British European Airways
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses of BEA see Bea
British European Airways, or BEA, was formed in 1946 by an Act of Parliament. The airline operated European and North African routes from airports around the United Kingdom. BEA was the largest domestic airline within the United Kingdom at the time, operating flights to major British cities, including London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast and Glasgow.
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The airline was also the first customer for British short- and medium-haul airliners of the 1950s and 1960s, including the Vickers Viscount, Vickers Vanguard, BAC One-Eleven 500 and Hawker-Siddeley Trident.
In 1969 BEA formed a charter subsidiary BEA Airtours to provide inclusive tour holiday charters.
BEA ceased operations in 1974 when it was merged with the British Overseas Airways Corporation to form British Airways.
[edit] Accidents and incidents
On June 18, 1972, British European Airways Flight 548, a Hawker-Siddeley Trident 1B operated by British European Airways (BEA), crashed two minutes after takeoff from Heathrow Airport, killing all 118 passengers and crew on board. The crash occurred close to the town of Staines in Surrey, England.
[edit] Trivia
The Beatles occasionally flew BEA. On one flight, Ringo Starr held a “TLES” sign next to the BEA logo on the airplane door, spelling out BEATLES.
es:British European Airways no:British European Airways pt:British European Airways
