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Stansted Airport History and Nostalgia
EDIT.....since starting this thread the title has been changed from "Scandinavian Invasion" to something that better reflects the various topics and discussions. The new title to this thread is now named "Stansted Airport History and Nostalgia".
I appreciate everyone's contributions. I thought that I would start a thread regarding the Scandinavian Invasion that occurred on Sundays at London Stansted Airport during the late 1970's and 1980's long before the low cost airlines and the new terminal that opened in 1991. During that period London Stansted Airport was more of a ghost airport except for a few seasonal charters by the likes of Air Malta, Austrian Airlines, Aviogenex, Balkan Bulgarian Airlines, JAT Yugoslav Airlines, Transeuropa, a few scheduled flights from Jersey European Airways and Air UK. There was also the summer only weekly Viscount service from British Midland Airways to Jersey. London Stansted during the mid eighties also saw for a limited time the Highland Express B747 to Newark via Prestwick. Wardair operated a weekly B747 to Toronto plus the Caribbean Airways (Lionair) B747 charter to Barbados and the occasional American Trans Air TriStar. Towards the end of the eighties STN also saw regular visits from the Canadian airlines Air Transat with their B757's and Tristars and Crown Air DC8-52's. There was a short lived scheduled flight by Aer Lingus to Dublin with B737. Air France flew to Paris CDG with a SAAB 340 along with KLM to Amsterdam with a F27. The maintenance areas always had something of interest with regular visitors such as Air Guinea B707/ B727, Air Liberia B737, Air Mali B727, Somalia Airways B707, TAAG Angola Airlines B707, ZAS "Airline of Egypt" B707 and many more. TransMeridian CL-44's, DC8's, Shorts Belfasts, IAS Cargo Airlines DC8's. TransMeridian Cargo merged with IAS Cargo Airlines in 1979 to form the short lived British Cargo Airlines. Other cargo movements by U.A.S. Cargo B707, Uganda Airlines B707 and Hercules, the odd Flying Tiger Airlines DC8. There was of course the dedicated Ford flights with their BAC1-11's and Gulfstream 1's and aircraft on crew training flights from various airlines but on the whole there wasn't many movements especially compared to today. But the real highlight of the week was on a Sunday when London Stansted Airport saw many movements from various Scandinavian airlines that we're otherwise not seen in the United Kingdom. The only time you would probably see those airlines would be in their respective countries or in European sun destinations and in particular Greek or Spanish resort airport's. On a Sunday at London Stansted during the late 1970's upto the late 1980's you could see regular and multiple movements by the following airlines although some eventually moved to London Gatwick Airport as in the case with Finnair and Kar Air Finland. Sterling Airlines briefly moved to Luton Airport but eventually moved back to London Stansted Airport. Scanair was sold off by SAS and became Premair. Braathens SAFE...B737, B767 Busy Bee...B737 Conair...B720, A300, A320 Finnair...DC8, DC9 Kar Air Finland...DC8 Linjeflyg...F28 Mearsk...B720, B737 Premair...A300, DC10 SAS Scandinavian Airlines...DC8, DC9, D10 Scanair...A300, DC8, DC10 Sterling Airlines...B727, DC8, Caravelle Transair Sweden...B727 Transwede Airways...B737, Caravelle I'm sure that there are many members on here who can remember the Scandinavian Invasion at London Stansted Airport during that period. I would be interested to read about other people's memories from that period as well as sharing photos. The Luton Nostalgia thread over the years has always been a fairly active thread with some great posts and some excellent photos. Let's see if we can do justice to the past history at London Stansted Airport. I look forward to reading your comments Sean |
Here's a few.
MAOF ...B720 ...Tel-Aviv Intercontinental...DC8-50... Lagos (the airline that struck the tail of a parked Flying Tigers DC8 in the cargo apron during a go around due fog) AEI...CL44... JFK (cargo) Fedex...Started with B727-100...Memphis via Goose Bay or Gander Air UK...Bandeirante...Paris CDG Algerian...Hercules (cargo) Tradewinds... B707 (cargo) Instone...Bristol 170 |
Originally Posted by Sotonsean
(Post 10706611)
I thought that I would start a thread regarding the Scandinavian Invasion that occurred on Sundays at London Stansted Airport during the late 1970's and 1980's long before the low cost airlines and the new terminal that opened in 1991.
