History of SOU - GLA/EDI services
Hi KeMac
Flight magazine reported in Sep 1962 that Jersey Airlines had been granted a 7-year ATLB licence to operate BOH/SOU to GLA/EDI, and would commence operations the following summer, focussing initially on just BOH-GLA. Plan was SOU would not be included until runway improvements were made there, and EDI not until GLA traffic was established.
The BOH-GLA service was first timetabled, by now using BUA(CI) marketing titles, to start on 18 May 1963, utilising Herald aircraft, and initially operated summer seasonally via MAN with 2-3 weekly frequencies (Jersey AL already operated BOH-MAN, since 1954).
Service was switched from BOH to SOU effective from 1 Nov 1965, following completion of the new runway at SOU. This marked the start of all-year operations.
From summer 1966, Viscount aircraft were timetabled, with separate connections shown at SOU from JER/GCI, and from EXT, and it seems likely that the aircraft flying one or other of these two connecting flights would then have operated the onward sector to GLA, which carried a separate flight number.
BUA(CI) never operated from SOU to EDI themselves, but instead their summer timetables from 1965 onwards advertised a 30-min connection at GLA onto/from a British European Airways service to/from EDI. This BEA flight actually operated GLA-EDI-ABZ & vv.
From Nov 1968, BUA mainline replaced BUA(CI) on the SOU-GLA service, providing an upgrade to BAC One-Eleven jet aircraft. However, the advertised onward connection to EDI via BEA ceased at this time.
The BUA One-Eleven service, later operated under Caledonian//BUA and then British Caledonian titles, continued until 31 October 1974.
After a short break, British Airways operated SOU-GLA for about 18 months in 1975-76, and Air UK even more briefly (with Bandeirante aircraft) in 1984.
The route then remained unflown until Loganair began SOU-GLA service on 2 Sep 1991, with Jetstream aircraft. The sector subsequently passed successively & continuously to associate/ successor operators Manx Airlines (1994-96), British Regional Airlines (1996-2002), British Airways CitiExpress (2002-06) and ultimately BA Connect, who terminated their service in Oct 2006.
By this time, Flybe had (from Mar 2004) begun flying the sector in competition, and they have continued unbroken service on the SOU-GLA route ever since.
As far as I am aware, the first through-plane schedules between SOU and EDI were operated by British Airways in 1985, utilising 748 aircraft operating via BHX. Capital Airlines subsequently flew a brief Short 360 service via LBA in 1990.
The first nonstop SOU-EDI service was commenced by Loganair in Oct 1991, with subsequent history of the sector being similar to GLA as above (though with slightly different dates for the start of Flybe & the end of BA Connect service).
Most of this info is derived from original timetables in my possession. Hope this helps.