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Hunting-Clan Air Transport
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Hunting-Clan Air Transport
Hunting-Clan Air Transport Ltd. was the registered trading name of a wholly private, British independent airline that was founded in the immediate post-World War II months. It began operating on 1 January 1946 under Hunting Air Travel name. After at least a decade of significant successes, from June 1960 all operations were merged with other air carriers into British United Airways.
Hunting Air Travel Ltd. was established at Luton Airport in December 1945 by three members of the Hunting family: Charles, Wing Commander Gerald (former Royal Flying Corps pilot during World War I) and Captain Percy Hunting, all of them with family roots in the international shipping business. They were also directors of Percival Aircraft Ltd. The airline was a subsidiary of the Hunting Group of companies, which had come from the shipping industry and could trace its history back to the 19th century. In addition to an airline operation and a maintenance organisation, the Hunting Group's other aviation interests included Percival Aircraft Ltd, Hunting Aerosurveys Ltd and Aerofilms Ltd.
The first Hunting Air Travel operating base was at Bovingdon Airport in Southeast England. Its initial activities were contract, scheduled and non-scheduled domestic and international air services with a small fleet of four Proctor aircraft, obtained through its associate, Percival Aircraft. The air company commenced operations on 1 January, 1946, making the UK’s first post-WWI air-taxi flight. The Proctors gave way to a fleet of de Havilland DH 89 Dragon Rapides and Avro 652As (Avro Nineteen), allowing regular charter flights to continental Europe. In February 1947, the company’s main base was moved to Gatwick airport, with subsidiary operations at Croydon and Nottingham. This move coincided with the delivery of Hunting’s first two modern aircraft, a Vickers Viking and a DH.104 de Havilland Dove, permitting major expansions of its charters such as regular summer trips to the Channel Islands on various travel agents behalf. The Vikings carried out numerous passenger and freight charters, some of which took the aircraft as far afield as Nairobi and Johannesburg.
On 1 November 1948, Hunting commenced a regular weekly service between London and Dar-es-Salaam (Tanganyika) on behalf of the Overseas Food Corporation. Other lucrative business derived from a series of charters to the Middle East, carrying personnel and equipment on behalf of various oil companies. In 1949 a series of regular pilgrim flights between Dublin and Rome were offered at 50% of the normal scheduled fare. Hunting’s first truly scheduled operation resulted from a BEA Associate Agreement for passenger services between London and Strasbourg, flown continuously between July and September 1950. With eight Vikings and a single Douglas Dakota on strength, to better reflect the widening scope of its activities the company’s name was changed to Hunting Air Transport Ltd. in August 1951. By that time, the airline had emerged as one of the healthiest and most securely financed independent airlines in U.K.
On June 14, 1952, a Viking departed on the inaugural flight of what was to become the famous low-cost Safari service to Nairobi (Kenya). The Safari/Colonial Coach Service from London to Nairobi routed via Malta, Wadi Halfa, Khartoum, Juba and Entebbe. It utilised single-class 27-seat Vikings, which took three days to complete the journey. Flown in conjunction with Airwork, soon achieved 90%+ load factors, such that a second weekly service was added from February 1953. The popularity of this venture prompted Hunting to open a second Colonial Coach Service between London and Salisbury (Rhodesia) from June 1953, and in association with Airwork and Central African Airways. Meanwhile, a month earlier, on May 15, a DC 3 had opened Hunting’s first internal scheduled service between Newcastle and London-Bovingdon. Other routes were also awarded to Amsterdam and Düsseldorf, begun late in 1953, while Oslo, Stockholm, Hamburg and Copenhagen, came during April 1954.
A major organisational change came about in October 1953, with the purchase of an interest by the powerful Clan Line shipping company. It was the result of an agreement between the Hunting Group and the Clan Line group of companies to invest £500,000 each in a new company named Hunting-Clan Air Holdings Ltd., the holding company for the combined group's air transport businesses. The airline now became part of a holding company that embodied all Hunting’s diverse interests and was accordingly renamed, Hunting-Clan Air Transport Ltd. Apart from the air carrier itself, this included Field Aircraft Services Ltd, the Hunting group's aircraft maintenance arm.
Throughout 1954, internal scheduled services were consolidated, with Glasgow and Manchester being added as feeder services to the London route via Newcastle, alongside which a Glasgow-Newcastle-Paris route was also opened. Most of these services were flown by DC 3s, which now numbered seven in the fleet.
Further increasing its presence in Africa, a third coach-class route, operated on a monthly basis, was opened in May 1954, calling at Tangiers and Dakar, and down the west coast to Bathurst (Banjul), Freetown and Accra. Similarly, this network was further extended by another monthly service to Gibraltar via Biarritz from February 1955. Hunting-Clan's operations now included all-economy Safari/Colonial Coach class services to East, Central, Southern and West Africa, general passenger and cargo charter and inclusive tour (IT) flights. Regular live- and bloodstock flights were another Hunting-Clan speciality. The airline also gained scheduled licences to operate a Northern network centred on Newcastle upon Tyne, linking Newcastle with Bovingdon, Manchester and Glasgow in the UK, as well as with Paris, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo in Europe; all routes were to be served with Dakotas at a frequency of two flights per week, except Newcastle-Bovingdon which was to be served twice daily (with services to Glasgow and Manchester eventually flown daily during the peak summer season).