During that period London Stansted Airport was more of a ghost airport except for a few seasonal charters by the likes of Air Malta, Austrian Airlines, Aviogenex, Balkan Bulgarian Airlines, JAT Yugoslav Airlines, a few scheduled flights from Jersey European Airways and Air UK. There was also the summer only weekly Viscount service from British Midland Airways to Jersey plus during the mid eighties for limited time the Highland Express B747 to Newark via Prestwick. Wardair operated a weekly B747 to Toronto plus the Caribbean Airways (Lionair) B747 charter to Barbados and the occasional American Trans Air TriStar. The maintenance areas always had something of interest with regular visitors such as an Air Mali B727, Air Guinea B707, Somalia Airways B707, TAAG Angola Airlines B707 and many more plus the TransMeridian CL-44's and Shorts Belfasts. There was of course the dedicated Ford flights with their BAC1-11's and Gulfstream 1's and aircraft on crew training flights from various airlines but on the whole there wasn't many movements especially compared to today. But the real highlight of the week was on a Sunday when London Stansted Airport saw many movements from various Scandinavian airlines that we're otherwise not seen in the United Kingdom. I look forward to reading your comments Sean |
I grew up in the village of Stansted Mountfitchet and spent many, many happy hours spotting at Stansted airport during this period.
Normal hang out spots were the old terminal, the grass area to its immediate left (where Stansted Aviation Society eventually had a temporary building) or cycling around various in airport or perimeter vantage spots (low or no fences in those days). Kindly ATEL folk would let you peek into hangar 4 if you were well behaved. The Scandi invasion was largely two pronged, with an early morning fleet and then a repeat in the late afternoon/evening. The Sterling flights were normally the last to arrive and depart, normally after dark (season varying of course) I seem to recall Busy Bee also operated occasional F27's. Nor-Fly and Fred Olsen would also pitch in with ancient Convair 340/440's. Other regulars were the CAA/CAFU HS748 pair of G-ATMI and G-ATMJ and Eric Thustons PA-23 G-ASMY, training aspiring pilots. I took my first ever flight on G-ATMJ in 1977 as part of a programme organised by the CAA for Essex school children.....imagine that today? The ATEL Hangar 4 would, as noted by the OP, attract amazing exotica from around the world, mostly in the form of 707's and DC-8's but occasionally other types, including the Turkish Air Force Viscounts, Britannias, CL-44's and Hercs A few memories from that era. All the below circa 1983 https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f4de4fff8b.jpg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....7dee949e26.jpg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....ce6311738c.jpg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f9c5b8f2cc.jpg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....663d3a0fe4.jpg |
Lovely to share these memories .... can't provide images but enjoyed the Skyvans and Fokker F27s! Plus the joys of a good walk from home to the airport for a strong mug of tea in the portakabin. Also wonderful moments driving over the end of the runway (when the lights were green!).
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TCU
Many thanks for your contribution to the topic plus your excellent set of photos from that period. I have a few photos hidden away somewhere but there are many photos on Flickr showing the Scandinavian visitors plus the variety of visitors to the ATEL maintenance facility. I remember getting my father to drive me and a few buddies all the way from Southampton to Stansted one Sunday morning in 1980 and when we arrived we were surprised to see a few diversions from London Gatwick which was fog bound. They included a Braniff International Boeing 747 N601BN "the original Big Orange", a Wardair Boeing 747, British Airways B747. It was quite a shock to see three Boeing 747's on the ground together at the same time at Stansted back then. With the only other movement by a Braathens SAFE Boeing 737 my father got bored so we persuaded him to drive us to Luton to do some biz spotting. There wasn't much going on there either so off we went to Heathrow where there was obviously much more to see and my father was much happier. My father is 83yo now and only the other week he said to me, "do you , remember when you made me drive you and your friends all the way to Stansted all those years ago, I wasn't expecting to do an all dayer dragging you around the airport's". And that was before the M25 was fully completed, it must have been hell for him. But looking back at it now I'm so thankful that he did and I rightly told him so. I jokingly said "well that's what dad's are for, are you expecting the petrol money now" 😂 |
I was a PC in the British Airports Constabulary at STN from 72-75, living at the Chequers Ugly. I recall the Saturn Airways stretch DC8 and the Indian Air force Connies. I recall TMAC refurbishing a CL44 which had sat on its belly for a number of years closeby the TMAC Hangar. additionally the Carvairs, the Ford fleet a number of the crews drunk in the Chequers and the BAA Ops Manager was a guy called Frank Quick who had been a fighter pilot in WW11, he used have a Cessna 150 and would fly to LGW to pick up a twin to do lighting check at LGW and LHR. I accompanied him a couple of times and I recall landing back in the dark as it was practice to switch off the runway lights, saving monies and he new it like the back of his hand.
