Morton Air Services was one of the earliest post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

private, independentindependent from

government-owned corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

airlines An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in ...

formed in 1945.Morton Air Services — In Memoriam
/ref> It mainly operated regional short-haul scheduled services within the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

and between 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 ...

and

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

. In 1953, Morton took over rival independent UK airline Olley Air Service.airline timetable images — Olley Air Service, United Kingdom
/ref> In 1958, Morton became part of the Airwork group.''Flight International'', 19 December 1958, ''Morton and Airwork'', p. 957
/ref> Morton retained its identity following the 1960 Airwork — Hunting-Clan merger that led to the creation of

British United Airways British United Airways (BUA) was a private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline in the United Kingdom formed as a result of the merger of Airwork Services#Origins, Airwork Services and Hunting-Clan Air Transport ...

(BUA). The

reorganisation A corporate action is an event initiated by a public company that brings or could bring an actual change to the debt securities— equity or debt—issued by the company. Corporate actions are typically agreed upon by a company's board of dire ...

of the BUA group of companies during 1967/8 resulted in Morton being absorbed into

British United Island Airways British United Island Airways (BUIA) was formed in November 1968 as part of a British United Airways#Reorganisation, reorganisation of the BUA group of companies. It was a regional sister airline of British United Airways (BUA), United Kingdom, ...

(BUIA) in 1968.

History

In 1945, former

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

pilot Captain T.W. "Sammy" Morton founded Morton Air Services. Prior to Morton's inception, "Sammy" Morton had flown scheduled services from

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 ...

's old Croydon Airport to Paris Le Bourget with

Amy Johnson Amy Johnson (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, she set many long-distance records dur ...

in the 1930s''Fly me, I'm Freddie!'', p. 60 By the early 1950s, Captain Morton had built up a fleet of

Airspeed Consul The Airspeed Consul is a twin-engined light transport aircraft and affordable airliner designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Airspeed Limited. Introduced during the immediate post-war period, it was a straightforward conver ...

(see heading image) and

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 ...

aircraft and these were soon supplemented by more modern

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 ...

piston

airliner An airliner is a type of airplane for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. The modern and most common variant of the airliner is a long, tube shaped, and jet powered aircraft. The largest ...

s to operate regular

charter flight Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...

s. These included general charter work,

air ambulance Air medical services are the use of aircraft, including both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters to provide various kinds of urgent medical care, especially prehospital, emergency and critical care to patients during aeromedical evacuation an ...

services and racecourse charters. The latter's regularity was such that it amounted to a "quasi-scheduled" operation. Morton subsequently won traffic rights to operate fully fledged scheduled services from Croydon to the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

Deauville Deauville () is a communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados department, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its port, harbour, Race track, race course, marinas, con ...

Le Touquet Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (, Picard language, Picard: ''Ech Toutchet-Paris-Plache''), commonly referred to as Le Touquet (), is a Communes of France, commune near Étaples, in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, northern France. ...

and

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

.''Flight International'', 18 April 1958, ''World Airline Directory ...'', p. 528
/ref> Morton sold a minority stake of about 20% to rival independent airline

Skyways Skyways may refer to: *Skyway A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways ver ...

. When that airline was taken over by the

Lancashire Aircraft Corporation Lancashire Aircraft Corporation was a major British charter airline after World War II. Its founding father was Eric Rylands. It played an important role in the Berlin Blockade#Start of the Berlin Airlift, Berlin Airlift. It also flew scheduled ...

(LAC), another contemporary independent airline, LAC acquired ownership of Skyways's minority holding in Morton Air Services as well. In 1953, Morton Air Services gained control of its independent rival Olley Air Service. Following the takeover of Olley Air Service, that airline's operations were wholly integrated into Morton's but the Olley name would survive for certain services until 1963. In 1958, Morton sold out to Airwork. The same year, Airwork started the process of merging with Hunting-Clan to form BUA.

On 30 September 1959, a Morton Air Services

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 ...

