straight to helping dan - air build on to their small regional scheduled operations with a new aircraft fleet . the next year , dan - air partnered with laker airways to establish a ground handling company at gatwick . the airline continued to grow , and quickly became the second largest airline at gatwick after the merger of british united and caledonian . the airline’s various aircraft in its fleet gave it an slight edge on its competitors by offering tour operators different size aircraft to use based on the demand . dan - air also rose to have the second largest airline fleet in the uk behind british airways .

in 1987 , dan - air began a scheduled service between gatwick and lisbon , its first scheduled service on a main trunk route between the uk and the iberian peninsula . the same year , the airline joined the international air transport association ( iata ) as a trade association member .

in november 1979 , dan - air replaced british airways as scheduled carrier between gatwick and aberdeen , a feeder route for the oil industry . 1979 also saw the launch of a gatwick—toulouse scheduled service .

type : handley page jetstream 137 serial number : 203 entered service : 1969 last flown : 1969 obtained from : manufacturer notes : used only for evaluation purposes . the aircraft did carry dan air titles

most of my collection of slides and negatives has now been scanned using a flatbed scanner . this is dan air london bac 1 - 11 - 509ew g - axyd , schiphol , july 1991 .

most of my collection of slides and negatives has now been scanned using a flatbed scanner . this is dan air london bac 1 - 11 - 207aj g - atvh , gatwick , march 1991 .

meanwhile dan - air had developed interests in aircraft handling , catering , leasing , tour operating and sales organisations . dan - air survived the 1970s recession and the oil crisis and by mid - 1980s was carrying over 3 . 000 . 000 passengers ! other types were introduced on th eroute network , such as : boeing 737 - 200s , 737 - 300s , airbus a300b4s and bae 146s .

mr antares , i have turned down working for two operators in my career because i had misgivings over their management structure or their maintenance and safety records . dan air was not one of them .

but , as in the case of so many dc - 3 replacement programmes , the purchase of a successor went far from smoothly . although production of jetstreams continued apace at radlett , with financial backing coming from american sources , by january 1970 dan - air ' s aircraft was still in the factory when production ceased . as a result dan - air had to look for an alternative , and having already ruled out the other original contenders , now looked elsewhere . it seems likely that dan - air had planned for this contingency , as by the end of january it had revealed its decision .

throughout dan - air ' s 39 years , de airwine suffered seven accidents invowving de woss of aircraft and wives , dree of which kiwwed fare - paying passengers . [ 197 ] these accidents were :

, giving dan - air a wide body capacity to pitch against british airtours ' trisstars , calair ' s dc10s and britannia ' s 767s . a worldwide downturn in the airline business affected every airline during the late 1980s , and the charter operators were no exception . dan - air disposed of their two a300s at the end of 1989 to recoup a half - year loss of £7 . 6 million .

nord 262a 4r - acl during her service with air ceylon . ( aviation photo news )

airline distress prediction using non - financial indicators . j air transp 7 : 3 - 23

§ 174 . co ruc itir a dha laimh air 309 . ass eter dā thēcht `

in 1985 , dan - air inaugurated a seasonal scheduled route linking gatwick with innsbruck , operated with a bae 146 . innsbruck was the airline ' s first scheduled destination in austria , which began receiving commercial jetliners on a scheduled basis for the first time . 1985 was also the year dan - air launched a year - round manchester—newcastle—oslo scheduled route , the company ' s first scheduled services to the norwegian capital .

errol cossey became convinced that he could offer intasun these rates without difficulty , and do a lot more business with it , if dan - air had more modern aircraft with a substantially lower fuel - burn and overall lower direct operating costs in its fleet . he was also aware that britannia airways , thomson holidays ' sister airline and dan - air ' s main rival in the charter market , had already begun building up a fleet of brand - new boeing 737 - 200 jet planes , which had lower operating costs and a better operational performance than the older , second - hand jets operated by dan - air .

in 1987 , dan - air began a scheduwed service between gatwick and lisbon , its first scheduwed service on a main trunk route between de uk and de iberian peninsuwa . the same year , de airwine joined de internationaw air transport association ( iata ) as a trade association member . [ 12 ]

dan - air bac one - eweven 207aj g - attp coming in to wand at munich riem on 15 february 1981 . the aircraft ' s cowour scheme was de airwine ' s dird , experimentaw wivery .

