Laker Airways Ltd. was a private British airline founded by Sir Freddie Laker in 1966. It was originally a charter airline flying passengers and cargo worldwide. Its head office was located at Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England.World airline directory, Flight International, 16 May 1981, p. 1445.
It became the second long-haul, low-cost, "no frills" airline in September 1977, operating low-fare scheduled services between London Gatwick Airport and New York City's John F. Kennedy Airport (after pioneering Icelandic low-cost carrier Loftleiðir).Gatwick Airport: The first 50 years, Woodley, C., The History Press, Stroud, 2014, p. 95 In the early 1980s, the company went into bankruptcy during the recession, operating its last flight on 5 February 1982.
Early history Freddie Laker announced the creation of Laker Airways in February 1966.Laker Airways, Flight International, 10 February 1966, p. 207 In fact, the airline had been formally registered on the 8th of the month and commenced operations from its Gatwick Airport base on the followiung 29 July with two Bristol Britannia 102 series turboprops, initially operating on Air France behalf.Laker Buys Britannias ..., Flight International, 24 February 1966, p. 290Building up Laker Airways, Flight International, 17 March 1966, p. 417Fly me, I'm Freddie!, Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, p. 113Sir Freddie Laker – The Man Who Gave Us Skytrain, Airliner Classics, pp. 78, 82 The aircraft's livery was a combination of black, red and white – an adaptation of Laker's racing colours.Aeroplane – Commercial, Vol. 111, No. 2834, p. 11, Temple Press, London, 17 February 1966 The Britannias were supplemented and eventually replaced by five BAC One-Eleven 300 short-haul jet aircraft from December 1967. This included an initial 1966 order with the manufacturer for three aircraft valued at £4 million.
Laker spent more than £200,000 of his own money on the newly-ordered aircraft's deposits, with a consortium of City banks led by Clydesdale Bank funding the remainder.Fly me, I'm Freddie!, Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, p. 106 He placed a follow-up order for a fourth aircraft to be delivered in 1968 and acquired a former-British Eagle aircraft from Bahamas Airways in 1971.Laker: Another One-Eleven, Flight International, 20 July 1967, p. 91Fifth Laker One-Eleven, Flight International, 25 March 1971, p. 406"The Home Of Eagle" ... — G-ATPK BAC1-11 Type 301AG c/n 034 These airline's short- and medium-haul charter operations to holiday resorts in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands were primarily operated with these aircraft.
Operational history Laker Airways offered 30% discounts to tour operators to charter the airline's aircraft during the winter, when demand was lower, and implemented other promotions to incentivise longer-term use of the aircraft by tour operators.Fly me, I'm Freddie!, Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, p. 107Airline Profile: Number Thirty-Nine in the Series – Court Line, Flight International, 19 March 1970, p. 439Airline Profile: Number Thirty-Nine in the Series – Court Line, Flight International, 19 March 1970, p. 440 This ensured that the fleet was in use for almost the entire year.
August 1968 saw the establishment of its first overseas base at Tegel Airport in what was then West Berlin. The company had up to three BAC One-Elevens stationed thereFly me, I'm Freddie!, Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, p. 121 until 1981, when these aircraft were replaced with one of its three newly acquired Airbus A300 B4 series wide-bodies, at the time the largest aircraft operated out of any Berlin airport.Laker launches drive for European deregulation, Flight International, 21 April 1979, p. 1224Sir Freddie on brink of European legal action, Flight International, 7 March, 1981, p. 612
Its Berlin operation was staffed by ninety, mainly local, workers. Throughout this period, it carried thousands of holidaymakers from the Western parts of the then divided German capital to resorts in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands.Berlin Airport Company – Airline Profile: Laker Airways, June 1975 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports, Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1975
Ground handling In 1972, Laker Airways co-founded Gatwick Handling, a Gatwick handling agent that has become part of the Aviance group, with Dan-Air. Each airline owned 50% of Gatwick Handling at its inception.Delta takes Gatwick Handling share, Flight International, 4 February 1984, p. 314
Climbing speed In the days when airports and air space were relatively uncongested, Laker Airways instructed departing One-Eleven crews to tune into other jet aircraft taking off ahead of them, and to begin a conversation with the other aircraft's crew while continuing their climb. The aim was to obtain information about the other aircraft's altitude to encourage that aircraft's crew to climb to their upper cruising altitude as quickly as possible so that Laker's One-Elevens could attain their optimum height in the shortest possible time. This helped Laker's One-Elevens climb faster without using as much power, helping the company to reduce fuel consumption and reduce the engines' wear and tear.