My first introduction was to go there for a couple of days to guard Donaldson's 707 that was in ELAL livery, the former having gone broke. Nothing changes in UK aviation. Some of you may also remember the armed robbery at the terminal Nat West Bank, originally blamed on the IRA, then turning out to be a BAA Duty Officer and an Airport fireman. Such happy memories of the airport and its surrounds |
Musket90
Many thanks for your contribution with those excellent photos of DC8's at London Stansted during that period, it's much appreciated. London Stansted definitely saw some rare aircraft during the 1970/80's. Do you have any more to add, maybe a selection of B707's. I might have to change the title to "Stansted, History and Nostalgia", similar to the Luton equivalent which has lots of information and photos from a bygone era I look forward to many more contributions. |
Musket 90. Wonderful pics. Up until the late 70's, possibly early 80's that area in front of hangar 4 and back westerly to the GA park was ridiculously accessible, with nothing more than a 4ft picket fence between self and the heavy metal
Living in Stansted village, one could often hear the engine runs into the baffles, shown in the Aerocaribbean DC8 picture, late at night....I always loved them but I guess the folk in Burton End might have been less impressed https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....ecd918aa83.jpg |
Cough Ahem - STN early 1970's we must add Lloyd International 707's plus BMA 707's too, both regulars based out of STN, along with the USA Affinity charters of Saturn AFA ONA Universal with their DC-8's
Of course we must not forget the based airline Channel AW with their Trident OneE's and BAC 1-11's followed with the fleet of tired ex Olympic and BEA Comet 4B's that struggled to keep revenues afloat until the demise. https://www.bishopsstortfordindepend...tures-9056709/ |
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Originally Posted by rog747
(Post 10712121)
Cough Ahem - STN early 1970's we must add Lloyd International 707's plus BMA 707's too, both regulars based out of STN, along with the USA Affinity charters of Saturn AFA ONA Universal with their DC-8's
Of course we must not forget the based airline Channel AW with their Trident OneE's and BAC 1-11's followed with the fleet of tired ex Olympic and BEA Comet 4B's that struggled to keep revenues afloat until the demise. https://www.bishopsstortfordindepend...tures-9056709/ Although I initially opened this thread about London Stansted Airport during the mid 1970's to the late 1980's and in particular the Scandinavian Invasion on the Sunday I purposely omitted any aircraft or airline's prior to that including those that you have listed which I'm personally aware of. Due to the fact that London Stansted Airport has a great history in regards to the variety of aircraft seen at the airport prior to the mid 1970's I think that this thread should actually be called London Stansted Airport, History and Nostalgia similar to the popular Luton thread as their is so much to cover. I appreciate your contribution to this thread and with your expertise and knowledge of the aviation industry from that era I thoroughly welcome your input. As you have mentioned London Stansted Airport saw many affinity charters from several US carriers during that period plus those from British Midland Airways with their B707's. Lloyd International of course which were based at the airport with their fleet of Britannias and B707's. Donaldson International Airways Britannia's and B707's. It was Donaldson International Airways who famously flew the first Ugandan refugees into London Stansted Airport from Entebbe after the dictator Idi Amin expelled them from the country after his coup, there is footage of the event on YouTube. Other than the US airline's that you have already mentioned such as, AFA American Flyers...DC8 ONA Overseas National Airlines...DC8 Saturn Airways...DC8 Universal Airways...DC8 London Stansted Airport during that period also saw other US airlines on affinity charters such as, Capitol Airways...DC8 Trans International Airlines...DC8 World Airways...B707/DC8 London Stansted Airport first came to my attention as a 7yo when my grandfather gave me his flight ticket which I used to collect and it was a World Airways flight from New York JFK to London Stansted Airport on a DC8-63 in 1972. I still have it as part of my collection and I can remember asking my grandfather at the time "where is Stansted" never having heard of the airport prior to that. Regarding American Flyers Airline AFA, their Boeing 727-100's made history by being the first airframe of the type to operate transatlantic flights from mainland USA to London Gatwick and Manchester and also to Frankfurt obviously with a couple of fuel stops. Saturn Airways absorbed the assets of the defunct Universal Airlines in May 1972. Saturn Airways was absorbed by Trans International Airlines TIA in December 1976 making Trans International Airlines the largest cargo and affinity charter airline in the world at the time. Channel Airways although having a base at Southend Airport also used London Stansted