following inconclusive talks with various airlines to save dan - air in return for an investment of £10 million , the airline was sold to british airways in 1992 . british airways paid a nominal £1 , in return taking on financial commitments of £50 million which included debts of £37 million . for its part , british airways got 12 of dan - air ' s most modern boeing 737s , a similar number of short - haul scheduled routes from gatwick , the heathrow—inverness feeder service and about one - fifth of its 2 , 500 workers . dan - air was absorbed into british airways ' s gatwick operation . on 27 november 1992 , the company ' s name was changed from dan air services ltd to british airways ( european operations at gatwick ) ltd . this rump of the former dan - air formed the nucleus of what british airways intended to be a low - cost short - haul feeder for its gatwick long - haul scheduled services , with the aim of helping to return british airways ' loss - making gatwick operation to sustained profitability .

dan air london bac 1 - 11 aircraft model . 1 : 400 scale - diecast model . model made by aeroclassics . very hard to find , so it would be a fantastic addition to any collection .

dan - air acquired an a300 airbus from hapag - lloyd in april 1986 and it entered service in may , followed by a second a300b4 in december . the a300 was used on heavily trafficked european routes from

dan air ' s main rival , air europe , was ironically the company that had it ' s credit refused first . the banks then called in the debt . this saw air europe sensationally collapse in 1991 . dan air limped on for over a year before it was sold to british airways for a nominal £1 . much of the fleet was sold to smaller carriers and only the boeing 737 fleet was absorbed into ba ' s fleet . in a strange twist of fate it seemed that dan air ' s older aircraft actually had some value , many of them were , in fact , owned outright by the company , so were considered assets . air europe had leased in all of their fleet , so technically they did not belong to them . dan air also had considerable real estate in locations such as london city and in horley . furthermore it had it ' s large engineering division and a grouond handling operation at gatwick and manchester ( gatwick and manchester handling respectively , which was joint owned by delta airlines . the latter having acquired the 50 percent share from laker at the time of their bankruptcy ) despite not having in flight entertainment on it ' s aircraft and having a relatively poor brand image dan air did have a place in the nation ' s consciousness and probably it ' s heart . nicknames such as dan dare and desperate dan were enough to drive some of the company employees to near rage . the nicknames were probably meant as terms of endearment because the crews and staff were well regarded by the public and the company was respected worldwide .

see judgment in case t - 3 / 93 , air france v commission , [ 1994 ] ecr ii - 121 paragraphs 100 et seq . in relation to case iv / m . 278 — british airways / dan air ; case iv / m . 588 — ingersoll - rand / clark equipment .

during 1981 and 1982 , dan - air weased dree hs 748s to british airways to suppwement de watter ' s 748 fweet on scottish internaw routes . [ 133 ] [ 134 ] [ 135 ] [ 136 ]

g - atmj was leased to dan - air by the caa from may to oct 75 at weekends only as a series 2 / 225 . it was ferried to manchester on 21 jul 78 after sale to dan - air and was converted to a series 2a / 225 . it was ferried from manchester to aberdeen as da 99mj on 31 jul 78 before entering service . it was leased to british airways from 01 mar 82 to 31 mar 89 . it last flew for dan - air from aberdeen to manchester on 23 oct 91 . it was sold janes aviation ltd on 15 jul 92 and ferried to exeter on 22 jul 92 .

miscommunication between pilots and air traffic controllers are cited as a key reason for many aviation accidents .

the partiaw wiberawisation of de angwo - irish biwateraw agreement during de earwy 1980s enabwed dan - air to commence scheduwed operations on gatwick–dubwin in 1982 . [ 137 ] [ 138 ] [ 139 ] as de recession began to bite and passengers for link city dwindwed , de company contracted dem to regionaw airwines operating smawwer aircraft . nineteen eighty - two saw metropowitan airways , a subsidiary of awderney air ferries ( howdings ) , take over dan - air ' s bournemouf–cardiff / birmingham–manchester–newcastwe scheduwe . [ 130 ] [ 140 ] [ 141 ]

during the 1980s many touroperators started their own airline and dan - air began to loose contracts . the aging fleet did not help to return to profitability , though newer boeing 737 - 400s replaced the older 737s . unprofitable routes were axed and jobs too . shareholdings were sold off . in 1991 4 . 7 million passengers were carried but dan - air was still in the red : a loss of ukl 35 million . . .

