Beginning Skyways was
incorporated in 1929 to provide "instruction in aviation and aerial navigation, aerial and ground signalling", with a W. Knox as
chairman and managing director. The first year of operations saw
Skyway joined by a second York named
Sky Courier. Both aircraft were kept busy transporting oil company personnel between the UK and Iraq. Skyways was one of the major civilian participants in the Berlin Airlift, where up to seven of the company's aircraft — three Yorks and four Lancastrians — were employed between November 1948 and August 1949. The former served on the airlift from 16 November 1948 until 15 August 1949 and the latter from early-January until 17 July 1949. The latter were also fitted with additional fuselage tanks to carry
diesel and
petrol. In 1950, the
War Office began awarding trooping flight contracts to Britain's contemporary independent airlines. Skyways was one of the main beneficiaries, along with
Airwork,
Hunting and
Eagle. Following the award of the War Office contract, the airline purchased a large fleet of Avro Yorks from BOAC. These operations included frequent flights between the UK and
Singapore in co-operation with Airwork. Other areas of activity in which Skyways engaged during its formative years included a growing number of
ad hoc passenger and cargo
charter flights carrying
car manufacturers' executives and various types of freight. The rapid growth in business resulted in a major expansion of the fleet and workforce that saw the acquisition of additional Yorks and Lancastrians as well as several
DC-4s and
DC-3s providing employment for more than 1,600 (350
aircrew and 1,300
ground staff). This made Skyways Europe's biggest contemporary
charter airline.).
LAC takeover and move to Stansted In March 1952,
David Brown and Eric Rylands, owners of the
Lancashire Aircraft Corporation (LAC), acquired all Skyways
ordinary shares together with two non-
airworthy aircraft that had formed part of Skyways's fleet (a York and a Lancastrian). This takeover resulted in the combined group's headquarters and main operating base relocating to
Bovingdon and the award in June 1952 of a new War Office contract to transport 4,000 troops, their dependents and civilian defence personnel between the UK,
Bermuda and
Jamaica. Joint trooping flights commenced on 2 July 1952. These used modified Yorks with a new 70,000
lb (31,751
kg)
maximum takeoff weight and 36, rear-facing seats. It took 27 hours to reach the Caribbean from the UK, including two intermediate stops at
Keflavík,
Iceland, and
Gander,
Canada, respectively. Service frequency eventually increased to three to four monthly round-trips. LAC's takeover of Skyways in 1952 resulted in the establishment of
Eric Rylands Ltd as a new
holding company for Skyways and Skyways Engineering (the renamed Samlesbury Engineering). The Skyways takeover furthermore resulted in Skyways Engineering transferring its base to
Stansted from Bovingdon, where it had moved temporarily following the
Hawker Aircraft company's move to Dunsfold. The large engineering base at Stansted comprised three hangars. This provided the maintenance support for Skyways's new operating base at that airport with sufficient space for the overhaul of the entire LAC fleet, which mainly consisted of Yorks and Lancastrians. Commercial flights from Stansted began in October 1952 with a fleet of Avro Yorks. Following the move to Stansted, in November 1952, Skyways acquired five additional Yorks from
Eagle Aviation for
£160,000. This acquisition increased the York fleet to 29, making the airline the world's largest operator of the type. It also lent further support to the company's claim to being the largest independent airline operator in Europe. Another consequence of this takeover was LAC's acquisition of approximately 20% of
Morton Air Services shares previously held by Skyways. of Skyways being serviced at
Manchester Airport during a trooping flight to
Jamaica in 1952 LAC followed up the takeover of Skyways with an announcement concerning the combined group's new
strategy to • "fly anything anywhere"; • operate all four-engined aircraft under the
Skyways of London name; • maintain
Central London head offices in Berkeley Street and overseas presences in
Hamburg and
Canada. In 1955, Skyways launched the world's first
Coach-Air service linking London and
Paris. In July of that year, the
Air Ministry awarded the airline a lucrative, £1.5 million contract to transport 12,000 troops between the UK and
Cyprus, which had until then only been an intermediate stop on trooping flights between the UK and the
Middle and
Far East. These flights utilised the recently acquired
