Originally Posted by
lederhosen
Aviogenex (a yugoslav airline as rog747 pointed out) remains in my memory for a trip from Manchester to Dubrovnik via Gatwick. We pushed back and trundled down in the direction of the threshold of 08. At some point a small van with luggage catches us up. The aircraft comes to a stop and sound of number three shutting down and rear hold opening. Swift reloading of our bags which had been wrongly offloaded in Gatwick and we were on our way again. In many years of flying the line I cannot remember anything similar. The 727 we were on had previously belonged to Tito and was one of a matched pair that always flew in tandem. Apparently Tito never decided until the last minute which one he was going on so anyone trying to shoot him down would not know either. The landing in Dubrovnik was somewhat enlivened by the look on the face of the stewardess as we touched down as she was still pushing a trolley up the aisle.
YU-AKD and AKH were those two aircraft. Aviogenex got their hands on them in 1983. YU-AKM, an ex-Alitalia 727, joined them in about 1986 or 87. I lost track of their 727s after that.
Back to the Spanish and Aviaco, being an Iberia subsidiary, frequently had the parent company operate the busiest charter routes on its behalf with its larger aircraft. Consequently, Iberia A300s and 727s bearing Aviaco flight numbers and R/T callsigns could be seen at UK airports and perhaps across Europe as well. An Iberia A300 used to operate an Aviaco Palma - Leeds Bradford rotation every Sunday during summer 1986. One Sunday, the flight was operated by an Aviaco DC8-61, still wearing Saudia colours.