Was not Mike Budge in Flight Ops at some stage?

Joe Sharps was Chief Pilot of Sunways Sweden which folded Oct 1997

Mike Budge was DFO at AB Airlines, not Debonair.

https://i.imgur.com/DONNoiW.jpg
Dave Witts

Probably 18th or 23rd April 1973. LN-MTT visited on both these dates, departing to Kristiansand on Easter Monday 23rd April.

Did British Midland do their own handling at Luton as I can see a British Midland van in the photo?

Up until around 1975 I think, not sure if they had all their own ground equipment, although the ground power unit looks to be in their house purple colours. In 1967 they had 3 check-in desks at the right hand end of the desks when they were located in a line from left to right as you entered the terminal.

Don't recall when those desks disappeared but they were there into the 70s I think. Midland woke up an otherwise sleepy late morning on Saturdays in '68 and maybe '69 with Channel Islands flights and a Dublin IIRC - I'm sure cj will know when Dublin ceased - it didn't last long.

Dublin operated peak summer 1967 (from mid-July I think) on Wed/Thu, last flight I can find was on 14/9/67 on G-AVJB. 1968 there seem to be flights Wed/Sat from 1st June-end Sep although the 1968 BMA timetable shows flights Mon/Fri as well.
Not sure about 1969 flights.
IIRC the Midland desks went in 1975 and Dan Air took over the handling. Monarch when they started had 2 desks between Britannia and Midland, also Channel had a single desk at the right hand end for their short-lived Scottish Flyer service in 1969. Invicta also had their own check-in desks in the early 70's.

Re Midland Dublin schedules - I have a few clippings from the local paper in 1969 - Saturday Telegraph I think - where they used to print the planned movements for the airport. These mostly covered weekends and I only have a few of them but I can find no sign of anything looking like Dublin scheduled flights.

Some photos that mightn't have made it onto the thread.....

Fascinating photos reveal the stunning transformation of Luton Airport | Daily Mail Online

the first comet or 2 had large single wheel main gear with almost agricultural tyres

George Able Love Yoke Peter In full in the British phonetic alphabet. My favorite was Nan, as in George Able Nan Baker Easy. Only the Brits could have come up with that. It all went away in March 1956.

Hatfield had a concrete runway from the late 1940s - if I can find the right book I put the date on here.

Many pictures as you say that I haven't seen before and quite accurate for the press.

Construction of Hatfield's concrete runway was completed in December 1947, at a cost of some £442,000.


Hatfield Runway

Why said it was just the Brits? Nan was used by the Allies during WW2 - so the US was also involved in chosing it.

I think the current alphabet was adopted by ICAO and NATO

Further to those superb images from The Mail:

Luton Airways ceased operations in December 1959 having been founded by Messrs Jarvis and Fisher in December 1957. They had three Dragon Rapides; G-AHLF, G-AIBB and G-ALGC with an additional Dragon Rapide G-ALBC leased from McAlpines who also hangared and maintained Luton Airways' fleet. The Rapide in the photograph is G-ALGC. Luton Airways operated Pleasure Flights and Charters across the UK and near continent.

My notes for G-AFOI state the following : 20.09.1957 it was withdrawn from use at Sywell after its CofA expired - it was transported to Luton from Sywell early in 1958 for use as spares by Luton Airways Ltd for G-ALBC and was noted inside the McAlpine hangar in August 1958 (fuselage only) - the registration was cancelled 20.03.1957 as permanently withdrawn from use - on 19.03.1960 the fuselage was noted dumped outside the McAlpine hangar - I have nothing after this, so if anybody can add any more information I would be very interested!