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Orion Airways Airbus 300s.

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Orion Airways Airbus 300s.

Old 13th Apr 2020, 10:07
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Originally Posted by rog747
Looking at that 1988 list there are a few W rotations on there where BHX sees the MAN A300 fly in and out - I guess EMA likely saw those as well now and again too on peak dates/routes
They only flew 2 seasons 87 and 88

The 737's did loads of W flights in and out of - Bournemouth Blackpool Bristol Southend Teesside Bristol LBA LTN GLA

EMA had 737-200 and 300 series that flew to all or most of those places the A300's did - possibly to more smaller Greek islands too
thread drift but also Newcastle with w patterns. For example 733 on Saturdays in 1986 to alc, 737-200’s to mah on Mondays 86 -89 (?) and a 737-300 to ath (LGW W always G-BOLM in 88). Can’t remember KG going to Teeside in the late 80’s, was mainly Dan Air.

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Old 13th Apr 2020, 10:19
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Originally Posted by rog747
(tech stop QTV on the way home) QTV ??
not sure of that one
QTV is in Texas!
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Old 13th Apr 2020, 10:37
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Originally Posted by Flightrider
1988 EMA programme for two based 737-300s:

Sat KG703 EMA-PMI 0710 / KG704 PMI-EMA 1350
Sat KG204 EMA-PMI 1530 / KG205 PMI-EMA 2115
Sat KG2861 EMA-GRO 2210 / KG2862 GRO-EMA 0310
Sun KG711 EMA-MUC 0825 / KG712 MUC-EMA 1310
Sun KG777 EMA-LEI 1415 / KG778 LEI-EMA 2050
Sun KG721 EMA-FAO 2150 / KG722 FAO-EMA 0430
Mon KG2407 EMA-CFU 1225 / KG2408 CFU-EMA 2015
Mon KG2603 EMA-ZTH 2135 / KG2604 ZTH-EMA 0645 (tech stop QTV on the way home)
Tue KG204 EMA-PMI 0940 / KG205 PMI-EMA 1535
Tue KG717 EMA-HER 1630 / KG718 HER-EMA 2345
Wed KG719 EMA-PMI 0055 / KG720 PMI-EMA 0635
Wed KG733 EMA-IBZ 1545 / KG734 IBZ-EMA 2135
Wed KG751 EMA-RHO 2245 / KG752 RHO-EMA 0810
Thu KG749 EMA-FAO 0935 / KG750 FAO-EMA 1615
Thu KG2881 EMA-GRO 1715 / KG2882 GRO-EMA 2215
Thu KG771 EMA-AGP 2330 / KG772 AGP-EMA 0600
Fri KG705 EMA-NAP 0710 / KG706 NAP-EMA 1450
Fri KG791 EMA-MAH 1545 / KG792 MAH-EMA 2130
Fri KG737 EMA-CFU 2240 / KG738 CFU-EMA 0625

Sat KG701 EMA-ALC 1040 / KG702 ALC-EMA 1650
Sat KG709 EMA-PMI 1800 / KG710 PMI-EMA 2345
Sun KG707 EMA-PMI 0040 / KG708 PMI-EMA 0625
Sun KG206 EMA-AGP 0905 / KG866 AGP-BHX 1540
Sun KG865 BHX-AGP 1700 / KG207 AGP-EMA 2340
Mon KG773 EMA-IBZ 0035 / KG774 IBZ-EMA 0625
Mon KG769 EMA-MAH 0910 / KG770 MAH-EMA 1450
Mon KG755 EMA-MAH 1550 / KG756 MAH-EMA 2125
Mon KG725 EMA-CFU 2330 / KG726 CFU-EMA 0710
Tue KG715 EMA-TFS 0900 / KG716 TFS-EMA 0545
Wed KG781 EMA-QTV 0800 / KG782 QTV-EMA 1310
Wed KG727 EMA-LCA 1415 / KG728 LCA-EMA 0055
Thu KG783 EMA-LEI 0800 / KG784 LEI-EMA 1430
Thu KG2877 EMA-REU 1515 / KG2878 REU-EMA 2020
Thu KG767 EMA-PMI 2130 / KG768 PMI-EMA 0315
Fri KG2605 EMA-CFU 1345 / KG2606 CFU-EMA 2130
Fri KG743 EMA-HER 2255 / KG744 HER-EMA 0825

Sun KG761 EMA-IBZ 1455 / KG762 IBZ-EMA 1345 ran on 737-200 as a W pattern off Birmingham

Quite a bit of other flying though - BHX/JER on Saturdays had an Orion 737, an Air UK Leisure 737-200, a Brymon Dash 7 and several British Midland DC9s. The Birmingham-based 737 did a Saturday morning Reus, a lunchtime Jersey, an afternoon Alicante and then a night Gerona!
Thank you very much.
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Old 13th Apr 2020, 10:55
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I think Orion did flights to Gambia at some stage?
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Old 13th Apr 2020, 11:06
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QTV was the old code for Venice Treviso.

