Didn't BA op BHX-NCL-FRA a long time ago (late eighties?
Yes quite right. Birmingham European operated their own flight from BHX to NCL and back using
VB prefix. At NCL it became a BA flight to FRA and back. It used to be operated on a Gulfstream 1 turboprop or a BAC 1-11.
Around 1988/9 Birmingham Executive was bought out by BA and Maersk and became B'ham European. This enabled BEA to operate a lot more flights for BA because of the acquisition of jet a/c