Stansted Airport History and Nostalgia
Thread Starter
Well obviously after reading that report I can put my thoughts of any incident involving a BA/KT Boeing 707-436 at London Stansted Airport during the seventies firmly to sleep 🤗
At the same time I'm now wondering that after all these years I've been confusing it with the incident at Prestwick as the particulars are very similar.
So moving on now that we can totally discount my theory.
The LEDA was not owned or operated by Tor Line.
The LEDA was completed in 1953 by Swan Hunters, Tyneside for the Norwegian company Bergen Line for service between Bergen, Stavanger and Newcastle.
Withdrawn from service in 1973 and sold to Saudi Arabia as a pilgrim ship. Sold again in 1983 and converted into a cruise ship. After several owner's and names she was eventually scrapped in 2002.
The Swedish company Tor Line was formed in 1964 with operations commencing in 1966 between Immingham and Gothenburg with the TOR HOLLANDIA.
The LEDA was completed in 1953 by Swan Hunters, Tyneside for the Norwegian company Bergen Line for service between Bergen, Stavanger and Newcastle.
Withdrawn from service in 1973 and sold to Saudi Arabia as a pilgrim ship. Sold again in 1983 and converted into a cruise ship. After several owner's and names she was eventually scrapped in 2002.
The Swedish company Tor Line was formed in 1964 with operations commencing in 1966 between Immingham and Gothenburg with the TOR HOLLANDIA.
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The only British Airtours incident I am aware of at Stansted was in March either '84 or '85 when a Tristar on a training sortie left the taxiway paved surface while taxying out to runway 23 to start the training. The right main gear got stuck in the mud and it took a while to pull it out as it was heavy with fuel. . Apparently the captain was the same as the one on the B707 Prestwick incident a few years earlier. I've got some Kodacrome photo slides of it but don't have ability to convert to print photos to show on here.
Also Kondair Trislander G-BCCU in September 1986 operating a night Amsterdam - Stansted freight flight. The pilot fell asleep and the aircraft hit the sea damaging the undercarriage..
Also Kondair Trislander G-BCCU in September 1986 operating a night Amsterdam - Stansted freight flight. The pilot fell asleep and the aircraft hit the sea damaging the undercarriage..
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Moving on to the very late 80's I worked with an ex BEA/BA Captain who had been a rookie pilot at the time on the jumpseat of that Argosy, with his wonderful humour he did jest that he did think twice about continuing as a pilot or not.
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what a great thread, I remember the IL76's of the 1990's
Uralintervaia inbound with flasks of something which required large radioactive signs on it
Sayakhat picking up cigarettes which were driven from Belfast
Uzbekistan Airlines with general cargo
Aeroflot scheduled service twice a week.
Turkmenistan with Silver and Gold.
and the based Heavylift ones.
I remember one shift where there were five IL76's from three different companies lined up on the alpha stands..... Its not like that now !!!
Uralintervaia inbound with flasks of something which required large radioactive signs on it
Sayakhat picking up cigarettes which were driven from Belfast
Uzbekistan Airlines with general cargo
Aeroflot scheduled service twice a week.
Turkmenistan with Silver and Gold.
and the based Heavylift ones.
I remember one shift where there were five IL76's from three different companies lined up on the alpha stands..... Its not like that now !!!
Thread Starter
It's not like that anymore as the IL-76 has been banned from EU airspace since 01 April 2002.
But London Stansted Airport has and does see it's fair share of cargo operators although obviously the variety isn't what it once was.
Whilst we're on the subject of cargo operators that previously used London Stansted Airport over the years perhaps we can compile a list of scheduled airline's that operated pure cargo flights.
I'm NOT listing ad-hoc cargo flights as there has been numerous airline's operating those into London Stansted over the years.
Here is a brief list of airlines that previously operated "SCHEDULED" pure cargo flights into London Stansted Airport, some of them were short lived such as examples like the Lufthansa Cargo, Japan Airlines Cargo and Singapore Airlines Cargo flights.
