Brymon Airways

Brymon Airways
DHC-7 Dash 7
IATA ICAO Call sign
BC BRY BRYMON
Founded26 January 1970 (1970-01-26)
Ceased operations
2007
Operating bases
Fleet size48 (Total)
HeadquartersPlymouth City Airport
Plymouth, Devon, England
Key people

Brymon Airways was a British airline with its head office in the Brymon House on the property of Plymouth City Airport in Plymouth, Devon.[1] It was co-founded in 1972 by journalist Bill Bryce and racing driver Chris Amon.

History

The company was incorporated in March 1969 as Brymon Aviation Ltd. but in 1973 the most acceptable brand Brymon Airways started being used. The name derived from its creator's surnames: Bryce and Amon. At the beginning, only on-demand activities were carried out, but on 15 June 1972 the first scheduled flights began. Brymon quickly built up a network of routes from its bases at Plymouth and Newquay, to various UK airports (including the Channel Islands, the Isles of Scilly, London Heathrow and Gatwick) and some foreign destinations such as France.

In 1981, it was the first UK airline to operate the de Havilland Canada Dash 7. Four aircraft were acquired, two used from Aberdeen airport on contract for a consortium led by Chevron Oil and two flown from Plymouth, including the first ever scheduled service to Heathrow. In June 1982, a Brymon Dash 7 flew into Heron Quays in Millwall, paving the way for London City Airport. A further test flight took place the following year as part of a public enquiry. Brymon was the lead airline in the quest for the airport and made the first ever landing in 1987. Together with its partner Air France, Brymon introduced the airport's first services in November 1987.

Chris Amon was never involved in the day-to-day running of the airline and Bill Bryce resigned towards the end of 1984. In 1991 Brymon expanded even further, establishing a hub at Bristol, with services to Paris, Cork, The Channel Islands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Plymouth, and a service to Newcastle and Aberdeen.

In October 1992, Brymon Airways merged its operations with those of Birmingham European Airways under Brymon European Airways brand. This was bought jointly by British Airways and Maersk Air, in mid-1993. British Airways acquired a large minority shareholding in the company and appointed Charles Stuart as chief executive and the then Sir Colin Marshall as chairman. At the same time Maersk Air bought the Birmingham European Airways operations. Maersk Air renamed Birmingham European Airways Maersk Air UK, but British Airways allowed Brymon to keep its name. Having estabilished this, Brymon's aircraft were repainted in British Airways Express colours. On 30 July 1993 the company was renamed Brymon Airways Ltd. to reflect the operating name and in August started operating under British Airways Express brand. Around this time the regional air carrier initiated a service from Newcastle to Paris.

Further expansion occurred in 1998, when it took over British Airways regional services from Aberdeen to Birmingham and Manchester. They also introduced routes from Manchester to Edinburgh and Glasgow. In 1999 routes from Newcastle to Belfast and Copenhagen, and from Aberdeen to Oslo were introduced.

On 31 March 2002 the airline was merged to form British Airways Citiexpress Ltd. operating as British Airways Citiexpress. The new regional air carrier pioneered and attained CAA Approval for the self-service boarding pass enabling passengers to print their own boarding passes at home.

Fleet

Brymon Airways fleet consisted of the following aircraft throughout operations:

Aircraft Total Notes
BAC 1-11 5 operated under Brymon European Airways brand
DHC-6 Twin Otter 7
DHC-7 Dash 7 12
Bombardier Dash 8-300 14 Operated on behalf of British Airways
Embraer ERJ 145 10 Operated on behalf of British Airways
Handley Page Herald 1
BN Islander 4 G-AXXJ ('72-'77), G-AZEI ('74), G-BAVT ('75), G-BADK ('72-'80)[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. 24–30 March 1999. 61. "Brymon House, Plymouth City Airport, Crownhill, Plymouth, Devon, PL6 8BW, UK."
  2. ^ https://www.facebook.com/groups/BNAPS/permalink/1549830091737035/?comment_id=1550244085028969&notif_id=1519500106194381&notif_t=group_comment_reply&ref=notif

Further reading

  • Merton Jones, A.C. (1976). British Independent Airlines since 1946. Maidenhead (U.K.): LAAS International and Merseyside Aviation Society. pp. 123–124. ISBN 0 902420 07 0.
  • Bullen, Kim (January 1982). "Brymon Airways first decade". Aircraft Illustrated. London: 457-463.
  • Reed, Arthur (August 1982). "Brymon Airways celebrathes its 10th anniversary". Air Transport World. USA: 81-82.
  • Learmount, David (20 August 1983). "British commuters grow". Flight International. London: 29–32.
  • Hopkins, Harry (30 March 1985). "A regional airline looks to its future". Flight International. London: 25-26.
  • Moorman, Robert W. (December 1985). "Brymon Airways". Air Transport World. USA: 100-103.
  • "Bristol fashion". Commuter World. USA: 41-43. April–May 1991.
  • Wickstead, M.J. (2014). Airlines of the British Isles since 1919. Staplefield (West Sussex - U.K.): Air Britain (Historians) Ltd. pp. 157–158. ISBN 978-0-85130-456-4.
  • Cross, Lee (November 2023). "Brymon Airways". Airliner World. U.K.: 22-29.
  • Media related to Brymon Airways at Wikimedia Commons
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