BKS wearing the initial all-metallic scheme at
Manchester Airport in 1954 G-AVYD at
Teesside Airport in 1974, now in British Airways/Northeast Airlines hybrid livery. The airline began operating in February 1952 from its base at
Southend Airport as
BKS Aero Charter flying a
Douglas C-47 Dakota (
BKS were the founders' initials – James Barnby, T D 'Mike' Keegan and Cyril Stevens.) After less than a month the C-47 was sold (to
Iberia Airlines), allowing
BKS to buy two further ex-RAF
Dakotas. For a couple of years
BKS flew
charters and freight, until 1953 when it had permission for scheduled services between
Newcastle, the
Isle of Man and
Jersey. The Dakotas continued with
BKS until the last of eight was sold in 1967. The airline's name changed to
BKS Air Transport at the end of 1953. Three
Vickers VC.1 Vikings were acquired in 1955 to operate to
Málaga. The next aircraft type was the pressurised
Airspeed Ambassador. It operated from 1957 and enabled longer scheduled services to
Basel,
Belfast,
Bilbao,
Dublin and
Santander. The network grew with more scheduled flights, including Newcastle to
London. In 1958 the
Bristol 170 Freighter was added, followed by the
Vickers Viscount in 1961. Further expansion in and out of London saw the introduction of the
Hawker Siddeley HS 748 in 1962 and the
Bristol Britannia in 1964. By the mid-1960s,
London Heathrow had become BKS's busiest base with scheduled flights to
Leeds/
Bradford,
Teesside and Newcastle, as well as international services to
Bilbao,
Biarritz, and
Bordeaux.
Northeast Airlines The airline's name changed to
Northeast Airlines on 1 November 1970. In July 1973, the airline became part of the British Airways group. By 1976 Northeast had fully integrated into British Airways. The last Northeast flights operated on 31 March 1976. ==Historical fleet==