Airport as a base for their Trident 1E's which weren't fully capableof using the runway at Southend on IT charters although they had initially used the airport with their Tridents. Although Channel Airways purchased five former BEA DHC-COMET 4's the "clapped out" DHC-Comet 4's purchased from Olympic Airways I believe were never flown by the airline but used for spares instead for the rest of the Comet fleet. A further example was also purchased from the Mexican airline Mexicana for spares. Neither the former BEA or Olympic Airways aircraft wore the full ChannelAirways livery just the airline's titles and and cheat line's from their former operators. Channel Airways had initially purchased the Comets in 1970 for flying operations on behalf of Lyons Holidays along with winning a very lucrative travel contract by a consortium of three West German tour operators to fly from Berlin Templehof Airport to the Mediterranean. In January 1971, Channel Airway received UK, US and Canadian permission to operate transatlantic affinity charters. A pair of Boeing 7O7's were to be purchased to commence North Atlantic operations to the USA and Canada later that year which didn't materialise. Channel Airways failure to enter the transatlantic affinity charter market was followed by an unsuccessful attempt to establish itself as the UK's third scheduled domestic trunk airline in addition to BEA and British Caledonian Airways. Partial approval of an application to the UK Air Licensing Board (ATLB) in early 1971 to fly from London Stansted to Belfast Glasgow Newcastle resulted in the ATLB to provisionally license Channel Airways to fly between London Stansted and Glasgow from May 1972 which was ultimately reversed due to pressure from the state owned BEA. The airline was successful but soon sold their pair of Tridents to BEA and in return purchased two former American Airlines BAC1-11-400's to add to their existing fleet of 1-11's for IT work. Soon after Channel Airways lost their lucrative Berlin contract to Dan Air and with costs rising the airline found itself in financial difficulties and with no potential buyers and with work drying up for their fleet permanent cessation of operations was followed by the withdrawal of the airline's AOC at the end of March 1973 and the airline ceased trading. A sad end to what was at the time a very pioneering airline, very similar to the demise of British Eagle Airways which went into liquidation in 1968. |
GAZIN
Great photos especially the one with four Conair Boeing 720's on the ground at the same time at Stansted, excellent catch. I can't quite make out the tail of the other aircraft in that photo, it appears to be a DC9. Maybe an Austrian Airlines! Do you know what airline it belongs to? |
I have fond memories of growing up next to Stansted Airport in the 1970’s. There was a lot of crew training, I particularly remember the Lloyd Britannia’s, Invicta Vanguard’s, QANTAS 707’s, CAAFU Doves and 748’s, Thurston’s Apache, as seen above in TCU’s post and the magnificent CL44’s of TMAC. The road from Takeley ended a few feet from the taxiway, from there you could watch all of the above at close quarters, plus Channel Airways Comets, Saturn C130’s and other good stuff.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....94a60e002.jpeg Canadair CL44 G-AZIN at STN. |
GAZIN, those old country lanes around Burton End, Takeley, the Bury Lodge, Tye Green, Coopers End were rich with the sights and sounds of the old STN, where pistons, jets and turbofans could be heard in the same day.
Up until the late 70's "the dump" where many an aircraft ended its days was just the other side of a wire mesh fence in the Coopers End area. Many of those lanes were disrupted by the subsequent airport development One could happily sit near the threshold of what was RW23 and watch the arrivals, near where the old African Safari "zebra" DC8 ended its days A few ATEL 707/720 regulars that have flashed into my mind were AeroAmerica and Montana Anyone remember the Young Air Cargo Britannia that sat next to Hangar 4 for years before meeting its end in "the dump"? One other splendid memory was the rotating airport locator beacon that would flash across the adjacent Essex countryside deep in the night. It was located just behind the tree line shown in the pictures of the Emery DC8 and N2CC. I don't think at the time I quite realised what a transitional period this was for air transport and that before we knew it the fences were high, policeman would move you on and there was no where to park for free! |
Originally Posted by Sotonsean
(Post 10712392)
GAZIN
Great photos especially the one with four Conair Boeing 720's on the ground at the same time at Stansted, excellent catch. I can't quite make out the tail of the other aircraft in that photo, it appears to be a DC9. Maybe an Austrian Airlines! Do you know what airline it belongs to? |
Originally Posted by GAZIN
(Post 10713056)
I am not sure about the red fin, I had thought that it might have been a Sterling 727, but it does look DC-9’ish. On the same day I photographed 2 more Conair 720’s a Finair DC-9 and a Busy Bee 737. They were all football fan charters.
