B.K.S.
Based at Southend from Feb 1952 to Mid-1954
Used Southend as a hub from Mid-54 to Dec 1965
Founders/Directors – Mr J.W Barnaby, Mr T.D ‘Mike’ Keegan and Mr C Stevens
The passenger wing of B.K.S. began life at SEN as Aero Charter Ltd, although after only one month, the name was changed to B.K.S. Aerocharter Ltd, this seemingly random choice actually being an amalgamation of the first letters of the three directors’ surnames James Barnby, Thomas ‘Mike’ Keegan and Cyril Stevens. The company was started at the beginning of February 1952 with one DC-3 that had been obtained in lieu of shares from former Southend airline – Crewsair – from which the three directors had previously resigned.
This Dakota (G-AIWE) was then immediately put into service flying a series of freight and charter flights. One of its first trips involved a jaunt to Singapore in March, followed later in the year by a 45 hour trip to South Africa, landing only for nightly stopovers (which were not included in the price!) and for fuel as and when it was required. By December 1952, B.K.S. was flying a number of long distance charters from Southend to Istanbul, Rome and Innsbruck, while multi-stop tours around the Middle East were also being undertaken. Business began to thrive for the airline and by its second year of operations, it would go on to transport more than 8,750 passengers and complete more than 2 million revenue ton miles.
By early 1954, B.K.S. was undertaking daily newspaper flights and trooping work along with various scheduled and charter services. Routes being flown from Southend included I.T. tours to Corsica and Majorca. The airline would eventually go on to expand its fleet until it became one of the largest independents in the UK, operating a wide variety of types. However, by mid-1954, B.K.S. had started moving the majority of its operations to new bases in Newcastle and Leeds although its main engineering facility now under ‘Mike’ Keegan would remain at Southend until 1970. In the same year, a name change would also occur and from 1954 onwards, the airline branch of the company would be known as B.K.S. Air Transport Ltd.
While the centre of operations may have moved to the north of England, B.K.S. retained strong ties with its former base which became something of a major hub, at least for a time. In 1955, the company began operating three Vikings on various services to the Continent while a domestic service between Southend and Leeds began as a feeder for its onward services to locations such as Belfast. Indeed, for the next few years, one scheduled service and a number of I.T. tours would continue to fly regularly from Southend which included:
Southend to Calvi – 1955-61
Southend to Palma – 1955-56
Southend to Oporto – 1956-58
Southend to Bilbao – 1956-61
Southend-Newcastle-Bergen -1958/59
In the meantime, the airline would also use the airport for customs clearance on its European-Newcastle/Leeds flights. On top of the few, scheduled services, freight flights would be flown (Southend – Hannover) while a number of ad-hoc charters flown by its C-47s would also operate out of SEN. Destinations being serviced from Southend during 1955 would include Basle, Calvi, Innsbruck, Lyon, Nice, Orly, Ostend, Palma, Salzburg and Tarbes, with some of these continuing through to 1965. Meanwhile, regular cargo services would persevere a little longer and it wasn’t until December 1965, that B.K.S. flights finally ceased altogether although its aircraft would still be regular visitors to SEN where B.K.S. still had its engineering facility (see the menu Engineering – B.K.S. for more details).
Flights to Palma and Barcelona would often route through Lyon, while flights to Oporto and Malaga would generally route via Bordeaux
B.K.S. Highlights…
Aug 1952
B.K.S.’ two DC-3s make 6 trips from Southend to Paris and Basle with students and one passenger flight to Munich
Two notable freight flights flown between Amsterdam and Lisbon with ship spare and Paris – Kuwait with explosives, the latter returning via Karachi and Oslo where the Dakota unloaded a shipment of ship spares
Sep 1952
Two trips to Basle and one to Johannesburg – The latter brings back a load of freight from a crashed flight
Runs a passenger charter to Johannesburg on behalf of Tropic Airways
Brings a load of passenger back from Geneva
Oct 1952
Two more C-47s arrive to compliment the two already in service. These are converted to a 32 seat passenger arrangement
Nov 1952
Flights from London to Elizabethville (passenger) and London to Athens (cargo)
Flies sailors between Le Havre and Athens
Flies Karachi – Ankara – Le Touquet with passengers
Flies NAAFI personnel to and from Cyprus
Flies a 7,000 mile charter for U.S servicemen from Munich with stop overs in Nice, Bari, Athens, Cairo Jerusalem and Crete
