Skyways Coach-Air Limited was the world's first low-cost airline.
Skyways launched the first commercial coach-air operation in late-September 1955, involving a coach trip from Central London to Lympne, a cross-Channel Lympne—Beauvais air sector and another coach journey from Beauvais to the centre of Paris.Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... SKYWAYS), pp. 56, 58/9, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, Christmas 2010
Skyways Coach-Air, which had remained a separate entity following the sale of sister airline Skyways Ltd to Euravia, got into financial difficulties in 1970.World Airline Survey ..., Flight International, 11 April 1963, p. 524World Airline Survey ..., Flight International, 11 April 1963, p. 539World Airlines 1970 ..., Flight International, 28 March 1970, p. 500 This resulted in a management buyout and the following year's formation of a new company trading as Skyways International to succeed the defunct Skyways Coach-Air.World Airlines, Flight International, 6 May 1971, p. 631 Skyways International was taken over by Dan-Air in 1972.The Spirit of Dan-Air, Simons, G.M., GMS Enterprises, Peterborough, 1993, pp. 77-79, 102
History Skyways Coach-Air
On 30 September 1955, Skyways inaugurated the world's first combined coach-air low-fare scheduled service between London and Paris. On that day, a 36-seat Skyways Douglas DC-3 took off from Lympne for a 55-minute cross-Channel flight to Beauvais with fare-paying passengers for the first time. (Two "special inaugural flights" carrying about 50 Government officials, company executives, journalists and other dignitaries preceded the inaugural commercial flight on 21 September 1955.) This air service formed part of a combined coach-air-coach journey between the city centres of London and Paris. For passengers travelling from London to Paris, the journey began on a 32- or 36-seater East Kent Road Car Company coach that took them from London's Victoria Coach Station to Lympne Airport near Hythe where they transferred to a Skyways DC-3. This aircraft flew them across the Channel to Beauvais Tillé Airport where passengers transferred to a Transports Renault coach, which took them to République Coach Station in Paris (Hôtel Moderne Palace on Place de la République, Paris 12). At the time of launch, total travelling time was just under seven hours. (In the pre-motorway days, the 70-mile (110 kilometre) coach journey between Central London and Lympne along some narrow, winding country roads, and through London, Maidstone & many villages, alone took more than three hours. Following subsequent road improvements, the introduction of faster coaches and aircraft as well as streamlined ground handling procedures, this eventually reduced to about 5½ hours.Paris Show Preview, Flight International, 16 March 1967, p. 415) The initial frequency was one round-trip per day, and the inaugural return fare was £7 14spre-decimalisation (£7.70post-decimalisation) for off-peak travel while the peak-time fare was £8.75.decimal These not only undercut the direct London Heathrow—Paris Orly/Le Bourget standard tourist class air fares of British European Airways (BEA) and Air France by about 45% but were also cheaper than the corresponding fares of competing surface travel modes.Coach-Air — on the London—Paris route; Skyways' low-fare service, Flight International, 30 September 1955, p. 543Aeroplane — Feature: Ten Years of Skyways Coach-Air, Vol. 110, No. 2814, p. 6, Temple Press, London, 23 September 1965Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... SKYWAYS), pp. 56, 59, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, Christmas 2010
London—Paris coach-air services launched with a single DC-3 configured in a high-density, 36-seat layout. A second DC-3 sourced from the fleet of sister company Skyways Ltd and a third aircraft leased from Airwork were added for the 1956 summer season. This fleet subsequently expanded through the addition of further aircraft.Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... SKYWAYS), p. 59, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, Christmas 2010
Following the successful introduction of the world's first, daily coach-air service between London and Paris on a year-round basis, Eric Rylands Ltd, the Skyways group holding company, purchased Lympne Airport in 1956.Airliner World (Skyways: Coach Air), pp. 66/7, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011
During the 1957 summer season, Skyways Coach-Air increased the frequency to up to 16 daily round-trips and launched its second coach-air route from London to Vichy (via Lympne).World Airline Survey — The UK Carriers ..., Flight International, 12 April 1962, p. 548Aeroplane — Feature: Ten Years of Skyways Coach-Air, Vol. 110, No. 2814, p. 7, Temple Press, London, 23 September 1965Airliner World (Skyways: Coach Air), p. 67, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011
In 1958, Skyways Coach-Air Ltd was formed as a dedicated low-fare coach-air-coach subsidiary of Skyways Ltd.Airliner World (Skyways: Coach Air, New ventures), pp. 67, 69, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011
A London—Brussels coach-air service (via Lympne and Antwerp) operated during the 1958 summer season for the duration of Expo 58. Also in 1958, further seasonal coach-air services from London (Lympne) to Lyons, Montpellier and Nice launched while coach-air services to Clermont-Ferrand began in June 1964. Services from London (Lympne) to Tours and from East Midlands to Beauvais started in 1965. Operations from London (Ashford and Luton) to Ostend commenced in 1970. The airline also applied for traffic rights to extend its coach-air network to Basel, Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona and Tenerife.Airliner World (Skyways: Coach Air, New ventures, Another turbulent spell), pp. 67-69, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011
Lympne's persistent waterlogging problem forced many flights to divert to Gatwick, especially in winter. During the late-1950s and early-1960s, Skyways Coach-Air's DC-3s also operated regular charter flights from Gatwick.
