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Triskelion: Manx Airlines

4/5/2022

Islands have a unique need for strong air services and the islands surrounding Great Britain have historically had many regional airlines providing their connection with the mainland. During the 1980s the Isle of Man gained its own airline and one that would grow well beyond the scope of serving its home island.

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Freeport Bound: Laker Airways Bahamas

26/4/2022

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Sir Freddie Laker is of course renowned for Laker Airways and his low-cost Skytrain services, which were killed unfairly in 1982 by competitors. He is also known for his ill-fated 1996 return to Transatlantic services with Laker Airways Mk2 but is perhaps less well known for his other airline, Laker Airways Bahamas, which for over a decade served a niche market using 727s hopping mainly between Fort Lauderdale and Freeport.

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Camelot: Excalibur Airways

13/4/2022

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The charter airline industry has always been a turbulent one but that hasn’t stopped many from getting into it. The early 90s were a time of great change as older companies like Dan Air and Air Europe disappeared and new ones started up. Excalibur was one of the new breed using ultra-modern equipment and offering a great service, at least until an ill-thought out change of direction led to their downfall.

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Taban Airlines & Iran's Only EP- 757

16/3/2022

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I find Iran's aviation scene to be vibrant and interesting, the more so due to the sanctions the country's airlines have to operate under, or around. The 2000s have been a period of deregulation and continued liberalisation, which has led to the creation of a wide range of airlines often operating rather haphazard fleets. One of the larger and seemingly more siccessful recent entrants has been Taban Airlines.

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Skyservice: First A330 In North America

19/12/2021

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It is hard to imagine now but even during the 90s US airlines were not especially willing to acquire large numbers of Airbus products. Orders for A330s by TWA and A340s from Continental had fallen by the wayside and so it fell to a Canadian charter airline to operate the first ever A330 in North America.

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Tabriz Feather: Eram Air

26/7/2021

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Iranian aviation is famous for keeping elderly aircraft in the air, but that achievement shouldn't overshadow what is a vibrant civil airline scene, which has at least 16 jet operators in 2021. Even so, some Iranian carriers have fallen by the wayside including the operator Eram Air, an airline whose main claim to fame is probably that it has been represented in 400 scale with a model!

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Shamrock 500s: Aer Lingus 737s Pt2

27/6/2021

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The 737 had proved the foundation for Aer Lingus' growth in the 1970s and 80s so it was natural that the carrier would look favourably on the new generation of the type. Nonetheless despite acquiring all three new variants the 737-300/400/500s would serve for a much shorter period of time than the series 200s.

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Shamrock 200s: Aer Lingus 737s Pt1

24/6/2021

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The colourful fleet of green Shamrock jets of Aer Lingus has connected the Republic of Ireland to Europe for many years and no type was more important in doing so than Boeing's 737. The Baby Boeing was a type that the airline showed early faith in, a faith that was proven well founded with many years of service.

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Air Great Wall: From Chongqing to Ningbo

4/6/2021

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I am a major fan not only of Chinese airlines but also obscure airlines so an obscure Chinese airline is surely too good to pass up, especially when it has been represented in 400 scale twice by, that other lover of obscure airliners, Aeroclassics. Air Great Wall was one of many small airlines that appeared after the decentralisation of the Chinese air carrier market, but although some smaller carriers would grow into majors many others were swallowed up by the big three.

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Birch Tree: Samara Airlines

26/5/2021

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The 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union produced a dazzling array of new airlines, many of which were poorly run and organised. Some however acquired classy images, and became important well-run airlines. Samara Airlines was one of the latter, whose involvement with Russia's first airline alliance would contribute to its eventual failure.

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Bamako Trijet: TZ-ADR and Air Mali

17/5/2021

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Mali, like almost all African nations, has a rather torrid history since independence but also a colourful and interesting national airline. Perhaps it is an illustration of the nation's poverty that the largest equipment it ever owned was a 727 but the recent March 2021 release of an Aeroclassics model of this aircraft gives me the welcome opportunity to investigate the airline.

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Alaskana Graphics: Alaska Airlines 1972-1976

9/2/2021

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Despite introducing 727s and swallowing several smaller Alaskan operators, the early 1970s was another difficult time for Alaska Airlines, which had been leading a hand to mouth existence for many years. Led by the wheeler dealing, but also irascible and dictatorial, Charles "Chuck" Willis Alaska had a mountain of debt, poor reputation and very little cash. Change was needed if the airline was to survive.

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Pineapple: The Hawaii Express

4/12/2020

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Finding profitability on the long routes between the American mainland and Hawaii has proved elusive for many. In fact, on several occasions what have been seen to be cash cow routes have turned out to be quite the opposite. The Hawaii Express was one of several colourful entrepreneurial companies that used the freedom given by deregulation to take on the big boys. As with many startups its initial success led to its eventual failure.

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Obscure Russians 2: Transeuropean Airlines

27/11/2020

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During the mid-late 1990s there was a wide variety of rather obscure airlines being formed within Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union and Aeroflot's iron grip on civil aviation duties. Some never acquired much in the way of their own identities however even some that did, like Transeuropean, appeared and disappeared quickly leaving little evidence of themselves.

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Neverland Bound: JAS Peter Pan DC-10

16/11/2020

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Special airline colours are nowadays ten a penny and there are few major airlines without some form of promotional livery or retro-scheme. This wasn’t the case during the 1990s, although Japanese airlines have always been at the vanguard of the trend. One of the first of the special schemes from Japan was typically cartoonish but unusually was worn by a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and one in the colours of Japan’s 3rd airline – Japan Air System.

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<<Previous

Triskelion: Manx Airlines

Freeport Bound: Laker Airways Bahamas

Camelot: Excalibur Airways

Taban Airlines & Iran's Only EP- 757

Skyservice: First A330 In North America

Tabriz Feather: Eram Air

Shamrock 500s: Aer Lingus 737s Pt2

Shamrock 200s: Aer Lingus 737s Pt1

Air Great Wall: From Chongqing to Ningbo

Birch Tree: Samara Airlines

Bamako Trijet: TZ-ADR and Air Mali

Alaskana Graphics: Alaska Airlines 1972-1976

Pineapple: The Hawaii Express

Obscure Russians 2: Transeuropean Airlines

Neverland Bound: JAS Peter Pan DC-10

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