Cambrian Airways was an airline based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

which ran operations from

Cardiff Airport Cardiff Airport () is an airport in Rhoose, Vale of Glamorgan. It is the only airport offering commercial passenger services and cargo services in Wales. The airport is owned by the Welsh Government, operating it at arm's length as a commercia ...

and

Liverpool John Lennon Airport Liverpool John Lennon Airport is an international airport serving Liverpool, England, on the estuary of the River Mersey south-east of Liverpool city centre. Scheduled domestic, European, North African and Middle Eastern services are oper ...

between 1935 and 1974. It was incorporated into

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

when BOAC, BEA, Cambrian and

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...

merged on 1 April 1974.

History

Cambrian was set up on 25 April 1935 as Cambrian Air Services. The airline's base was at Pengam Moors airfield east of

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. The first aircraft to be operated was a de Havilland DH.60 Moth, mainly to train pilots and fly tourists. With the outbreak of World War II, Cambrian stopped its activities.March and Wright 1972, p. 100. Commencing on 1 January 1946 it was the first British airline to restart operations after the war, with a charter flight with an Auster Autocrat with a cargo of wire rope and an aircraft seat between

Cardiff airport Cardiff Airport () is an airport in Rhoose, Vale of Glamorgan. It is the only airport offering commercial passenger services and cargo services in Wales. The airport is owned by the Welsh Government, operating it at arm's length as a commercia ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. In 1948 Cambrian was flying in cooperation with BEA and used the

de Havilland Dragon Rapide The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide is a 1930s short-haul biplane airliner developed and produced by British aircraft company de Havilland. Capable of accommodating 6–8 passengers, it proved an economical and durable craft, despite its outd ...

, the Autocrat and the Percival Proctor. During 1949 flights began between

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

. During 1953, Cambrian took over Olley Air Service and Murray Chown Aviation and began services between

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

Dinard Dinard (; , ; Gallo: ''Dinard'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department, Brittany, northwestern France. Dinard is on the Côte d'Émeraude of Brittany. Its beaches and mild climate make it a holiday destination, and this has resul ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. This route was served with the

de Havilland Dove The de Havilland DH.104 Dove is a British short-haul airliner developed and manufactured by de Havilland. The design, which was a monoplane successor to the pre-war Dragon Rapide biplane, came about from the Brabazon Committee report which, a ...

and later with the

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

. In 1956 the name changed to Cambrian Airways.

Later history

By 1961, Cambrian was operating eight ex-BEA Douglas Dakotas (DC-3). The service by the

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a retired British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. T ...

turboprop began on 20 February 1963 from Cardiff via Bristol to Dublin. From 1964 the type was used on charter flights to

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

, Palma,

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. In 1967 BEA took over Cambrian, although it continued as a separate airline. The following year the last DC-3 was flown . Cambrian also operated jet BAC One-Elevens, used for charter flights and on the scheduled network. In 1972 Cambrian was incorporated into the new British Air Services and gradually lost its independence. On 1 April 1974, Cambrian was one of the four component companies merged to form British Airways. The Cambrian colour scheme was gradually replaced by an interim scheme with British Airways as the name and Cambrian in smaller text,

Destinations in 1971

According to its 1 November 1971 system timetable, Cambrian was serving the following destinations with scheduled passenger flights:http://www.timetableimages.com, 1 November 1971 Cambrian Airways system timetable United Kingdom *

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Ireland * Cork *

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

France *

- Le Bourget Airport The timetable says the Cambrian fleet was four BAC One-Eleven jets and eight Vickers Viscount turboprops.

Fleet

British Aircraft Corporation The British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) was a British aircraft manufacturer formed from the government-pressured merger of English Electric, English Electric Aviation Ltd., Vickers-Armstrongs, Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), the Bristol Aeroplane ...

BAC One-Eleven 400 *

de Havilland Heron The de Havilland DH.114 Heron is a small Propeller (aircraft), propeller-driven British airliner that first flew on 10 May 1950. It was a development of the twin-engine de Havilland Dove, with a stretched fuselage and two more Reciprocating e ...

* Vickers Viscount 701 * Vickers Viscount 806X

Accidents and incidents

*On 20 July 1965,

G-AMOL crashed on landing at Speke Airport,

after a flight from

Ronaldsway Airport Ronaldsway () is a settlement in the parish of Malew in the south of the Isle of Man, between the village of Ballasalla and the town of Castletown, Isle of Man, Castletown. Features It is notable as the location of Isle of Man Airport and histo ...

. Both crew were killed, as well as two persons on the ground. *On 19 January 1970,

G-AMOA was damaged beyond economic repair in a heavy landing at Lulsgate Airport,

References

*March, P.R. and A.J. Wright. "Airline History No. 26: Cambrian". ''Air Pictorial'', March 1972. pp. 100–104. *Merton-Jones, A.C. British Independent Airlines 1946–1976. 2000. The Aviation Hobby Shop.

External links

Fleet and code information
{{Authority control Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom Companies based in Cardiff