Following an announcement in 1959 to replace its ageing piston airliners with state-of-the-art turboprops that resulted in a competition between Avro and Fokker where the former's 748 was pitched against the latter's F-27, Skyways Coach-Air became the launch customer for the Avro 748 in 1961.Coach-Air 748s, Air Commerce, Flight International, 11 May 1961, p. 647
Meanwhile, Skyways Coach-Air had assumed the ownership of the lease for Lympne Airport, which entailed taking on all operational responsibilities, including the provision of air traffic control (ATC) services.
Delivery of the first of three 48-seat Avro 748s on 2 November 1961 was followed by the type's first revenue flight on 17 April 1962, when it began replacing the 36-seat DC-3s on the daily Lympne—Beauvais coach-air service. Two more 748s and a fifth DC-3 for cargo and supplemental work joined the fleet during summer 1965. By 1967, Skyways Coach-Air operated the original London—Paris coach-air service exclusively with the new 748 turboprops at a frequency of five daily round-trips in summer,April to September with additional services operating on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays. In winter,October to March frequency dropped to between one and two round-trips per day. Typical London—Paris return fares ranged from £9 8spre-decimal to £12 17s.pre-decimalAeroplane — Feature: Ten Years of Skyways Coach-Air, Vol. 110, No. 2814, pp. 4, 7, Temple Press, London, 23 September 1965Airliner World (Skyways: New ventures), p. 68, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011
To take advantage of the burgeoning market for all-inclusive holiday charter packages and increase the 748s' utilisation, Skyways Coach-Air began operating a series of inclusive tour (IT) charter flights to the Mediterranean from the grass airfield at Lympne in summer 1967. This soon overstretched the airline's small fleet and led to frequent delays and diversions, exacerbated by the airport's waterlogging problem. As a result of knock-on effects, it also resulted in a deterioration of the company's punctuality on the coach-air network.
Nineteen-sixty-seven was also the year the state-owned Transport Holding Company (THC) had acquired a 50% stake in Skyways Coach-Air for £27,000. This made it a semi-public entity.Government's coach/air loss, Air Transport ..., Flight International, 8 July 1971, pp. 44/5Aircraft (Gone but not forgotten ... SKYWAYS), p. 60, Ian Allan Publishing, Hersham, Christmas 2010
To address Lympne's waterlogging problem ahead of the 1968 summer season, Skyways Coach-Air's management decided to have a 4,500 feet (1,372 metre) concrete runway laid. This work was executed during the lean months in winter 1967/8. The new runway became operational in April 1968. As the concrete layer proved to be too thin to withstand regular operations by aircraft in the Avro 748 weight category, cracks soon started to appear.
In 1969, the Ford Motor Company awarded Skyways Coach-Air the Stansted—Cologne corporate shuttle contract. This resulted in one of the airline's 748s being permanently based at the Essex airport.
This was also the time Lympne Airport was renamed Ashford Airport.
Although Skyways Coach-Air seemed to have initially succeeded in establishing itself as a profitable short-haul specialist serving a niche market for those looking for the cheapest way to travel between London and Paris, the business began losing money in its latter years as a result of overreaching itself.
Initially, the airline attempted to turn around its deteriorating financial situation by dropping underperforming routes from its network, terminating operations to Ostend, Tours and Vichy. However, these measures proved inadequate to deal with the company's growing financial difficulties. In addition, Britain's then Conservative government's was unwilling to lend it any more money through half-shareholder THC. This resulted in the latter putting Skyways Coach-Air into receivership at the beginning of 1971.Skyways Coach-Air owed the Government £1.25 million, as a result of loans THC had already advanced it Following its grounding, Skyways Coach-Air went into liquidation on 20 January 1971.Airliner World (Skyways: Another turbulent spell), p. 69, Key Publishing, Stamford, November 2011
Fleet Details Skyways Coach-Air Ltd operated the following aircraft types:
Avro/Hawker Siddeley 748 Douglas DC-3
Fleet in 1962 In April 1962, the Skyways Coach-Air fleet comprised 7 aircraft.
+Skyways Coach-Air fleet in April 1962AircraftTotalAvro 748 Series 13Douglas DC-34Total7
Fleet in 1970 In March 1970, the Skyways Coach-Air fleet comprised 8 aircraft.
+Skyways Coach-Air fleet in March 1970AircraftTotalHawker Siddeley 748 Series 15Douglas DC-33Total8
Skyways Coach-Air employed 320 people at this time.
Skyways International In February 1971, a group of former Skyways Coach-Air senior managers led by John Knox, the erstwhile airline's last commercial manager, formed International Skyways Ltd as a successor to the failed company. With the backing of London merchant bank Sterling Industrial Securities, the new management team purchased defunct Skyways Coach-Air's assets. These included aircraft and routes. Following the successful management buyout, the new entity began trading as Skyways International. It resumed the ex-Skyways Coach-Air year-round route from Ashford to Beauvais on 8 February 1971 with four 748s that had been grounded at Ashford Airport since the cessation of operations three weeks earlier. This was followed by the reintroduction of routes from Ashford to Ostend, Clermont-Ferrand and Montpellier, as well as from Luton to Ostend and from East Midlands to Beauvais.Air Transport ..., Flight International, 18 February 1971, p. 227