Outside EMA, BHX, MAN and LGW 1985 had Orion flying:
BOH to MAH, FAO, CFU and PMI
STN to CFU
CWL to MAH, FAO
LBA to MAH, LEI, FAO, CFU
GLA to PMI, TFS, LEI, FAO, NAP, HER, CFU,
NCL to CFU and HER
BRS to MAH, TFS, LEI, FAO, NAP, RHO, CFU
LTN to LEI, FAO, HER, CFU

They were also doing MAN-TLV in -B1 powered 737-300...

Virtually all of the regional stuff had gone by 1988. Destinations in Greece for Horizon were RHO, CFU, HER, EFL, SKG, JSI and ZTH. For other tour operators including Owners Abroad group, they were also flying ATH, ZTH (the 733s looked like they could get back non-stop to LGW but nowhere further north, as refuelling stops at QTV were planned), JSI, PVK, JTR, EFL and SMI. Most of Grecian's flying was on the Paramount MD83s by then with Owners Abroad also using the Amber Air 737-200s at Manchester.

Looks like only Britannia and Dan-Air were serving JMK in 1988. And yes, there was a Friday night Newcastle-Athens W pattern from Gatwick on a 737-300.

Turning the clock back further, to 1982, one can't help but think that the BD9115 Alicante departure at 23:30 on a Sunday night must have been unpopular with the locals - in a 707. Nearest rival is probably the OM544 01:30 Sunday morning departure from Luton to Tel Aviv in a Boeing 720 - which I guess you could probably hear on the outskirts of Birmingham too!

But yes, I've got most of the ATUK books - missing a few along the way but have a pile of them.
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Old 13th Apr 2020, 11:28
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Originally Posted by Flightrider
QTV was the old code for Venice Treviso.

Outside EMA, BHX, MAN and LGW 1985 had Orion flying:
BOH to MAH, FAO, CFU and PMI
STN to CFU
CWL to MAH, FAO
LBA to MAH, LEI, FAO, CFU
GLA to PMI, TFS, LEI, FAO, NAP, HER, CFU,
NCL to CFU and HER
BRS to MAH, TFS, LEI, FAO, NAP, RHO, CFU
LTN to LEI, FAO, HER, CFU

They were also doing MAN-TLV in -B1 powered 737-300...

Virtually all of the regional stuff had gone by 1988. Destinations in Greece for Horizon were RHO, CFU, HER, EFL, SKG, JSI and ZTH. For other tour operators including Owners Abroad group, they were also flying ATH, ZTH (the 733s looked like they could get back non-stop to LGW but nowhere further north, as refuelling stops at QTV were planned), JSI, PVK, JTR, EFL and SMI. Most of Grecian's flying was on the Paramount MD83s by then with Owners Abroad also using the Amber Air 737-200s at Manchester.

Looks like only Britannia and Dan-Air were serving JMK in 1988. And yes, there was a Friday night Newcastle-Athens W pattern from Gatwick on a 737-300.

Turning the clock back further, to 1982, one can't help but think that the BD9115 Alicante departure at 23:30 on a Sunday night must have been unpopular with the locals - in a 707. Nearest rival is probably the OM544 01:30 Sunday morning departure from Luton to Tel Aviv in a Boeing 720 - which I guess you could probably hear on the outskirts of Birmingham too!

But yes, I've got most of the ATUK books - missing a few along the way but have a pile of them.

even more drift but I lived on the flight path to NCL in the 80’s and distinctly remember being shaken awake on Saturday mornings (1985 or 6 I think) at around 3am as an Air Atlantis 707 took off. Later through ATUk found out this was a regular flight for Airtours To FAO (presumably based on the model that Intasun started of old aircraft on night flights with limited catering = cheap holidays).
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Old 13th Apr 2020, 12:22
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Originally Posted by Flightrider
QTV was the old code for Venice Treviso.