Dec 1952
More than two tonnes of textiles are transported from Manchester to Düsseldorf
Flies more NAAFI personnel to and from Cyprus
Southend to Istanbul with passengers and then on to Rome with freight
Flies a second charter for U.S servicemen from Rome to the Middle East and North Africa and back again
A further tour starts from Southend to Rome taking in Athens, Cairo , Jerusalem and Nicosia
Transports skiers from Southend to Innsbruck and back again
Total traffic for 1952 – 3,750 passengers and more than 2,000,000 revenue ton-miles
Apr 1953
Permission given for a domestic route between West Hartlepool and London
May 1953
Daily newspaper runs to British forces in Germany
Dec 1953
Totals for the year include – more than 7,700 passengers and just over 317,000 revenue ton-miles
Mid 1954
B.K.S. moves the bulk of its scheduled passenger operations north
Dec 1954
Regular newspaper flights begin between Southend and Hannover – These are flown by C-47s and Vikings
May 1955
Southend – Leeds – Belfast route begins
Southend – Calvi I.T. route begins
Jun 1955
Leeds – Southend – Ostend I.T. route begins
Jul 1955
Leeds – Southend – Le Torquet I.T. route begins
Sep 1955
Leeds – Southend – Dusseldorf service begins
Winter 1955/56
B.K.S flies a series of ad-hoc flights on behalf of South African – Trek Airways
May 1956
Southend – Geneva I.T. services start
Southend – Oporto I.T. services start
Jun 1956
Southend – Bilbao I.T. charter services begin
B.K.S fleet while based at SEN:
Avro 652 Anson
G-ALIH – 4/54 to 8/54
Sold to E.K. Cole
G-ALUR – 5/52 to 7/52
Sold to Finland
G-ALXB – 8/53 to 10/55
Sold – Fate unknown
G-ALXH – 4/54 to 5/57
Bought as a wreck and repaired during 1955 – DBR Yorkshire 9/4/63
G-AMBE – 8/53 to 10/58
To B.K.S. Air Surveys
Airspeed Consul
G-AJXE – 11/55 to 10/56
Sold to T.D Keegan
G-AJXG – 9/55 to 8/57
To B.K.S. Air Surveys
Douglas C-47 Dakota
G-AIWE – 10/51 to 4/52
Sold to Iberia as EC-AGS
G-AMSF – 4/52 to 1/59
Sold to Crewsair
G-AMSH – 5/52 to 6/66
Sold to Starways
G-AMVB – 10/52 to 8/57
Sold to Hunting Aerosurveys
G-AMVC – 10/52 to 10/61
Crashed near Kirkoswold, Cumberland 17/10/61
G-ANAF – 6/53 to 11/58
Sold to Hunting Aerosurveys
Non-commercial types included:
G-AEYE – Percival Q.6
For use as a feeder aircraft between Southend and Newcastle
G-AJRZ – Fairchild 24/Argus II
Company hack/runabout
G-AIYX – Piper Cub J-3
Registered to B.K.S. Flying Group
Do you have any other, interesting snippets of information about this airline or indeed, any pictures that you would like to share? If so, then please contact us on saadinfomail@gmail.com
Many thanks from the SAAD Admin Team.
Based at Southend from Feb 1952 to Mid-1954
Used Southend as a hub from Mid-54 to Dec 1965
Founders/Directors – Mr J.W Barnaby, Mr T.D ‘Mike’ Keegan and Mr C Stevens
The passenger wing of B.K.S. began life at SEN as Aero Charter Ltd, although after only one month, the name was changed to B.K.S. Aerocharter Ltd, this seemingly random choice actually being an amalgamation of the first letters of the three directors’ surnames James Barnby, Thomas ‘Mike’ Keegan and Cyril Stevens. The company was started at the beginning of February 1952 with one DC-3 that had been obtained in lieu of shares from former Southend airline – Crewsair – from which the three directors had previously resigned.
This Dakota (G-AIWE) was then immediately put into service flying a series of freight and charter flights. One of its first trips involved a jaunt to Singapore in March, followed later in the year by a 45 hour trip to South Africa, landing only for nightly stopovers (which were not included in the price!) and for fuel as and when it was required. By December 1952, B.K.S. was flying a number of long distance charters from Southend to Istanbul, Rome and Innsbruck, while multi-stop tours around the Middle East were also being undertaken. Business began to thrive for the airline and by its second year of operations, it would go on to transport more than 8,750 passengers and complete more than 2 million revenue ton miles.
By early 1954, B.K.S. was undertaking daily newspaper flights and trooping work along with various scheduled and charter services. Routes being flown from Southend included I.T. tours to Corsica and Majorca. The airline would eventually go on to expand its fleet until it became one of the largest independents in the UK, operating a wide variety of types. However, by mid-1954, B.K.S. had started moving the majority of its operations to new bases in Newcastle and Leeds although its main engineering facility now under ‘Mike’ Keegan would remain at Southend until 1970. In the same year, a name change would also occur and from 1954 onwards, the airline branch of the company would be known as B.K.S. Air Transport Ltd.
