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New Competitor | 1953-1956



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New Competitor | 1953-1956

(TOP)
Airline - British International Airlines
Aircraft - DeHavilland DH.106 Comet 1 | G-FMSH
Delivered to British International Airlines, 1955
Sold to Aerolínea Nacional Cubana, 1959
Crashed into Caribbean Sea 25 miles south of Cienfuegos, 1967
Livery - Standard 1953
Country - Great Britain

(TOP)
Airline - British International Airlines
Aircraft - Airspeed Ambassador | G-FMWG
Delivered to British International Airlines, 1953
Transferred to Royal Airways, 1974
Sold to Anglican Airways, 1978
Stored at Southampton Airport, 1984
Scrapped at Southampton Airport, 1987
Livery - Standard 1953
Country - Great Britain

In 1953, British International Airlines was founded with the goal of operating mostly intra-European flights from the United Kingdom. It began with a fleet of Airspeed Ambassadors, with the one shown here - G-FMWG, named 'Ambassador Amsterdam' - one of the first to be delivered. The airline would grow steadily, taking deliveries of Handley-Page Dart Herald aircraft soon after its founding, and DeHavilland Comets in 1956. The Comet 1s were all delivered after the Comet Disasters, and so were built new with oval windows. While the aircraft did give the carrier some prestige and was faster than all turboprop aircraft, it was loud and inefficient, and BIA did not operate any Comets except for the 1s it originally took delivery of.

The Comet shown here - G-FMSH, named 'Comet Oslo' - would later become the last Western aircraft to be sold to Cuba before trade embargoes took effect.



    I love these. ^_^