Any additional airline's that I have missed feel free to add.
Aeroflot Cargo
Air France Cargo
Air Hong Kong
British Airways World Cargo
CargoLogic Air
Cathay Pacific Cargo
Dragonair Cargo
Egypt Air Cargo
Emery Worldwide?
Etihad Airways Cargo
Global Supply Systems
Icelandair Cargo
Japan Airlines Cargo
Korean Air Cargo
Lufthansa Cargo
NCA Nippon Cargo Airlines
Singapore Airlines Cargo
Silk Ways Cargo Airlines
Transaero Cargo
But London Stansted Airport has and does see it's fair share of cargo operators although obviously the variety isn't what it once was.
Whilst we're on the subject of cargo operators that previously used London Stansted Airport over the years perhaps we can compile a list of scheduled airline's that operated pure cargo flights.
I'm NOT listing ad-hoc cargo flights as there has been numerous airline's operating those into London Stansted over the years.
Here is a brief list of airlines that previously operated "SCHEDULED" pure cargo flights into London Stansted Airport, some of them were short lived such as examples like the Lufthansa Cargo, Japan Airlines Cargo and Singapore Airlines Cargo flights.
Any additional airline's that I have missed feel free to add.
Aeroflot Cargo
Air France Cargo
Air Hong Kong
British Airways World Cargo
CargoLogic Air
Cathay Pacific Cargo
Dragonair Cargo
Egypt Air Cargo
Emery Worldwide?
Etihad Airways Cargo
Global Supply Systems
Icelandair Cargo
Japan Airlines Cargo
Korean Air Cargo
Lufthansa Cargo
NCA Nippon Cargo Airlines
Singapore Airlines Cargo
Silk Ways Cargo Airlines
Transaero Cargo
Last edited by Sotonsean; 4th Apr 2020 at 21:59. Reason: Content
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It's not like that anymore as the IL-76 has been banned from EU airspace since 01 April 2002.
But London Stansted Airport has and does see it's fair share of cargo operators although obviously the variety isn't what it once was.
Whilst we're on the subject of cargo operators that previously used London Stansted Airport over the years perhaps we can compile a list of scheduled airline's that operated pure cargo flights.
I'm NOT listing ad-hoc cargo flights as there has been numerous airline's operating those into London Stansted over the years.
Here is a brief list of airlines that previously operated "SCHEDULED" pure cargo flights into London Stansted Airport, some of them were short lived such as examples like the Lufthansa Cargo, Japan Airlines Cargo and Singapore Airlines Cargo flights.
Any additional airline's that I have missed feel free to add.
Aeroflot Cargo
Air France Cargo
Air Hong Kong
British Airways World Cargo
CargoLogic Air
Cathay Pacific Cargo
Dragonair Cargo
Egypt Air Cargo
Emery Worldwide?
Etihad Airways Cargo
Global Supply Systems
Japan Airlines Cargo
Korean Air Cargo
Lufthansa Cargo
NCA Nippon Cargo Airlines
Singapore Airlines Cargo
Silk Ways Cargo Airlines
But London Stansted Airport has and does see it's fair share of cargo operators although obviously the variety isn't what it once was.
Whilst we're on the subject of cargo operators that previously used London Stansted Airport over the years perhaps we can compile a list of scheduled airline's that operated pure cargo flights.
I'm NOT listing ad-hoc cargo flights as there has been numerous airline's operating those into London Stansted over the years.
Here is a brief list of airlines that previously operated "SCHEDULED" pure cargo flights into London Stansted Airport, some of them were short lived such as examples like the Lufthansa Cargo, Japan Airlines Cargo and Singapore Airlines Cargo flights.
Any additional airline's that I have missed feel free to add.
Aeroflot Cargo
Air France Cargo
Air Hong Kong
British Airways World Cargo
CargoLogic Air
Cathay Pacific Cargo
Dragonair Cargo
Egypt Air Cargo
Emery Worldwide?
