The BKS/Northeast Viscount 800s were all ex-BEA mainstream fleet I believe, unlike their predecessor Viscount 700s, which BKS had picked up round and about on the secondhand market. Ultimately they were merged back in, with the ones which had stayed in the mainline fleet all along, into the BA fleet, and lasted there into the early 1980s, when they were finally withdrawn, and then sold as a job lot to British Air Ferries at Southend, where they put in further work for the best part of another 10 years.
It was in the early-1980s that I had a business trip (non-aviation) for a week in Southend, and stayed in the hotel right by the runway 06 threshold. Each afternoon that week a different one of these Viscounts, just the BA name painted out, would turn up, ferrying in from Cardiff. I guess the crew must have spent each morning going by train or taxi over to Cardiff, getting the aircraft ready, and bringing each one back.
In an unusual coincidence, these aircraft were associated with the same aviation entrepreneur twice. BKS originally was Barnaby, Keegan and Stevens, a 1950s secondary airline, and although long associated with the North-east of England, were originally based at Southend (one of their first routes was a low frequency Southend to Newcastle). The Keegan was Mike Keegan, who ran various enterprises over the years from Southend and Stansted, and eventually bought up the British United elements which became British Air Ferries, and still owned BAF when the Viscount 800s were bought from BA. I believe it was Keegan who, after the BKS ownership had been sold to BEA, made an issue of them still having his initial in the name, and after some legal intervention led to the change to Northeast.
Last edited by WHBM; 28th Aug 2022 at 10:42.