Starways

Starways was a British airline which operated from 1948 until 1963. The company offered freight transport, passenger charter services and serviced internal and international scheduled routes.

History

Starways DC-3 at Liverpool Airport, 1960

The airline was formed at Blackpool in 1948 by two pilots, Captain Noel Rodnight and Captain Albert Dean, to operate a charter service for celebrities appearing in the Blackpool shows. By May, the business was relocated to Liverpool (Speke) Airport and F.H.Wilson & J.A.Wilson joined the company as executives. The company also provided joyriding flights in its initial fleet of twin-engined Avro Anson and Dragon Rapide aircraft.

The Wilson family were successful businessmen in Liverpool owning Limocoat Ltd and later the Famous Army Stores. They were also involved with the Cathedral Touring Agency (CTA), a travel company, which provided most all-inclusive, tour business for the airline. In 1951, F.H. Wilson was appointed chairman of the board and by 1954 the family had acquired full control of the company.

The airline expanded, acquiring a number of Douglas DC-3s, including two prewar-built examples, in the early fifties to operate seasonal tourist charters and built-up a network of summer scheduled services from Liverpool including flights to continental European destinations including Lourdes and Biarritz.

In 1957 the airline purchased the larger four-engined Douglas DC-4 with four further examples being acquired between March 1960 and January 1963. The first DC-4 charter was flown on 8 January 1958 between Liverpool and Southend Airport with football supporters. The Skymasters and DC-3s were also used on scheduled services from Liverpool to London Heathrow and from Liverpool and Manchester to Newquay in Cornwall.

In February 1961 the airline introduced the turbo-prop Vickers Viscount aircraft for use on inclusive tour flights and the schedules to London Heathrow. The refined livery of the first aircraft G-ARIR - particularly the roundel near the nose, testified to its previous French operator.

In November 1963, Starways negotiated a co-operative agreement with British Eagle. The final Starways flight landed at Liverpool on 31 December 1963, thereafter British Eagle took over all routes.^[1] Due to delays in the transfer of route registration, British Eagle were obliged to operate routes in the name of Starways requiring two of their own red, liveried Viscount aircraft to be branded Starways.

However, ownership of the fleet, aircraft hangers, parts inventory and other assets remained with the Starways Directors who continued in business as Aviation Overhauls. This new company provided a variety of maintenance and support services until in 1969, all aircraft had been sold and the company closed.

Aircraft operated

Starways Fleet^[2]

image	from	to	Aircraft	Call-sign	Notes
	1949 01	1949 05	Percival P16 Q6 Petrel	G-AFIX	Crashed in an accident at Broom Hall, Pwllheli
	1950 03	1952 05	Miles M65 Gemini 1A	G-AKEM	Clymere, sold
	1950 05	1950	Auster 5	G-AMAP
	1951 04	1954 05	M.11A Whitney Straight	G-AFGK	Sold
	1951 05	1953 12	De Havilland Dragon Rapide	G-AIBB	Sold
	1949 05	1952 02	Avro Anson 625A 1	G-AIRN	Stardust
	1951 06	1954 04	Avro Anson 625A 11	G-ALIH	Originally built for the RAF as NL229; sold in 1964 to BKS and eventually to E.K.Cole (EKCO) for use as a radar test bed
	1950 03	1951 02	Avro 19 series 2	G-AHII	Starlight
	1950 03	1952 01	Avro 19 series 2	G-AHIK	Starflight
	1951 05	1953 02	Douglas DC-3	G-AJDC	Never entered service, Sold
	1950 10	1955 07	Douglas DC-3	G-AJDG	Sold
	1955 01	1958 02	Douglas C-47B Dakota	G-AMJU	Sold
	1952 03	1954 05	Douglas C-47B Dakota	G-AMPO	Cynthia, sold
	1956 10	1964 01			transferred to Aviation Overhauls
	1952 03	1957 12	Douglas C-47B Dakota	G-AMPY	built in 1943 for the USAF, transferred to the RAF in 1944
	1597 12	1958 04		JY-ABE	leased to Air Jordan
	1958 04	1964 01		G-AMPY	transferred to Aviation Overhauls
	1952 03	1953 02	Douglas C-47B Dakota	G-AMPZ	Never entered service, Sold
	1952 03	1953 03	Douglas C-47B Dakota	G-AMRA	built in 1944 for the USAF, transferred to the RAF and used in the Berlin Airlift; never entered service with Starways, Sold
	1952 03	1956 03	Douglas C-47B Dakota	G-AMRB	Crashed in Largs, Ayrshire
	1952 05	1954 05	Douglas C-47B Dakota	G-AMSM	Sold; cockpit preserved in Brenzett Aeronautical Museum, Kent
	1952 05	1964 01	Douglas C-47B Dakota	G-AMSN	transferred to Aviation Overhauls
	1957 09	1964 01	Douglas DC-4	G-APEZ	to United Nations (ONU) during the Congo Crisis in 1961; transferred to Aviation Overhauls
	1961 03	1961 10	Douglas C-54D Skymaster	G-APID	leased in from Worldwide/Lloyd International
	1962 05	unknown
	1958 02	1959 10	Douglas C-54D Skymaster	G-APIN
	1959 10	1960 04			to Trans-Arabian for Hadj Pilgrim flights
		1961 09			Destroyed in Kamina, Congo while leased to United Nations (ONU) during the Congo Crisis
	1960 03	1961 09	Douglas C-54A Skymaster	G-APYK	to United Nations (ONU) during the Congo Crisis in 1961; subsequently sold to Air Ferry
	1961 02	1964 01	Douglas C-54A Skymaster	G-ARIY	transferred to Aviation Overhauls
	1961 03	1961 09	Douglas C-54A Skymaster	G-ARJY	Crashed at Dublin Airport after over-shooting the runway[3]
	1963 01	1964 01	Douglas C-54A Skymaster	G-ASEN	transferred to Aviation Overhauls
	1961 11	1964 01	Vickers 707 Viscount	G-APZB	transferred to Aviation Overhauls
	1961 2	1963 11	Vickers 708 Viscount	G-ARIR	Sold