While the centre of operations may have moved to the north of England, B.K.S. retained strong ties with its former base which became something of a major hub, at least for a time. In 1955, the company began operating three Vikings on various services to the Continent while a domestic service between Southend and Leeds began as a feeder for its onward services to locations such as Belfast. Indeed, for the next few years, one scheduled service and a number of I.T. tours would continue to fly regularly from Southend which included:
Southend to Calvi – 1955-61
Southend to Palma – 1955-56
Southend to Oporto – 1956-58
Southend to Bilbao – 1956-61
Southend-Newcastle-Bergen -1958/59
In the meantime, the airline would also use the airport for customs clearance on its European-Newcastle/Leeds flights. On top of the few, scheduled services, freight flights would be flown (Southend – Hannover) while a number of ad-hoc charters flown by its C-47s would also operate out of SEN. Destinations being serviced from Southend during 1955 would include Basle, Calvi, Innsbruck, Lyon, Nice, Orly, Ostend, Palma, Salzburg and Tarbes, with some of these continuing through to 1965. Meanwhile, regular cargo services would persevere a little longer and it wasn’t until December 1965, that B.K.S. flights finally ceased altogether although its aircraft would still be regular visitors to SEN where B.K.S. still had its engineering facility (see the menu Engineering – B.K.S. for more details).
Flights to Palma and Barcelona would often route through Lyon, while flights to Oporto and Malaga would generally route via Bordeaux
B.K.S. Highlights…
Aug 1952
B.K.S.’ two DC-3s make 6 trips from Southend to Paris and Basle with students and one passenger flight to Munich
Two notable freight flights flown between Amsterdam and Lisbon with ship spare and Paris – Kuwait with explosives, the latter returning via Karachi and Oslo where the Dakota unloaded a shipment of ship spares
Sep 1952
Two trips to Basle and one to Johannesburg – The latter brings back a load of freight from a crashed flight
Runs a passenger charter to Johannesburg on behalf of Tropic Airways
Brings a load of passenger back from Geneva
Oct 1952
Two more C-47s arrive to compliment the two already in service. These are converted to a 32 seat passenger arrangement
Nov 1952
Flights from London to Elizabethville (passenger) and London to Athens (cargo)
Flies sailors between Le Havre and Athens
Flies Karachi – Ankara – Le Touquet with passengers
Flies NAAFI personnel to and from Cyprus
Flies a 7,000 mile charter for U.S servicemen from Munich with stop overs in Nice, Bari, Athens, Cairo Jerusalem and Crete
Dec 1952
More than two tonnes of textiles are transported from Manchester to Düsseldorf
Flies more NAAFI personnel to and from Cyprus
Southend to Istanbul with passengers and then on to Rome with freight
Flies a second charter for U.S servicemen from Rome to the Middle East and North Africa and back again
A further tour starts from Southend to Rome taking in Athens, Cairo , Jerusalem and Nicosia
Transports skiers from Southend to Innsbruck and back again
Total traffic for 1952 – 3,750 passengers and more than 2,000,000 revenue ton-miles
Apr 1953
Permission given for a domestic route between West Hartlepool and London
May 1953
Daily newspaper runs to British forces in Germany
Dec 1953
Totals for the year include – more than 7,700 passengers and just over 317,000 revenue ton-miles
Mid 1954
B.K.S. moves the bulk of its scheduled passenger operations north
Dec 1954
Regular newspaper flights begin between Southend and Hannover – These are flown by C-47s and Vikings
May 1955
Southend – Leeds – Belfast route begins
Southend – Calvi I.T. route begins
Jun 1955
Leeds – Southend – Ostend I.T. route begins
Jul 1955
Leeds – Southend – Le Torquet I.T. route begins
Sep 1955
Leeds – Southend – Dusseldorf service begins
Winter 1955/56
B.K.S flies a series of ad-hoc flights on behalf of South African – Trek Airways
May 1956
Southend – Geneva I.T. services start
Southend – Oporto I.T. services start
Jun 1956
Southend – Bilbao I.T. charter services begin
B.K.S fleet while based at SEN:
Avro 652 Anson
G-ALIH – 4/54 to 8/54
Sold to E.K. Cole
G-ALUR – 5/52 to 7/52
Sold to Finland
G-ALXB – 8/53 to 10/55
Sold – Fate unknown
G-ALXH – 4/54 to 5/57
Bought as a wreck and repaired during 1955 – DBR Yorkshire 9/4/63
G-AMBE – 8/53 to 10/58
To B.K.S. Air Surveys
Airspeed Consul
G-AJXE – 11/55 to 10/56
Sold to T.D Keegan
G-AJXG – 9/55 to 8/57
To B.K.S. Air Surveys
Douglas C-47 Dakota
G-AIWE – 10/51 to 4/52
Sold to Iberia as EC-AGS
G-AMSF – 4/52 to 1/59
Sold to Crewsair
G-AMSH – 5/52 to 6/66
Sold to Starways
G-AMVB – 10/52 to 8/57
Sold to Hunting Aerosurveys
G-AMVC – 10/52 to 10/61
Crashed near Kirkoswold, Cumberland 17/10/61
G-ANAF – 6/53 to 11/58
Sold to Hunting Aerosurveys
Non-commercial types included:
G-AEYE – Percival Q.6
For use as a feeder aircraft between Southend and Newcastle
G-AJRZ – Fairchild 24/Argus II
Company hack/runabout
G-AIYX – Piper Cub J-3
Registered to B.K.S. Flying Group
Do you have any other, interesting snippets of information about this airline or indeed, any pictures that you would like to share? If so, then please contact us on saadinfomail@gmail.com
Many thanks from the SAAD Admin Team.