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Old 8th Apr 2011, 11:12
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WHBM
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: London UK
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Rather an ambitious operation, tied up financially with Southend travel agent Burstin Travel to operate to the traditional Spanish etc IT points. Started at Easter 1990 with 146 G-BRXT leased from BAe while they were waiting for their two, new, 146QCs to be delivered. G-PRIN came in June 1990, when BRXT went back to BAe, and G-PRCS was to follow the following year, but was never delivered as in the meantime operations ceased shortly after Christmas 1990. So they didn't last a year.

Did some operations for other smaller tour operators as well, so a day's passenger work might be a W Southend-Malaga-Bournemouth and reverse. From Southend this must have been on the limit of the 146s range. If loads didn't end up looking good the pax were put in coaches over to Gatwick and onto someone else's flight. The night-time freight work, as with much of this business, was short/medium term contracts, of which there was a tradition from Southend but it was a market in long term decline there.

Burstin was a local small-town bigwig, originally from Poland, got into travel and hotels, and was a notable Southend council politician of the time. The guys on the aviation side had been with other Southend operators.
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