Additional short leases include:

• G-ALXK Douglas C-47 Dakota short-term (5-days) lease from North South between 16-21 Sept 1961
• OE-IFA Lockheed L-049 Constellation from Aero Transport between 29-30 Sept 1961 for a return trip Liverpool - Lourdes - Liverpool
• G-ARWI Douglas C-54 Skymaster from Lloyd International during July 1963
• VP-MAA Douglas C-54 Skymaster from Malta Metropolitan between 2–3 August 1963 for a return trip Liverpool - Palma - Liverpool

Accidents and Incidents

• early May 1949: Starways first aircraft, a Percival Petrel, destroyed in an accident at Broom Hall Airfield, Pwllheli
• 28 March 1956: a Starways Douglas DC-3 G-AMRB was on a positioning flight from Liverpool to Glasgow in readiness for a charter the next day to Lourdes. While on approach to Glasgow Renfrew Airport, the aircraft struck a hill at Largs, cause reported as pilot error. No passengers were carried and one of the three crew died.^[4]
• 17 September 1961: a Starways Douglas DC-4 G-APIN destroyed while being used by the United Nations (ONU) at Kamina during the Congo Crisis. The plane was used as a troop carrier; it was parked on the ground at Kamina Airport when Katangan fighter-aircraft attacked.
• 19 September 1961: a Starways Douglas DC-4 G-ARJY, crashed after over-shooting the runway at Dublin airport; crash site recorded by Pathé News.^[3] On board were 4 crew and 64 passengers travelling to Dublin from Tarbes. On approach, the plane suddenly veered to the left, skidding along the ground to end up straddling the main road to Belfast. No one was hurt but the aircraft was so badly damaged it was written-off. Pathé News filmed the accident investigators attending the scene. Heavy rain on the night was blamed for the accident. The lack of casualties was attributed to the quantity of Holy Water being carried by pilgrims returning from Lourdes.^[5]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Starways.

• Merton Jones, A.C. (1977). British Independent Airlines since 1946. Merseyside Aviation Society & LAAS International. pp. 433–435. ISBN 0-902420-10-0. 
• Merton Jones, T. (1972). British Independent Airline & Operators Since 1947. UK: LAAS International. NONE. 
• Leigh, Patsy (2016). Starways: When Liverpool Ruled the Skies. Bramblewood Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9954996-0-7. 
• Woodley, Charles (2016). Flying to the Sun: A History of Britain's Holiday Airlines. The History Press. ISBN 978-0750956604.