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Hunting-Clan Air Transport
Hunting-Clan Air Transport Ltd. was the registered trading name of a wholly private, British independent airline that was founded in the immediate post-World War II months. It began operating on 1 January 1946 under Hunting Air Travel name. After at least a decade of significant successes, from June 1960 all operations were merged with other air carriers into British United Airways.
Hunting Air Travel Ltd. was established at Luton Airport in December 1945 by three members of the Hunting family: Charles, Wing Commander Gerald (former Royal Flying Corps pilot during World War I) and Captain Percy Hunting, all of them with family roots in the international shipping business. They were also directors of Percival Aircraft Ltd. The airline was a subsidiary of the Hunting Group of companies, which had come from the shipping industry and could trace its history back to the 19th century. In addition to an airline operation and a maintenance organisation, the Hunting Group's other aviation interests included Percival Aircraft Ltd, Hunting Aerosurveys Ltd and Aerofilms Ltd.
The first Hunting Air Travel operating base was at Bovingdon Airport in Southeast England. Its initial activities were contract, scheduled and non-scheduled domestic and international air services with a small fleet of four Proctor aircraft, obtained through its associate, Percival Aircraft. The air company commenced operations on 1 January, 1946, making the UK’s first post-WWI air-taxi flight. The Proctors gave way to a fleet of de Havilland DH 89 Dragon Rapides and Avro 652As (Avro Nineteen), allowing regular charter flights to continental Europe. In February 1947, the company’s main base was moved to Gatwick airport, with subsidiary operations at Croydon and Nottingham. This move coincided with the delivery of Hunting’s first two modern aircraft, a Vickers Viking and a DH.104 de Havilland Dove, permitting major expansions of its charters such as regular summer trips to the Channel Islands on various travel agents behalf. The Vikings carried out numerous passenger and freight charters, some of which took the aircraft as far afield as Nairobi and Johannesburg.
On 1 November 1948, Hunting commenced a regular weekly service between London and Dar-es-Salaam (Tanganyika) on behalf of the Overseas Food Corporation. Other lucrative business derived from a series of charters to the Middle East, carrying personnel and equipment on behalf of various oil companies. In 1949 a series of regular pilgrim flights between Dublin and Rome were offered at 50% of the normal scheduled fare. Hunting’s first truly scheduled operation resulted from a BEA Associate Agreement for passenger services between London and Strasbourg, flown continuously between July and September 1950. With eight Vikings and a single Douglas Dakota on strength, to better reflect the widening scope of its activities the company’s name was changed to Hunting Air Transport Ltd. in August 1951. By that time, the airline had emerged as one of the healthiest and most securely financed independent airlines in U.K.
On June 14, 1952, a Viking departed on the inaugural flight of what was to become the famous low-cost Safari service to Nairobi (Kenya). The Safari/Colonial Coach Service from London to Nairobi routed via Malta, Wadi Halfa, Khartoum, Juba and Entebbe. It utilised single-class 27-seat Vikings, which took three days to complete the journey. Flown in conjunction with Airwork, soon achieved 90%+ load factors, such that a second weekly service was added from February 1953. The popularity of this venture prompted Hunting to open a second Colonial Coach Service between London and Salisbury (Rhodesia) from June 1953, and in association with Airwork and Central African Airways. Meanwhile, a month earlier, on May 15, a DC 3 had opened Hunting’s first internal scheduled service between Newcastle and London-Bovingdon. Other routes were also awarded to Amsterdam and Düsseldorf, begun late in 1953, while Oslo, Stockholm, Hamburg and Copenhagen, came during April 1954.
A major organisational change came about in October 1953, with the purchase of an interest by the powerful Clan Line shipping company. It was the result of an agreement between the Hunting Group and the Clan Line group of companies to invest £500,000 each in a new company named Hunting-Clan Air Holdings Ltd., the holding company for the combined group's air transport businesses. The airline now became part of a holding company that embodied all Hunting’s diverse interests and was accordingly renamed, Hunting-Clan Air Transport Ltd. Apart from the air carrier itself, this included Field Aircraft Services Ltd, the Hunting group's aircraft maintenance arm.
Throughout 1954, internal scheduled services were consolidated, with Glasgow and Manchester being added as feeder services to the London route via Newcastle, alongside which a Glasgow-Newcastle-Paris route was also opened. Most of these services were flown by DC 3s, which now numbered seven in the fleet.
Further increasing its presence in Africa, a third coach-class route, operated on a monthly basis, was opened in May 1954, calling at Tangiers and Dakar, and down the west coast to Bathurst (Banjul), Freetown and Accra. Similarly, this network was further extended by another monthly service to Gibraltar via Biarritz from February 1955. Hunting-Clan's operations now included all-economy Safari/Colonial Coach class services to East, Central, Southern and West Africa, general passenger and cargo charter and inclusive tour (IT) flights. Regular live- and bloodstock flights were another Hunting-Clan speciality. The airline also gained scheduled licences to operate a Northern network centred on Newcastle upon Tyne, linking Newcastle with Bovingdon, Manchester and Glasgow in the UK, as well as with Paris, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo in Europe; all routes were to be served with Dakotas at a frequency of two flights per week, except Newcastle-Bovingdon which was to be served twice daily (with services to Glasgow and Manchester eventually flown daily during the peak summer season).