International Skyways, alias Skyways International, was an ill-fated regional airline based in Lympne U.K. which surrendered after just a little over a year.
History 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 the “natural heir” to the failed previous air carrier. 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 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 Skyways International employed 303 people at this time.
In February 1972, Sterling Industrial Securities sold the airline to Dan-Air for £650,000.£625,000 for the four ex-Skyways HS 748s and £25,000 for the defunct airline's vehicles Dan-Air completed the deal to take over International Skyways from Sterling Industrial Securities in April of that year, following which it integrated most of the routes into its own network of regional, short-haul scheduled services. Initially, these routes were operated by a separate subsidiary named Dan-Air Skyways. Such titles were applied to the four inherited HS 748s.Skyways sold, Air Transport, Flight International, 24 February 1972, p. 283Dan-Air Skyways formed, Air Transport, Flight International, 20 April 1972, p. 521Airline Profile: Number Forty-Three in the Series — Dan-Air, Flight International, 31 May 1973, p. 838Airline Profile: Number Forty-Three in the Series - Dan-Air, Flight International, 31 May 1973, p. 839Airline Profile: Number Forty-Three in the Series — Dan-Air, Flight International, 31 May 1973, p. 836
By 1974, Dan-Air Skyways was fully integrated with the rest of Dan-Air's scheduled operation, as a result of which it ceased to exist as a separate entity and the full Dan-Air livery was applied to all the fleet.
See also List of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom
Notes and citations Notes
Citations
Sources
(various backdated issues relating to Skyways International 1971-1972)
(Airliner World online)
External links Skyways at the Aviation Safety Network Database contemporary timetable images of Skyways Coach-Air and Skyways International Stansted Airport Consultative Committee, Stansted - The Early Years (1942-1966), Flying Troops from across the World