Weight-saving Among the weight-saving measures Laker Airways used to make its aircraft fly further without the need of refuelling was a baggage allowance limit of rather less than the more usual , and carrying fewer passengers than the aircraft could hold. This policy was first employed when the airline began operating its BAC One-Elevens. By limiting the free baggage allowance and restricting passengers, the company used the weight saved to carry additional fuel, increasing range.
This was sufficient to permit non-stop flights from London Gatwick or Berlin Tegel to Tenerifeat the time the most popular resort in the Canary Islands for British and German tourists at least in one direction, depending on the direction and strength of the winds. This helped make Laker's One-Elevens more competitive with larger, longer-range aircraft operated by rivals, especially for tour operators struggling to fill a bigger aircraft profitably. If the passenger load was greater than 70, the charterer paid for any stops, encouraging operators to keep to 70 passengers.Fly me, I'm Freddie!, Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, pp. 117/8Flying to the sun – A history of Britain's holiday airlines: 6. Into the jet age – Laker Airways, Woodley, C., The History Press, Stroud, 2016, p. 102
Alternatively, weight saved as a result of limiting free baggage could be traded for reduced fuel consumption on shorter routes well within the BAC One-Eleven's range by making the aircraft lighter, even with a full load of passengers.accommodating up to 89 at a seat pitch of
Introduction of DC-10 aircraft
Weight-saving measures adopted to boost the BAC One-Eleven's range stood Laker Airways in good stead when the airline introduced the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10.
This model lacked the range of the DC-10-30. The DC-10-10 was optimised for medium-haul routes. The aircraft McDonnell Douglas was offering had been built against an order placed by Mitsui Group, for five aircraft, who intended to lease them to All Nippon Airways (ANA). But, instead, ANA decided to order the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar.Finance for British Trijets, Flight International, 10 August 1972, p. 179Armstrong, P., The Flight of the Accountant: a Romance of Air and Credit, Flight to insolvency, 2005, p. 14 Before offering, on behalf of Mitsui, the aircraft to Laker, McDonnell Douglas had asked British Caledonian (BCal) whether it was interested. BCal was looking for a widebody replacement for its ageing Boeing 707s and Vickers VC10s. BCal rejected this offer because the aircraft had insufficient range to fly non-stop from Gatwick to the distant points on its network.
Despite these drawbacks, Laker Airways took two of those five Mitsui (originally intended for ANA) ordered aircraft. The three remaining Mitsui aircraft went to Turkish Airlines. One of these later crashed as Turkish Airlines Flight 981. The airline concluded it could fly non-stop from the UK to any point east of the Rockies by keeping the baggage limit at and reducing single-class seating from 380ten abreast to 345.nine abreast The saving could be used to carry more fuel. The calculations had shown that even with reduced seating, it had to fill only 52% of the seats to break even. Moreover, Laker Airways had figured that the aircraft's low break-even seat factor would enable it to operate its proposed London – New York Skytrain with a lower break-even factor compared to the Boeing 707, an ageing narrow-bodied aircraft whose costs were higher per passenger. The DC-10s also had huge potential to boost the projected profitability of Skytrain. Revised estimates anticipated an average load factor of 70–75% and raised the traffic forecast for the first year of operation to 250,000 passengers each way. This was almost three times the original 707-based forecast.Fly me, I'm Freddie!, Eglin, R. and Ritchie, B., Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1980, pp. 149, 158, 165 These factors swung the firm in favour of McDonnell-Douglas's offer.
A Laker Airways McDonnell Douglas DC-10 series 10Laker Airways McDonnell-Douglas DC-10-10 taxiing in the background towards the new terminal on Berlin Tegel's south side, following the Air France Airbus A300B2 in the foreground (photo) was one of four widebodies that were specially flown in for the pre-inauguration of the then-new terminal building at Berlin's Tegel Airport on 23 October 1974. (A British Airways (BA) Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 1,British Airways L-1011 Tristar 1 taxiing towards the new terminal on Berlin Tegel's south side (photo) a Pan Am Boeing 747-100Pan Am Boeing 747-121 taxiing towards the new terminal on Berlin Tegel's south side (photo) and an Air France Airbus A300 B2 were the other widebodies specially flown in on that day to mark this occasion.)Berlin Airport Company – News, November 1974 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports, Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1974
Introduction of Skytrain
The early 1970s saw the airline and its owner battle with aviation authorities in the UK and US to gain approval for a low-cost, "no frills" transatlantic service to link London and New York daily during the peak summer period from May to September and four times a week during the remainder of the year. This was to be marketed as Skytrain for £32.50 one-way in winter and £37.50 in summer.Mr Laker's Bargain Basement, Flight International, 28 October 1971, p. 674Skytrain briefing, Flight International, 19 April 1973, p. 608 Two Boeing 707-138Bs were acquired from the administrators of British Eagle in 1969. Both were operated by Qantas when new.