Britannia Airways: The World's Largest Holiday Airline

Founded in 1961 as Euravia by British businessman Ted Langton and aviation consultant J.E.D. Walker, at a time of considerable turmoil for the independent sector of the British air operators' industry, Britannia Airways went on to become the world's largest holiday airline. Just as Court Line evolved from Autair, so Britannia Airways evolved from Euravia. Both UK airlines had strong links with the travel industry, Court Line with Clarksons Holidays, and Britannia with the Thomson Group, in particular the Sky Tours brand. Both were innovative in their own ways, and both grabbed the UK travel industry by the scruff of the neck and shook it into the jet age - Court line travelling down the brasher cheap-and-cheerful road, while Britannia took the more staid, upmarket route. By 1972, Britannia had developed to such a degree that it was the biggest of the British independent charter airlines. Prior to the mid-1970s, Britannia, much like other British carter airlines of the era, had concentrated upon low-cost flights to Spain and the use of provincial airports to provide its services. The companys management, however, harboured ambitions to grow beyond this.