Etihad Airways Cargo
Global Supply Systems
Japan Airlines Cargo
Korean Air Cargo
Lufthansa Cargo
NCA Nippon Cargo Airlines
Singapore Airlines Cargo
Silk Ways Cargo Airlines
Thread Starter
Global Supply Systems was formed on the 31 January 2001 and started operations on 29 June 2002. It began operations for British Airways World Cargo between London Stansted Airport and Frankfurt and Hong Kong using a Boeing 747-400F on dry lease from partner Atlas Air. The company was founded by Atlas Air and John Robert Porter and was majority British owned (51%) with Atlas Air as minority shareholder (49%).
GSS Global Supply Systems eventually operated three Boeing 747-400F aircraft. Two were painted in the white and blue tailed livery of GSS with one aircraft painted in the full British Airways World Cargo livery.
Boeing 747-47UF/SCD N495MC from Atlas Air wore the full British Airways World Cargo livery and was the only Boeing 747 wearing the "English Rose" livery as part of the British Airways "world tails" concept. It was based at London Stansted Airport.
In January 2014 British Airways World Cargo as the main customer terminated it's contract with Global Supply Systems GSS effective from 30 April 2014. GSS was unable to find a new customer and ceased operations later that year.
In February 2014 British Airways and Atlas Air had an arrangement where three brand new Boeing 747-800F aircraft would operate for British Airways World Cargo based at London Stansted Airport. The three Boeing 747-800F aircraft were British registered, British Airways crewed and fully painted in British Airways World Cargo livery and operated flights to destinations such as Chicago, Delhi, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Johannesburg.
London Stansted Airport was a long haul base for British Airways World Cargo.
British Airways World Cargo operated three Boeing 747-8F in full British Airways World Cargo livery.
G-GSSD
G-GSSD
G-GSSE
(Loads of photos and videos online showing these particular aircraft especially at London Stansted Airport)
On the 29 July 2013 London Stansted Airport saw the arrival of British Airways A380 G-XLEA, it was parked at Satellite 1 along with a British Airways World Cargo Boeing 747-8F G-GSSD as part of a publicity event
(Again loads of photos and videos online showing this event)
In 2015 British Airways World Cargo terminated their arrangement with Atlas Air and British Airways World Cargo was renamed IAG Cargo with all pure cargo flights from London Stansted Airport ceasing.
At the same time Qatar Airways Cargo took over many of the IAG Cargo flights excluding their own cargo flights into London Stansted Airport.
The majority of IAG Cargo is carried as belly freight along with the dedicated flights operated by DHL.
As your aware up until March 1982 British Airways had a pure cargo operation British Airways Cargo with a sub fleet of Boeing 707-320C, Merchantman plus a single Boeing 747-200F registration G-KILO which was subsequently sold to Cathay Pacific Airways Cargo.
G-KILO was delivered to British Airways Cargo on the 30 September 1980. Sold to Cathay Pacific on the 15 March 1982 and re-registered as VR-HVY.
Dedicated British Airways Cargo flights ceased in February 1982 with all remaining cargo flown as belly cargo.
Last edited by Sotonsean; 9th Apr 2020 at 08:17.
Thread Starter
Two photos of British registered British Airways World Cargo Boeing 747-8F operated between 2013 and 2014. Three examples were wet leased by British Airways World Cargo from Atlas Air and based at London Stansted Airport.
The bottom photo is Boeing 747-47UK/SCD N495MC leased to GSS Global Supply Systems from Atlas Air and wearing the "English Rose" tail and operating for British Airways World Cargo based at London Stansted Airport. N495MC operated for British Airways World Cargo out of London Stansted Airport from 2001 to 2012.
British Airways World Cargo operated from London Stansted Airport to destinations including,
Chicago, Delhi, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Johannesburg.
Thread Starter
British Airways received a factory fresh Boeing 747-200F G-KILO on the 30 September 1980. First flight of G-KILO was on 19 September 1980.