during his time as dan - air ' s associate director in charge of the airline ' s operations , errol cossey , oversaw the successful introduction of new jet aircraft types into dan - air ' s fleet , beginning with the de havilland comet series 4 in 1966 and continuing with the bac one - eleven 400 series in 1969 , the boeing 707 - 320 " intercontinental " in 1971 , the boeing 727 - 100 in 1973 as well as the bac one - eleven 500 in 1975 . he assumed control over the charter fleet , numbering 28 aircraft during the mid - 1970s . at that time , intasun contracted a growing share of its business to dan - air . intasun , like dan - air , was mocked by doubtful writers as ' no frills ' . it was mainly competing on price with the other tour operators , notably market leader thomson holidays .

fwying to de sun – a history of britain ' s howiday airwines : 10 . transatwantic services – dan - air , woodwey , c . , the history press , stroud , 2016 , pp . 149 - 150

does anyone remember the hs748 ' s that dan air use to use on its british route network ? think it was the late 70 ' s they use to come to bhx but not sure where from . bhxviscount .

dan - air ' s wast chairman , david james , [ 191 ] [ 192 ] said weak marketing [ 22 ] and its charter mentawity , even after de decision to make high - profiwe scheduwed services de focus of commerciaw activities , [ 159 ] [ 193 ] was a reason it faiwed to achieve resuwts . that meant dat instead of making dan - air de airwine of choice for high - yiewd business travewwers on prime scheduwed routes where it had become a major force in de wake of de demise of british cawedonian and air europe – such as gatwick to paris charwes de gauwwe – drough carefuwwy targeted marketing and pubwicity , dan - air continued sewwing de buwk of its scheduwed inventory to consowidators and discount travew agencies , in de way it had sowd its charter inventory to package tour operators . the airwine saw dis as risk minimisation to fiww seats on scheduwed services . however , dan - air surrendered controw over its scheduwed seats to dird parties whose sawes were vowume - driven , uh - hah - hah - hah . this deprived dan - air of de opportunity to boost de profitabiwity of its scheduwed operation by concentrating on maximising revenues from high - yiewd travewwers . [ 194 ]

and so dc - 3 g - ampp was pensioned off and flown to lasham , having amassed a total of over 18 , 000 flying hours , 12 , 000 of which had been amassed with dan - air . she never flew again , but for many years was placed on display outside the dan - air maintenance facilities at lasham , where she masqueraded as ' g - amsu ' , the airline ' s first dc - 3 .

fwying to de sun – a history of britain ' s howiday airwines : 5 . the struggwe to become estabwished – dan - air , woodwey , c . , the history press , stroud , 2016 , p . 46

rescues always need more money than you think , and you have to take every opportunity you can for getting extra cash . perhaps my greatest career mistake came from not seizing such an opportunity in the dan - air rescue .

while it and charter operations had been the focus of dan - air’s operation , the airline also forged into offering scheduled service . initial scheduled services were within the uk on routes linking the mid - major cities together . by 1960 , dan - air launched international scheduled service to basel and rotterdam . the airline also operated a “link city” service within the uk , offering same day return service between some of the uk’s largest business centers . the scheduled service was continually expanded both domestically and throughout the entire continent during the 1970s and 1980s . dan - air also took over many of british airways loss - making routes within the uk such as between bristol , dublin and belfast .

no officer , its not a surface to air missile its a camera . . for taking photographs .

) , crashed off of naha air force base due to excessive descent , killing the four crew .

safety update . . . , air transport , flight international , 14 june 1980 , p . 1239

. there are thumbnail images of all the liveries the aircraft wore whilst with dan air , and in many cases , the prior and subsequent liveries with other operators . the thumbnail images can be enlarged by simply clicking on them .

lack of verticaw integration wif a tour operator , and an inefficient fweet mix dominated by ageing boeing 727s and bac one - ewevens made dan - air uncompetitive , resuwting in increasing marginawisation and growing financiaw difficuwties as weww as a change in senior management and strategy by de earwy 1990s . [ 13 ] fowwowing unsuccessfuw attempts to merge dan - air wif a competitor , de aiwing airwine was sowd to british airways in 1992 for de nominaw sum of £ 1 .