(G-AOXL) operated the last scheduled passenger flight to depart Croydon. The aircraft was headed for Rotterdam. Another Heron, repainted to represent that aircraft currently (2011) guards the entrance to Croydon's Aerodrome Hotel.) By the following morning, the airline's entire operation — including its headquarters — had been relocated to Gatwick. Although Morton's scheduled services were integrated into BUA's regional operations following the creation of that airline in July 1960, the Morton name survived until the completion of the BUA group's 1967/8 reorganisation. It finally disappeared on 1 November 1968. This was the day Morton was absorbed into BUIA, BUA's new regional affiliate.''Fly me, I'm Freddie!'', p. 127

Olley Air Service

In January 1934,

Gordon Olley Flying Officer Gordon Percy Olley Military Medal, MM (29 April 1893 – 18 March 1958) was a World War I flying ace who later formed his own airline, Morton Air Services#Olley Air Service, Olley Air Services. He was the first pilot to fly one mil ...

, a former pilot with

Handley Page Transport Handley Page Transport Ltd was an airline company founded in 1919, soon after the end of the First World War, by Frederick Handley Page. The company's first planes were Handley Page Type O/400 bombers modified for passenger use. They flew a ...

and

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

, founded Olley Air Service. Olley Air Service was primarily a

charter airline Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flight ...

. It headed a group of airlines that included Blackpool & West Coast Air Services, Channel Air Ferries and

Isle of Man Air Services Isle of Man Air Services Ltd (IoMAS) was a small airline, based at Ronaldsway Airport Isle of Man, which operated scheduled flights to the English and Scottish mainland between formation in September 1937 and nationalisation in January 1947. H ...

. These airlines were taken over in 1935 and 1936. Channel Air Ferries assumed Olley's scheduled air services to and from the Channel Islands, while Blackpool & West Coast Air Services operated scheduled flights between the UK and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

as well as to/from the

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 ...

. The former were jointly operated with

Aer Lingus Aer Lingus ( ; an anglicisation of the Irish language, Irish , meaning "air fleet") is an Irish airline company which is the flag carrier of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 201 ...

using the Irish Sea Airways brand name. The latter transferred to Isle of Man Air Services, following which Blackpool & West Coast Air Services shortened its name to West Coast Air Services.

In 1938, the Olley group formed a new

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

airline with two contemporary railway companies under the name Great Western & Southern Air Lines. In 1939, Great Western & Southern Air Lines took over the scheduled routes of Channel Air Ferries. Following the end of World War II, Olley Air Service resumed operations as a charter airline. It subsequently re-entered the scheduled services market as well. In 1953, Olley Air Service was sold to Morton Air Services, as a result of which the former was absorbed into the latter. Despite Olley's complete integration into Morton, the Olley name was still used for specific services until 1963.

Fleet

Morton Air Services and Olley Air Service operated the following aircraft types: *

* de Havilland DH 89 Dragon Rapide * de Havilland DH 104 Dove * de Havilland DH 114 Heron *

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 ...

C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troo ...

Fleet in 1958

In April 1958, the combined fleet of Morton Air Services and Olley Air Service comprised 14 aircraft.

Accidents and incidents

There are two recorded fatal accidents involving Morton Air Services aircraft.ASN Aircraft accident description Airspeed Consul G-AHJX — off Guernsey
/ref> *The first accident occurred on 8 May 1950. It involved an Airspeed Consul (registration: G-AHJX). The aircraft was destroyed in a crash off

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 ...

killing all four occupants. *On 14 June 1952, Consul ''G-AHFT'' on a charter from Croydon to Le Mans ditched off Brighton following engine problems, all 6 on board killed, including pilot Lawrence Page.

Notes

;Notes ;Citations

Sources

* * (various backdated issues relating to Morton Air Services and Olley Air Service, 1934–1968)

External links

Morton Air Services — In MemoriamAviation Safety Network database — Morton Air Services accidents/incidents
* ttp://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/ol1.htm airline timetable images — Olley Air Service, United Kingdombr>Morton Air Services de Havilland DH 104 Dove 1B G-ANVC parked at London Gatwick during 1966Morton Air Services de Havilland DH 114 G-ANSZ Heron 1B on the ramp at London Gatwick on 8 June 1966Morton Air Services Douglas C-47B Dakota Mk. 4 (DC-3A) on the ramp at London Gatwick during August 1968Olley Air Service de Havilland DH 89A Dragon Rapide G-ACYR exhibit photographed at Madrid's Cuatro Vientos on 7 August 2004
{{Airlines of the United Kingdom Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom Airlines established in 1945 Airlines disestablished in 1968