Maersk Air Ltd., trading as Maersk Air UK, was a British airline which operated between 1993 and 2003Ellemose: 105. It flew out of Birmingham Airport to domestic and European destinations under a British Airways franchise agreement. The company was fully owned by the eponymous A. P. Møller–Mærsk Group through its Danish subsidiary airline Maersk Air and was based at Birmingham Airport. At its peak it operated twelve aircraft and had 490 employees.

History

Born from a demerger

The airline was created in July 1993 through the demerger of Brymon European Airways, which had been created through the merger of Brymon Airways and Birmingham European Airways. Maersk took over the latter operations, while its co-owner, British Airways, took over the ex-Brymon operations. Maersk Air UK commenced operations on 1 August of that same year inside the British Airways Express brand with a fleet made up by five BAC One-Eleven and three Jetstream 31 aircraft. Routes were flown to Amsterdam, Belfast, Copenhagen, Cork, Dublin, Glasgow, Milan, Newcastle and Stuttgart. As of 1994 the air carrier had 185 employees. The four One-Elevens were sold and replaced with newer Boeing 737-500s. Meanwhile, a Jetstream 41 was transferred from British Airways, replacing the smaller Jetstream 31s. The services to Dublin, Cork and Glasgow were terminated and instead a route was started to Lyon.

Growth Maersk Air UK saw its passenger numbers increase by 22% in 1997, ending at 550,000. At the end of the year it operated three One-Elevens and three 737-500s. In November the airline ordered three 50-seat Bombardier Bombardier CRJ200s with an option for a further twelve of any combination of the CRJ200 and the larger 70-seat CRJ700 The first CRJs were delivered in 1998 and by August 1999 there were six such aircraft in the fleet. The One-Eleves were retired in 1998 and the Jetstream 41 was pulled from service the following year. The airline launched services to Geneva and Vienna in February 1999. In November routes were added to Stockholm and Rome. By 1999 the airline had grown to a staff of 347. A year later Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt and Zürich had been added as destinations and the fleet grown to six 737-500s and six CRJ200s.

By 2001 the number of employees had risen to 490 and the first CRJ700 had been delivered. That year services commenced to Hamburg, Hanover and Marseille. Meanwhile, British Airways was building up at Birmingham Airport through two other franchise agreements, with Brymon Airways and BRAL-British Regional Airlines. The franchise agreement with Maersk, set to expire on 24 March 2001, was extended that month through the summer season. This spurred speculation that Maersk would abandon the franchising agreement. However, in August a five-year extension was signed. From May 2002 the air carrier commenced three new routes, to Bordeaux, Nice, Toulouse, all in France. By then the first two CRJ700s had been delivered, while the number of 737-500s was reduced to three. Services also commenced to Gothenburg, but by then the services to Brussels, Frankfurt, Newcastle, Rome and Zürich had been terminated.

Debts and decline From 2000 through 2002 Maersk Air UK lost an accumulative 325 million Danish krone (DKK).Ellemose: 233 By early 2003 the Danish Maersk Group had lost interest in operating an airline in the UK and put the company up for sale. However, there were not interested buyers and it was speculated that British Airways would have to step in and take over the franchise partner. The company was therefore sold in a management buyout in 2003, with the airline becoming Duo Airways. At the time the airline had eight aircraft and 350 employees. Up till this point Maersk Air had lost DKK 250 million on its UK operations. The renamed company folded in 2004, and Maersk Air was forced to bring home five CRJs from Birmingham. Maersk lost a further DKK 65 million with the sale of these aircraft.Ellemose: 246

Operations Maersk Air Ltd. was a subsidiary of Maersk Air, a Danish airline again owned by the powerful Maersk Group. Maersk Air UK was headquartered near Birmingham Airport, which served as the airline's only base. The airline operated under a franchise agreement with British Airways, as British Airways Express. It employed the BA branding, including aircraft livery, uniforms, in-flight service and catering, as well as terminal services. It also employed BA's flight codes and reservation system. Flights qualified for miles on BA's frequent-flyer program, Executive Club.

Destinations The following is a list of destinations served by Maersk Air UK. All scheduled services were flown out of their base at Birmingham Airport and were branded as British Airways flights.

City Country Airport Being End Ref Amsterdam Netherlands Amsterdam Airport Schiphol 1993 2003 Belfast United Kingdom Belfast International Airport 1993 2003 Berlin Germany 2000 2003 Birmingham United Kingdom Birmingham Airport[Base] 1993 2003 Bordeaux France Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport 2002 2003 Brussels Belgium Brussels Airport 2000 2001 Copenhagen Denmark Copenhagen Airport 1993 2003 Cork Ireland Cork Airport 1993 1996 Dublin Ireland Dublin Airport 1993 1996 Frankfurt Germany Frankfurt Airport 2000 2001 Geneva Switzerland Geneva International Airport 1999 2003 Glasgow United Kingdom Glasgow Airport 1993 1996 Gothenburg Sweden Göteborg Landvetter Airport 2002 2003 Hamburg Germany Hamburg Airport 2001 2003 Hanover Germany Hannover Airport 2001 2003 Lyon France Lyon Airport 1996 2003 Marseille France Marseille Airport 2001 2001 Milan Italy 1993 2003 Nice France Nice Côte d'Azur Airport 2002 2003 Newcastle United Kingdom Newcastle Airport 1993 2001 Rome Italy Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport 1999 2001 Stockholm Sweden Stockholm Arlanda Airport 1999 2003 Stuttgart Germany Stuttgart Airport 1993 2003 Toulouse France Toulouse–Blagnac Airport 2002 2003 Venice Italy Venice Marco Polo Airport 1999 2003 Zürich Switzerland Zurich Airport 2000 2001

Fleet The following is a list of aircraft types operated by Maersk Air UK. The airline did not own any of their aircraft themselves; instead, these were leased from its parent company.

+ Maersk Air UK aircraft Aircraft Qty. Intro Retired Ref. British Aerospace 1-11-400 4 1993 1998 British Aerospace 1-11-500 2 1993 1998 British Aerospace Jetstream 31 3 1993 1996 British Aerospace Jetstream 41 1 1996 1999 Boeing 737-500 6 1996 2002 Bombardier CRJ200 10 1999 2003 Bombardier CRJ700 5 2002 2003

See also List of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom

References

Bibliography

Further reading Briefing Document, 14 December 1993, Maersk Air Ltd., Birmingham