Sterling Airlines received their first Boeing 727-2J4ADV on October 01 1973 having ordered three examples directly from Boeing in 1971. At the time their fleet consisted of of 22 Caravelle 10's and 7 larger 131 passenger Caravelle 12's. Sterling Airlines also put in an order for two Airbus A300B aircraft in 1971 that were never taken up by the airline. I have enlarged the photo as much as possible and although it's not clear enough to exactly identify the airline it does look as if it could be an Austrian Airlines DC9 going by the tail of the aircraft. Austrian Airlines made frequent visits to London Stansted at the time on IT charters. But having a closer look, the markings on the tail could well be that of Sterling Airlines which would make it being a B727. But nonetheless it's a cracker of a photo to have four Conair Boeing Boeing 720's on the ground at the same time at London Stansted. If you have any other photos to upload to the thread that are similar to this showing aircraft from that period at London Stansted it would be much appreciated. There are loads of excellent photos on Flickr of aircraft taken at London Stansted during the 1970/80's but obviously due to copyright I can't upload them here on pprune. Many thanks for your contribution to the London Stansted Airport, History and Nostalgia thread. Sean |
Originally Posted by Sotonsean
(Post 10712379)
Rog
Although I initially opened this thread about London Stansted Airport during the mid 1970's to the late 1980's and in particular the Scandinavian Invasion on the Sunday I purposely omitted any aircraft or airline's prior to that including those that you have listed which I'm personally aware of. Due to the fact that London Stansted Airport has a great history in regards to the variety of aircraft seen at the airport prior to the mid 1970's I think that this thread should actually be called London Stansted Airport, History and Nostalgia similar to the popular Luton thread as their is so much to cover. I appreciate your contribution to this thread and with your expertise and knowledge of the aviation industry from that era I thoroughly welcome your input. As you have mentioned London Stansted Airport saw many affinity charters from several US carriers during that period plus those from British Midland Airways with their B707's. Lloyd International of course which were based at the airport with their fleet of Britannias and B707's. Donaldson International Airways Britannia's and B707's. It was Donaldson International Airways who famously flew the first Ugandan refugees into London Stansted Airport from Entebbe after the dictator Idi Amin expelled them from the country after his coup, there is footage of the event on YouTube. Other than the US airline's that you have already mentioned such as, AFA American Flyers...DC8 ONA Overseas National Airlines...DC8 Saturn Airways...DC8 Universal Airways...DC8 London Stansted Airport during that period also saw other US airlines on affinity charters such as, Capitol Airways...DC8 Trans International Airlines...DC8 World Airways...B707/DC8 London Stansted Airport first came to my attention as a 7yo when my grandfather gave me his flight ticket which I used to collect and it was a World Airways flight from New York JFK to London Stansted Airport on a DC8-63 in 1972. I still have it as part of my collection and I can remember asking my grandfather at the time "where is Stansted" never having heard of the airport prior to that. Regarding American Flyers Airline AFA, their Boeing 727-100's made history by being the first airframe of the type to operate transatlantic flights from mainland USA to London Gatwick and Manchester and also to Frankfurt obviously with a couple of fuel stops. Saturn Airways absorbed the assets of the defunct Universal Airlines in May 1972. Saturn Airways was absorbed by Trans International Airlines TIA in December 1976 making Trans International Airlines the largest cargo and affinity charter airline in the world at the time. Channel Airways although having a base at Southend Airport also used London Stansted Airport as a base for their Trident 1E's which weren't fully capableof using the runway at Southend on IT charters although they had initially used the airport with their Tridents. Although Channel Airways purchased five former BEA DHC-COMET 4's the "clapped out" DHC-Comet 4's purchased from Olympic Airways I believe were never flown by the airline but used for spares instead for the rest of the Comet fleet. A further example was also purchased from the Mexican airline Mexicana for spares. Neither the former BEA or Olympic Airways aircraft wore the full ChannelAirways livery just the airline's titles and and cheat line's from their former operators. Channel Airways had initially purchased the Comets in 1970 for flying operations on behalf of Lyons Holidays along with winning a very lucrative travel contract by a consortium of three West German tour operators to fly from Berlin Templehof Airport to the Mediterranean. In January 1971, Channel Airway received UK, US and Canadian permission to operate transatlantic affinity charters. A pair of Boeing 7O7's were to be purchased to commence North Atlantic operations to the USA and Canada later that year which didn't materialise. Channel Airways failure to enter the transatlantic affinity charter market was followed by an unsuccessful attempt to establish itself as the UK's third scheduled domestic trunk airline in addition to BEA and British Caledonian Airways. Partial approval of an application to the UK Air Licensing Board (ATLB) in early 1971 to fly from London Stansted to Belfast Glasgow Newcastle resulted in the ATLB to provisionally license Channel Airways to fly between London Stansted and Glasgow from May 1972 which was ultimately reversed due to pressure from the state owned BEA. The airline was successful but soon sold their pair of Tridents to BEA and in return purchased two former American Airlines BAC1-11-400's to add to their existing fleet of 1-11's for IT work. Soon after Channel Airways lost their lucrative Berlin contract to Dan Air and with costs rising the airline found itself in financial difficulties and with no potential buyers and with work drying up for their fleet permanent cessation of operations was followed by the withdrawal of the airline's AOC at the end of March 1973 and the airline ceased trading. A sad end to what was at the time a very pioneering airline, very similar to the demise of British Eagle Airways which went into liquidation in 1968. I flew on a Channel Trident from STN with mum and dad 1971ish, 7 abreast front cabin, was fine - but I was 13 or 14 with my pal and mum and dad in a row of 4. |
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....6b23ae2484.jpg
One E 140 seat plan https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....1aabd28c71.jpg Me! - The little boy far left under the nose at SEN - Sunday afternoon viewings for new holidaymakers SotonSean Actually it was Dan Air who purchased two former American Airlines BAC 1-11-400's early in 1969 to add to their existing fleet for new IT work. This was soon after British Eagle went bust to quickly fill the gap for Lunn Poly Everyman Holidays S1969 flights - The Dan Air base was set up surprisingly at LTN (Lunn Poly's flights on Eagle were all from LHR) Dan's got 2 more 1-11's from Eagle a year later, plus G-AZED (rebuilt, ex D-ANDY w/off in an RTO at GRO 1970) Channels' 1-11's were all new orders from BAC - Their first 1-11 was 89 seat G-AVGP. They ordered 3 of a 99 seat version of the -400 that had an extra pair of overwing exits to allow that. (G-AVGP then went to Autair) Only 2 of the 3 got delivered (one of which went directly on a lease to BUA for all summer 1969) and the 3rd went to Bavaria Flug and was never used by Channel. Channel did order all 5 Trident One E-140's which were 139 seat versions. G-AVYA - YE but they only took a pair in the end. BKS and Air Ceylon took the 3 others. Northeast (BKS) took Channels' pair via BEA after their demise. Channel Airways and their in-house tour operator Mediterranean Holidays were famous for allowing prospective holidaymakers to view their jets on display both at SEN and STN airports usually on wet Sunday afternoons to tempt them into booking their next Hols. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....3599d5260e.jpg --- Come on board! It must be noted that most of these IT flights were moved to Stansted due to the noise complaints and short runway at SEN https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....c7391a90ce.jpg 7 abreast seats front cabin Channel AW trident one E 140 |
Nice to see the Channel Airways info, I remember the Tridents parked outside the Channel hangar (now used by Inflite) and the ex Olympic Comets.