It was during this period in time that British Airways were going under a major marketing overhaul adjusting the airline's name to British. The airline was still registered as British Airways. Aircraft wore just the title of "British" minus the airways. G-KILO wore the titles British cargo.
On the 15 March 1982 British Airways sold G-KILO to Cathay Pacific Airways and re-registered VR-HVY, it was put on the airline's Hong Kong to Frankfurt and London Gatwick routes.
G-KILO British cargo at the British Airways maintenance area at London Heathrow Airport in March 1981
Last edited by Sotonsean; 6th Apr 2020 at 05:08.
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Whilst Air Foyle had their own AOC, which a certain easyJet operated under in their early days, I'm not aware that Air Foyle operated 'scheduled' cargo/courier other than sub-contracting for one or more of the big boys, ditto for Heavylift also, can't speak for Channex as I never worked for them but I think ditto also.
Thread Starter
FedEx..Still operate from London Stansted Airport
TNT..Is now a subsidiary of FedEx
UPS.. Still operate from London Stansted Airport
Although Heavylift operated cargo flights from London Stansted Airport they were invariably "ad-hoc" charter cargo flights compared to full scheduled cargo flights. The only flight that Heavylift operated that could more or less be classed as a scheduled cargo flight was their operation from London Stansted Airport to Hong Kong.
Channel Express operated the newspaper runs and various other flights but we're they full on scheduled cargo flights!
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the Air Foyle AOC was used for the TNT 146's in the early days.
Channel Express operated for the Post Office I also believe they operated scheduled service Hearald's in the early days from the Channel Islands.
Heavylift operated a Belfast AMS-MAN-AMS for a few years carrying KLM cargo but under using a heavylift callsign. I don't know if that counts as scheduled service or not.
Channel Express operated for the Post Office I also believe they operated scheduled service Hearald's in the early days from the Channel Islands.
Heavylift operated a Belfast AMS-MAN-AMS for a few years carrying KLM cargo but under using a heavylift callsign. I don't know if that counts as scheduled service or not.
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the Air Foyle AOC was used for the TNT 146's in the early days.
Channel Express operated for the Post Office I also believe they operated scheduled service Hearald's in the early days from the Channel Islands.
Heavylift operated a Belfast AMS-MAN-AMS for a few years carrying KLM cargo but under using a heavylift callsign. I don't know if that counts as scheduled service or not.
Channel Express operated for the Post Office I also believe they operated scheduled service Hearald's in the early days from the Channel Islands.
Heavylift operated a Belfast AMS-MAN-AMS for a few years carrying KLM cargo but under using a heavylift callsign. I don't know if that counts as scheduled service or not.
Thread Starter
After searching again online there are literally loads of pages referring to the EU wide ban of the IL-76 in EU airspace that came into effect in 2002.
You can do the same and your find the exact same results!
Swiss airspace is still open to the IL-76 so perhaps this is a diversion.
The only reason why I'm assuming that a IL-76 was at Vienna Airport in 2018 was a diversion or it was given special permission in aid of a humanitarian relief flight.
You can do the same and your find the exact same results!
Swiss airspace is still open to the IL-76 so perhaps this is a diversion.
The only reason why I'm assuming that a IL-76 was at Vienna Airport in 2018 was a diversion or it was given special permission in aid of a humanitarian relief flight.
Great video of an Il-76 departing STN....in 2017:
For a while in 1999 I used to live in a house near Molehill Green (The Three Horseshoes being my walking local). It was a time when both the Il76 and An124 were STN regulars and there was nothing quite like a late evening/early morning approach and landing of a Russian beasty on 23 to get your senses going and shake the crockery in the kitchen cupboards.
For a while in 1999 I used to live in a house near Molehill Green (The Three Horseshoes being my walking local). It was a time when both the Il76 and An124 were STN regulars and there was nothing quite like a late evening/early morning approach and landing of a Russian beasty on 23 to get your senses going and shake the crockery in the kitchen cupboards.