Outside EMA, BHX, MAN and LGW 1985 had Orion flying:
BOH to MAH, FAO, CFU and PMI
STN to CFU
CWL to MAH, FAO
LBA to MAH, LEI, FAO, CFU
GLA to PMI, TFS, LEI, FAO, NAP, HER, CFU,
NCL to CFU and HER
BRS to MAH, TFS, LEI, FAO, NAP, RHO, CFU
LTN to LEI, FAO, HER, CFU

They were also doing MAN-TLV in -B1 powered 737-300...

Virtually all of the regional stuff had gone by 1988. Destinations in Greece for Horizon were RHO, CFU, HER, EFL, SKG, JSI and ZTH. For other tour operators including Owners Abroad group, they were also flying ATH, ZTH (the 733s looked like they could get back non-stop to LGW but nowhere further north, as refuelling stops at QTV were planned), JSI, PVK, JTR, EFL and SMI. Most of Grecian's flying was on the Paramount MD83s by then with Owners Abroad also using the Amber Air 737-200s at Manchester.

Looks like only Britannia and Dan-Air were serving JMK in 1988. And yes, there was a Friday night Newcastle-Athens W pattern from Gatwick on a 737-300.

Turning the clock back further, to 1982, one can't help but think that the BD9115 Alicante departure at 23:30 on a Sunday night must have been unpopular with the locals - in a 707. Nearest rival is probably the OM544 01:30 Sunday morning departure from Luton to Tel Aviv in a Boeing 720 - which I guess you could probably hear on the outskirts of Birmingham too!

But yes, I've got most of the ATUK books - missing a few along the way but have a pile of them.
. Why did Orion stop the regional flights by 88?
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Old 13th Apr 2020, 14:17
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Originally Posted by Phileas Fogg
QTV is in Texas!
I believe QTV was, at the time used for Treviso, not sure if that was official though. Were the IATA airfield "Q" codes unofficial? QLA is oft used for Lasham, but a Google search doesn't turn up any code for Lasham.

(Phileas beat me to it!!).
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Old 13th Apr 2020, 20:55
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Originally Posted by classic200
Orion did have Flight Engineers, I think there 14 of us based at LGW or MAN, as for the A/C, they were based one at LGW and one at MAN and they would switch over each week so that some maint. could be attempted by Dan Air at LGW.
I personally have operated from MAN, EMA, LGW, BHX, LTN, STN and Liverpool to Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, France, Germany and all of the Islands.
Sadly it didn,t last long and was swallowed up by Britannia.
Thankyou, classic.

The Orion A300 never graced the LBA concrete. I'm not sure the 733 did either, at least not until the fleet had been subsumed into Britannia's, by which time the 733 visited at least once a week until Britannia disposed of the fleet.

Orion didn't have a base at LBA, 'W' patterns only, albeit in significant numbers.
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Old 14th Apr 2020, 00:23
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Originally Posted by ATNotts
I believe QTV was, at the time used for Treviso, not sure if that was official though. Were the IATA airfield "Q" codes unofficial? QLA is oft used for Lasham, but a Google search doesn't turn up any code for Lasham.

(Phileas beat me to it!!).
Google for "iata code qla" or whatever code
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Old 14th Apr 2020, 00:52
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It a source of confusion for me to see Orion Airlines being a British Company as I worked for Orion Air in 1986 but it was the American one. At one time it operated about 85 cargo aircraft, B747-100, DC8-73, B727-100 and DC9-30 series. None of them had Orion Air on them for we operated for UPS, Emery and other companies. We did a brief stab at operating charter passenger B747-100 and even a b727-200. The B747 was fitted with 504 seats but was an ex-Pan Am'er and had come off lease from TWA. It was very knackered out and trying to find a substitute aircraft for it when it went AOG usually meant hiring two aircraft. Operating pax charters turned out to be a final blow. The Mother Company of Orion meanwhile put me on building and certifying a repair station in Greensboro which I did. It was TIMCO until HAECO bought it out and has done quite well since.
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Old 14th Apr 2020, 06:04
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Originally Posted by tonytales
It a source of confusion for me to see Orion Airlines being a British Company as I worked for Orion Air in 1986 but it was the American one. At one time it operated about 85 cargo aircraft, B747-100, DC8-73, B727-100 and DC9-30 series. None of them had Orion Air on them for we operated for UPS, Emery and other companies. We did a brief stab at operating charter passenger B747-100 and even a b727-200. The B747 was fitted with 504 seats but was an ex-Pan Am'er and had come off lease from TWA. It was very knackered out and trying to find a substitute aircraft for it when it went AOG usually meant hiring two aircraft. Operating pax charters turned out to be a final blow. The Mother Company of Orion meanwhile put me on building and certifying a repair station in Greensboro which I did. It was TIMCO until HAECO bought it out and has done quite well since.
Tony,
ORION was a UK company, wholly owned by the holiday travel group HORIZON ( hence the name ). Later I believe a large UK Brewing Company bought some shares in it. All aircraft owned and operated by Orion.
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Old 14th Apr 2020, 09:01
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Orion UK (KG) was formed by Horizon Midlands Holidays who had survived the Court Line crash in 1974 and went it alone, whereas Horizon Holidays and 4S Travel did not.
In 1989 Horizon Hols (they had dropped the Midlands by now) was bought by Thomson Hols and the KG fleet was merged into Britannia/BY who did not want the A300's and AFAIK did not operate them as BY flights.
The 737-300's were painted in BY livery but were not kept for that long.