Here are a couple from the Transmeridian ramp. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f0231bd90.jpeg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....014003d7a.jpeg |
A few images from my archives. As others have said, Stansted was always worth a look in when passing through the area, though I don't recall seeing many aircraft actually moving when I dropped in.
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Great thread. I recall dropping into Stansted several times in the late '70s on LAAS organised coach trips to the Mildenhall Air Fete - yep, certainly remember Maersk 720s and Sterling 727s! Also those Turkish AF Viscounts shoehorned into a hangar on a visit sometime in the early 80s. A couple of THY 707s in '75 TC-JAM was one I think...
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I got admin to kindly change the title of the thread from "Stansted Scandinavian Invasion" to "Stansted Airport History and Nostalgia" to better reflect the history of the airport in a similar way to the popular Luton Airport History and Nostalgia thread.
I appreciate everyone's contributions and I have no doubt that this will continue to be an excellent thread for those who have fond memories of London Stansted Airport. |
So, why did the Scandinavians descend en-mass every weekend from the 1970's in to STN (then LTN) ??? What was the attraction....
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Originally Posted by rog747
(Post 10714468)
So, why did the Scandinavians descend en-mass every weekend from the 1970's in to STN (then LTN) ??? What was the attraction....
Obviously this was before the advent of low cost carriers and the Scandinavians enjoyed the shopping in London and the United Kingdom compared to the very high prices in their own countries. I think that the flights catered to Scandinavian tourism to England along with the shopping. The flights were sold as packages with hotels included similar to those going to Mediterranean or Canary Islands on IT's. Some of the tour company's had their own airline's such as Spies Rejser who were also the owners of the Danish airline Conair. In fact it was also the owners name. I can't remember all of the Scandinavian operators names but here are a few. Atlas Resor from Sweden Saga Tours from Norway Spies Rejser from Denmark Tjaereborgs Rejser from Denmark From the mid 1960's up until to the late 1990's sea travel was also a popular means of transportation for Scandinavians to reach the United Kingdom and there were many options by several ferry company's including the following routes. Although not all of them operated at the same time. Felixstowe... Gothenburg... Tor Line Harwich... Esbjerg... DFDS Harwich... Gothenburg... DFDS Harwich... Kristiansand... Fred Olsen Harwich... Oslo... Fred Olsen Hull... Gothenburg... Ellerman Wilson Line/Svea Line Immingham... Gothenburg... Tor Line Newcastle... Bergen... Bergen Line Newcastle... Esbjerg... DFDS Newcastle... Gothenburg... DFDS/Tor Line Newcastle... Kristiansand... Bergen Line/DFDS Newcastle... Oslo... Bergen Line Newcastle... Stavanger... Bergen Line Tilbury... Gothenburg... Swedish Lloyd None of the above routes exist today except for a few routes such as Immingham to Brevik, Esbjerg and Gothenburg and Tilbury to Gothenburg all operated by DFDS and all of which are freight only. There are no longer any passenger ferry routes between the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. The last such route was between Esbjerg and Harwich by DFDS which ceased in September 2014. In 1976/1977 the British ferry operator Townsend Thoresen operated a few winter only shopping trips a week from Leith (Edinburgh) to Kristiansand in Norway purely for Norwegians visiting the UK. They were actually advertised as shopping trips. So going by all the Scandinavian flights plus the variety of ferry operators and routes you can see how popular the United Kingdom was to Scandinavians during that period. Scandinavians now generally fly to the United Kingdom by British Airways, Norwegian, Ryanair and SAS Scandinavian. |
Great Stuff -
Sterling Airways owned Tjareborg Scanair (and Transair Sweden) was Vingressor Conair was Spies |
Originally Posted by rog747
(Post 10714545)
Great Stuff -
Sterling Airways owned Tjareborg Scanair (and Transair Sweden) was Vingressor Conair was Spies Thanks for that, I thought that Sterling Airlines was connected to Tjaereborg. (Tjaereborg was founded in 1962 and was based in and named after the village of the same name near to Esbjerg in Denmark) Vingressor still exists today but operates as Ving and is owned by the Nordic Leisure Group which also owns Globetrotter, Spies, Tjaereborg and the airline Sunclass Airlines. The parent company is the Norwegian Strawberry Group. Scanair was formed in June 1961 and was partially owned by SAS Scandinavian Airline System. On the 01 January 1994, Conair owned by the Danish Spies Group and Scanair owned by the Scandinavian Leisure Group were merged into one airline. The new airline was named Premair A/S. The Danish Spies Holdings still existed after it's airline merged with Scanair operating as they did before as Spies Holidays. In 1994 not long after the merger of Conair and Scanair, Scandinavian Leisure