Scottish Airways informations and photos

Scottish Airways was an airline serving most of Scotland, especially the Highlands and Islands. It was active from 1937 until 1947, when it was merged into British European Airways.

The company was established on 12 August 1937 by a group of investors including Whitehall Securities Corporation, LMS Railway and Western Isles Airways.

Whitehall Securities was a wealthy, powerful investment enterprise which had already set up British Airways Ltd which operated mainly in England. Whitehall was run by Clive Pearson, who was now performing a similar feat in Scotland.

LMS Railway wanted to invest in transport to the Scottish islands where rail couldn't reach. Railway Air Services (RAS) was the rail industry's response to the airlines with whom they were already competing (to the extent of banning other airlines' ticket sales through their agents). LMS was already a partner in RAS and saw Scottish Airways as an extension of their operation rather than competition.

Western Isles Airways (WIA) was an investment tool, 50% owned by David MacBrayne ferry company, and 50% owned by Whitehall Securities, It was set up because the Ministry of Transport required MacBraynes to keep separate accounts for its aviation interests. MacBrayne, which was 50% owned by LMS already, could see air travel as a complement to their existing operations.

Scottish Airways consisted of two airlines already owned by Whitehall: Highland Airways and Northern & Scottish Airways (N&SA). At the time of the formation of Scottish Airways, N&SA had a change of name, becoming Northern Airways. The precise details of ownership of Scottish Airways were Northern Airways 31.9%, Highland Airways 18.1%, LMS 40%, and WIA 10%. This effectively meant that Whitehall Securities held a 55% share of Scottish Airways, with LMS controlling 45%.

Highland Airways was run by its founder, Ted Fresson and was based in Inverness, specialising in services to the Northern Isles of Orkney and the Shetlands. Likewise, N&SA was run by its founder, George Nichols, but was based at Renfrew Airport, Glasgow, specialising in serving the Western Isles. At the start, each airline retained its own identity, their bosses remained in place, and their roles and responsibilities were little changed. The N&SA timetable for October 1937 shows the company name as "Northern and Scottish Airways (Northern Airways Limited)".

The coverage of Scotland was not complete, however, largely because of the intransigence of Eric Gandar Dower, the founder of what was now Allied Airways (Gandar Dower), based at the airport he founded and owned; Dyce at Aberdeen. He was operating routes to the Northern Isles in competition with Fresson. He refused to allow competing airlines access to his airport, and rejected any thoughts of co-operation with or investment by anyone else, a situation that endured until all private airlines were nationalised after World War II.

At first the operations of the two divisions went on much as before the takeover. Advantages which the new airline with its railway and ferry investors promoted were that tickets were now available from all British railway stations as well as the usual travel agents, and heavy luggage could be sent in advance by rail and ferry. Of particular note was “inter-availability”; tickets could be exchanged between air, rail or MacBrayne ferries (out by air, return first class by steamship and rail, or out by surface, return by air for a supplement).

On 3 May 1938 N&SA opened a new route, flown by chief pilot David Barclay in their new Dragon Rapide G-AFEY, from Renfrew Airport via Perth, Inverness and Kirkwall (Orkney) to Sumburgh (Shetland). Another intermediate stop, at Wick, was soon added.

In 1938 the Air Transport Licensing Authority (ATLA) had been established by the government to license scheduled airline services and civil airports, as part of the effort to improve the British aviation industry spurred by the Maybury Committee report of 1936. Other areas of activity were to improve navigation, air traffic control and radio aids, weather reporting, pilot training and certification, and airport facilities. In order to rationalise airline routes to provide good service without needless, wasteful and often damaging competition, many small airlines closed or merged, and larger, better financed operations thrived. Scottish Airways was performing valuable services for the Highlands and Islands, and its routes were largely unaffected, but one decision the ATLA took, in February 1939, was to stop their competition on routes to Aberdeen, leaving that city's routes to Eric Gandar Dower's Allied Airways.[A] As a condition of licence approval, airlines had to commit to providing their aircraft for government use in the event of national emergency.

Western Isles Airways was granted the ATLA licences for the routes from Glasgow to the Inner and Outer Hebrides, but those were actually operated by N&SA.

The first regular airmail service between Kirkwall and South Ronaldsay was performed by Ted Fresson of Highland Airways on 31 July 1939 in Dragon G-ACIT.

In the summer of 1939 Scottish Airways started an Orkney to London route taking just six hours. Leaving Kirkwall at 6:25am, the flight would connect with North Eastern Airways at Perth, flying in their Airspeed Envoys to Edinburgh, Newcastle and London (Croydon). The service only lasted a few months before war caused its cancellation.

From timetable dated May 1938

ATLA licensed routes, February 1939

On 29 August 1939, the ATLA was replaced by a new department of the Air Ministry, National Air Communications (NAC), based at Whitchurch. Almost all flyable civil aircraft were flown to gathering points, Scottish Airways' point being Renfrew. The NAC directed all civil operations as required, both to maintain essential services and to assist the army in carrying freight, especially blood supplies, particularly to France. Camouflage was applied to many NAC aircraft, and registrations were underlined with red, white and blue stripes, with RAF-style fin flashes and roundels on the wings. Many aircraft had their passenger windows "blacked-out" with white paint so that occupants couldn't see things outside that they shouldn't – carrying cameras was strictly forbidden. Priority on all flights was given to military personnel. On 27 March 1940, the RAF started to take over the direct operation of non-scheduled civil flying, starting the process of impressment.

NAC found that it was having to subsidise the airlines under its control, so it requisitioned the aircraft of those companies it didn't deem to be essential, effectively closing them down, although those with substantial engineering departments became Civilian Repair Units (CRU) organised by the Civilian Repair Organisation. Scottish Airways was selected as a CRU at Renfrew. The airlines that were left all had close associations with rail companies (with the notable exception of Gandar Dower's Allied Airways), whose influence was noted by Member of Parliament Robert Perkins, who also represented the Air Line Pilots Association.

NAC had access to the following Scottish Airways aircraft. See the Fleet list below for further details.

Scottish Airways was initially permitted to fly three routes: Renfrew — Rothesay — Cock-of-Arran — Campbeltown — Bowmore, Inverness — Lybster, and Wick — Kirkwall; the latter two could be modified at the wishes of RAF Coastal Command.

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