Hermes. This was also the year it sold a minority stake to the Bibby Line. In 1956,
pressurised Hermes replaced unpressurised Yorks on Skyways's
Crusader Coach services due to the flights' growing popularity. These 68-seat aircraft also enabled Skyways to become a major supplier of whole-plane charter seats to Britain's contemporary
tour operators. In December of that year, Skyways's
parent company, LAC, changed ownership as a result of being taken over by
British Aviation Services (BAS), the owners of rival independent airlines
Britavia and
Silver City Airways. This resulted in Skyways regaining its independence as its assets (including sister companies Skyways Coach-Air and Skyways Engineering) were not included in BAS's acquisition of LAC. In 1959, Skyways leased four
Lockheed Constellation airliners from BOAC. These replaced Hermes on the London—Singapore scheduled freight service Skyways operated on behalf of BOAC. This was the year Skyways embarked upon a major expansion in the Caribbean, following its acquisition of an 80% stake in Bahamas Airways from BOAC. Skyways allocated two Hermes aircraft with completely refurbished interiors to its new
joint venture, the renamed
Skyways (Bahamas) Ltd. However, these did not appeal to the largely US-based clientele of Bahamas Airways, and stiff competition from
Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) between
Nassau,
Fort Lauderdale,
Miami and
West Palm Beach resulted in few passengers and mounting losses. As this situation had become untenable, Skyways's holding company, Eric Rylands Ltd, decided to sell back to BOAC its
shares in Bahamas Airways. That year, Skyways also launched scheduled passenger services between
London Heathrow and
Tunis, utilising the refurbished Hermes aircraft that had originally been allocated to the unsuccessful joint venture in the
Bahamas. This was furthermore the time London's premier airport became the airline's main operating base. Although the airline's Yorks were by then nearing the end of their service lives, they were still kept busy ferrying spare parts around the world on behalf of BOAC and Pan Am.
Financial difficulties and Euravia takeover operating an
inclusive tour flight at
Manchester in August 1963 In 1961, the Bibby Line sold its minority holding in the Skyways group to Eric Rylands Ltd, henceforth the holding company for all Skyways subsidiaries. By that time, most of the Hermes had left the Skyways fleet, and
Constellations were exclusively used for all passenger flights, including the weekly scheduled service between Heathrow, Tunis and Malta Skyways operated in association with
British European Airways (BEA). This was also the time when Skyways began experiencing growing financial difficulties as a result of the high cost of the Constellation
lease, the failed joint venture in the Bahamas and BOAC's cancellation of its freight contract with Skyways that had generated three quarters of the latter's revenue. This resulted in Skyways' ownership passing to
Euravia (London) Ltd, a newly formed British independent airline concentrating on IT and group charter flights from
Luton. but excluding the
Coach-Air operation, which remained a separate entity. Skyways became a wholly owned subsidiary of Euravia in 1963.
Reconstitution as cargo airline The Skyways cargo operation survived
Dan-Air's takeover of
Skyways International's passenger operations in February 1972, using three DC-3s Air Freight Ltd had acquired from
Skyways Air Cargo, the defunct airline's cargo subsidiary, in 1970. Following
Skyways Coach-Air's liquidation in early 1971, Air Freight initially continued the former Skyways Air Cargo operation under its own name and, in February 1973, merged with South West Aviation. The closure of
Ashford Airport in 1974 resulted in the relocation of Air Freight's headquarters and operating base to nearby
Lydd Airport. In May 1975, Air Freight resurrected the
Skyways name, when it began trading as
Skyways Cargo Airline. This reorganisation led by Eric Rylands resulted in acquisition of a further three DC-3s and an expansion into
North Sea oil industry passenger and cargo charters, including the stationing of an aircraft at
Aberdeen Airport. Another two aircraft were stationed at
Aberdeen by autumn 1976. Skyways Cargo Airline further expanded by adding three
Fairchild Hiller FH-227 turboprop freighters to its DC-3 piston freighters. There were also plans to begin scheduled passenger services. However, Skyways Cargo Airline's expansionist
strategy was not as successful as hoped, and growing financial difficulties forced the closure of Skyways' final incarnation in October 1980. ==Fleet details==