Group was purchased by the British tour operator Airtours. In 1996 Airtours Group purchased the Danish Spies Holdings. In 2002 the Airtours Group rebranded under the new company wide banner of My Travel Group. In 2002 the Airtours Group rebranded their Scandinavian operations as My Travel Scandinavia A/S. My Travel Scandinavia A/S included several Scandinavian operators such as Tjaereborg, Spies, Sunquest, Ving and the airline Premair. On the 12 February 2007, My Travel Group announced that they had agreed terms to merge with Thomas Cook. After the merger the new company was known as the Thomas Cook Group. In 2008 Premair was renamed to Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia. In September 2019 Thomas Cook Group went bankrupt. In November 2019 Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia was purchased by the Norwegian investor Petter Stordalen and his company the Strawberry Group and rebranded as Sunclass Airlines. Sunclass Airlines still uses the original DK code and Viking call sign, so one way or another Scanair lives on albeit as Sunclass Airlines. I have to admit that I absolutely love subjects such as this 😉 |
Sotonsean:
You omitted the Immingham - Amsterdam - Gothenburg triangular ferry service (in both directions) offered by Tor Line in the 60s. I don't know when it finished but it was very useful for those in RAFG whose home was north of the English Midlands |
Great pictures from when spotting was wonderful.
I lived in Stortford from 69 to 72 and my few memories of Stansted from that time include: Flying to Edinburgh on an Air UK F27 and leaving the car in the car park for a week for 90p. Taking SWMBO and sprogs to the cafe for Sunday afternoon tea and watching BOAC doing circuits and bumps. Visiting the tower with a residents group and asking to see the radar. "What radar?" Being woken early hours of the morning by a very low flying jet. Local rumour mill said it was a Nigerian 707 overloaded with whisky which blew down the perimeter fence and was unable to make the noise abatement turn to avoid Bishops Stortford. Anyway I hope the above comments are of some interest and feel free to correct my memories if they have become distorted over the years. |
Originally Posted by binbrook
(Post 10714897)
Sotonsean:
You omitted the Immingham - Amsterdam - Gothenburg triangular ferry service (in both directions) offered by Tor Line in the 60s. I don't know when it finished but it was very useful for those in RAFG whose home was north of the English Midlands But as you bring the subject up here's a brief summary of the Swedish shipping company Tor Line history of Sweden, Netherlands, United Kingdom service. Tor Line started passenger operations in 1966 with the TOR HOLLANDIA (1966) between Gothenburg and Immingham. Tor Line added Amsterdam on a triangular connection to it's Gothenburg to Immingham route in 1967 after the delivery of their second vessel the TOR ANGLIA which was a sister ship to the TOR HOLLANDIA. Tor Line replaced the TOR HOLLANDIA in 1975 with the much larger TOR BRITANNIA on the Immingham-Amsterdam-Gothenburg route. Tor Line replaced the TOR ANGLIA in 1976 with the much larger TOR SCANDINAVIA on the Immingham-Amsterdam-Gothenburg. Tor Line replaced the UK port 1977 from Immingham to Felixstowe and continued the triangular link to Gothenburg via Amsterdam. Tor Line was bought by the Danish shipping company DFDS in 1982 and operated as DFDS Tor Line. Felixstowe-Amsterdam-Gothenburg was replaced by Felixstowe-Gothenburg and started a direct Gothenburg-Amsterdam In 1983 the UK terminal moved from Felixstowe to Harwich where DFDS also operated at the time to Bremerhaven, Esbjerg and Hamburg (the Bremerhaven and Hamburg having been previously been operated by Prinz Ferries which DFDS had acquired in 1981) In 1985 the Tor Line name was dropped in preference of DFDS Seaways. In 1991 DFDS Seaways was rebranded Scandinavian Seaways. TOR BRITANNIA was renamed PRINCE OF SCANDINAVIA, the following year TOR SCANDINAVIA was renamed PRINCESS OF SCANDINAVIA. On the 04 January 1999 PRINCESS OF SCANDINAVIA arrived at Gothenburg marking the final Swedish link from Harwich to Gothenburg. From the 05 January 1999 the Swedish route to the UK was Gothenburg-Kristiansand-Newcastle. The route continued with PRINCESS OF SCANDINAVIA. In 2001 Scandinavian Seaways name reverted back to DFDS after reorganisation of the company. On 31 October 2006 final sailing between Gothenburg-Kristiansand-Newcastle. Thus ending over 160 years of traffic with passenger ferries between Gothenburg and England was terminated. binbrook.....as you are very aware the ferry company's used to give preferential rates to service personnel traveling back and forth to their bases in Germany and in particular the links from German and Dutch ports were very popular with Army and RAF Personel. My uncle was in the RAF and in the early to mid 1970's he was based at RAF Guttersloh. He tended to be transported by the MOD service operated by Britannia Airways from Luton Airport. Hopefully everyone enjoys reading my posts regarding aviation but my real forte is shipping. Sorry to go off thread. |
Originally Posted by Cunliffe
(Post 10714982)
Great pictures from when spotting was wonderful.