There was a USA outfit also called Orion who leased some dodgy old 747-100 crates from Cargolux op'g for Airtours International and ICA (Barbados)
(Cargolux also leased 747-100 to Lion Air also op for Airtours)

Re QTV - Ah yes I should have got the ''TV'' as Treviso, I did wonder that ~~ Also back in the early 70's Reus was known as QGN (Tarragona)



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Old 14th Apr 2020, 12:40
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The second A/C was painted just before everything fell to bits.
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Old 16th Apr 2020, 21:27
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Bass, who Eventually bought Horizon and then sold it to Thompson (Britannia) had the Hotel El Moresco, Hotel Indalo and Pueblo Indalo all in Mojacar. I think this helped focus the KG movements through Almeria. I remember the check in queue coming out through the doors of the tiny terminal.
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Old 16th Apr 2020, 21:31
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Sold to Thompson Holidays (Britannia Airways)
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Old 17th Apr 2020, 07:25
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Yes Bass - that was them - I was wracking my brain on that one.
And Rank bought BCAL Charter (the ex Laker DC-10-10 charter operation)
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Old 17th Apr 2020, 09:06
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Originally Posted by Moneymatters
Sold to Thompson Holidays (Britannia Airways)
A bit like "Stanste(a)d" there's no "p" in Thomson!! Sorry for excessive pedantry, life's a tad boring!
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Old 18th Apr 2020, 03:03
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Just to add a few photos of Orion Airways aircraft to remind us all what a nice livery the airline had.

Orion Airways Boeing 737-2Q8 G-BGTY



Orion Airways Boeing 737-3T5 G-BLKB



Orion Airways Airbus A300B4-2C G-BMZK



Orion Airways Boeing 737-2L9 G-GPAB owned by Guinness Peat Aviation and previously leased to Monarch as G-BISO at Luton Airport 25 May 1984.


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Old 18th Apr 2020, 03:25
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Originally Posted by Flightrider
If I remember rightly, Dan-Air only had two A300s at any time - NA was borrowed from Hapag-Lloyd and then NB and NC followed a year later to replace it.

Unless my memory is also playing up, only the first of the Orion A300s was painted and the second stayed in a hybrid Lufthansa scheme (which was pretty austere) from beginning to end. I think it was ZK which was painted - it looked great in Orion colours.
Dan Air (Hapag Lloyd) Airbus A300B4 G-BMNA. Leased from Hapag Lloyd, in service between April 1986 and December 1986. G-BMNA wore a hybrid livery of Dan Air and Hapag Lloyd.



Dan Air Airbus A300B4 G-BMNB. Leased from Hapag Lloyd, in service with Dan Air between December 1986 and June 1990.



Dan Air Airbus A300B4 G-BMNC. Leased from Hapag Lloyd, in service with Dan Air between March 1988 and April 1991.



Orion Airways Airbus A300B4-203 G-BMZL in the hybrid "Lufthansa" livery. Former Lufthansa, delivered to Orion Airways in April 1987, left the fleet in January 1989 after the takeover by Thomson.



Orion Airways Airbus A300B4-203 G-BMZK was painted in the full livery. Former Lufthansa, delivered to Orion Airways in May 1987, left the fleet in January 1989 after the takeover by Thomson.


Last edited by Sotonsean; 18th Apr 2020 at 03:49.
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