Air Caledonia Boeing 707-420

Air Caledonia

IATA - ST
ICAO - STC
Callsign - CALEDONIA

Boeing 707-420
G-ACLD

Formed in 1969, after the national carrier of the United Kingdom, Imperial Airways, sold off its Scottish-based division to a private equity company to save money and reduce costs within its network, brought about the formation of Air Caledonia. Though the airline's history dates back to the 1950s, Air Caledonia itself began operations as an independent carrier in August of 1970, operating a fleet of Boeing 707 and 737 aircraft purchased from Imperial Airways.

The airline, though small at the time of its launch, operating a fleet of just 5 aircraft, took over almost all of Imperial Airways' route network from Scotland, operating transatlantic routes to North America, with the most profitable and in-demand route being New York flown on the airline's Boeing 707, leaving the Boeing 737 fleet to operate an extensive domestic network within the United Kingdom alongside a small route network to key cities within Europe. But this wouldn't last long as Air Caledonia began to expand rapidly throughout the 1970s, introducing further Boeing 707 and 737 aircraft into its fleet and later orders for much larger and more economical aircraft.

The 1970s would see the airline expand its network throughout Africa and Asia and, for a brief time, to Australia on what was aptly named "Caledonian Hopper", making multiple stops across Africa and Asia before finally reaching Sydney in Australia. Along with the airline's growing fleet and rapid expansion came the launch of new operating bases out of London Heathrow (formally London Airport until 1966) and London Gatwick Airport. The opening of London Heathrow as a hub caused much controversy with Imperial Airways, which at that time dominated London Heathrow and held the monopoly on slots and routes. While Air Caledonia's initial intention was to open the base with a small fleet of 737s operating the domestic routes between London and Scotland, this would later expand and begin to encroach on Imperial Airways when Air Caledonia began services to New York, Washington, and Chicago from Heathrow. These routes would operate until the early 1980's when all long-haul operations would move to London's Gatwick Airport.

London Gatwick Airport opened as a hub to operate flights under Air Caledonia's new charter division, "Air Caledonia Skytours", operating flights to popular European tourist destinations such as Spain and Greece until the early 1980s, when Air Caledonia would move its long-haul operations from Heathrow to London Gatwick, carrying over the airline's New York, Washington, and Chicago routes, but also adding routes to the Caribbean and Florida to cater towards Air Caledonia Skytours.

While the airline's fleet remained mostly unchanged through to the late 1970s with the 707 being the sole aircraft to operate Air Caledonia's long-haul route network, this would change when in 1979 a new fleet of Boeing 747s would begin to enter service with Air Caledonia. The 747 would ultimately replace the 707 on all long-haul routes, with the 707 being relegated to Air Caledonia Skytours to increase the fleet at London Gatwick to handle the expanding tourism network. This seemed to be the case for the majority of the airline's original fleet as Air Caledonia preferred the newer and more economical aircraft to operate on its mainline network.

By 1985, the final 707 flew its last flight from Palma Mallorca to London Gatwick before being retired in favor of newer, more efficient aircraft types.