I lived in Stortford from 69 to 72 and my few memories of Stansted from that time include: Flying to Edinburgh on an Air UK F27 and leaving the car in the car park for a week for 90p. Taking SWMBO and sprogs to the cafe for Sunday afternoon tea and watching BOAC doing circuits and bumps. Visiting the tower with a residents group and asking to see the radar. "What radar?" Being woken early hours of the morning by a very low flying jet. Local rumour mill said it was a Nigerian 707 overloaded with whisky which blew down the perimeter fence and was unable to make the noise abatement turn to avoid Bishops Stortford. Anyway I hope the above comments are of some interest and feel free to correct my memories if they have become distorted over the years. Just before Christmas I was looking at a day trip from Stansted to Copenhagen, price of return flight £15.00, price of parking £52.00, add in the cost of fuel from Southampton and the driving time I decided to use some BA miles and fly from LHR instead. When Ryanair offered their £1.00 flights in the late 1990's to mid 2000's I took the opportunity on many occasions. In one week alone on one occasion I took the £1 offer and flew from Stansted to three different destinations in a week all for a pound return. |
Sotonsean
Although heading totally off piste really enjoyed your potted history of Tor Line, brought back memories of my early days in the freight forwarding industry (now re-branded logistics, even though most of the companies with "logistics" emblazoned on their trucks and mast heads haven't a clue what logistics is - what they do is still good of freight forwarding or road haulage!!) and chasing shipping details for groupage shipments to Scandinavia. |
Originally Posted by ATNotts
(Post 10715760)
Sotonsean
Although heading totally off piste really enjoyed your potted history of Tor Line, brought back memories of my early days in the freight forwarding industry (now re-branded logistics, even though most of the companies with "logistics" emblazoned on their trucks and mast heads haven't a clue what logistics is - what they do is still good of freight forwarding or road haulage!!) and chasing shipping details for groupage shipments to Scandinavia. I actually thought that the mods might have deleted it based on the fact that it's not aviation related. At the time of writing it I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do but I enjoyed writing it and I'm pleased that you enjoyed reading it. I could write similar stories about many other shipping company's from the past, but this is not the place. Although aviation is a huge passion of mine, the shipping industry is probably more of a passion of mine having been involved in it for the last 37 years. In future though I will stick to aviation on pprune and in particular on the Stansted Airport History and Nostalgia thread considering that I am the person who started it😉 |
Regarding Tor line, don't forget the terrible BBC series "Triangle" that was filmed on that triangular route.
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Not too terrible. I seem to remember a quite famous actress sunbathing topless on the foc'sle or whatever. Poor girl, she looked frozen.
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Originally Posted by Groundloop
(Post 10715859)
Regarding Tor line, don't forget the terrible BBC series "Triangle" that was filmed on that triangular route.
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Originally Posted by VictorGolf
(Post 10715997)
Not too terrible. I seem to remember a quite famous actress sunbathing topless on the foc'sle or whatever. Poor girl, she looked frozen.
In the late eighties I had a female Purser on-board who looked and sounded just like Kate O'Mara, it was a ferry as well and we were traveling down to Spain and she was on deck in rather inclement weather in her bikini, I can remember saying to her at the time, "who do you think you are bleeding Kate O'Mara", she did laugh and I'm still in touch with her and she's often brought up the story ☺️ Anyway let's get back on track and continue the discussion of Stansted Airport History and Nostalgia. |
One for 1972 was a CL44 River Plate airlines with cattle unloaded in the shooting in butts? If that is the correct name of it?
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