Connectair (U.K.)

Connectair is a defunct regional airline based in United Kingdom

First steps

Connectair was founded in 1982 by Robert Wright, a former British Airways pilot. After seeking and then raising initial funding, the airline took its first flight on February 22, 1984, with a twin-engine Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante. Scheduled flights began on May 30 and were displayed on timetables around the world as British Caledonian Commuter. The small airline had chosen Gatwick Airport (British Caledonian's hub) for its operations, which began with a flight to Antwerp (Belgium). Later, flights to Düsseldorf were added, and, from May 1986, a Gatwick-Rotterdam route and a Manchester-Rotterdam-Antwerp route.

Air Europe ownership

In June 1988, ILG Group took over the regional airline. ILG's decision to purchase Connectair was part of Air Europe's corporate strategy at the time to establish itself as a major short-haul scheduled operator at its Gatwick airport base. This meant that the much-coveted early-morning peak time slots, which Air Europe needed to be able to operate at times that were attractive to business travellers as well as competitive with its rivals' departure and arrival times, were in increasingly short supply. Connectair held a fairly large number of conveniently timed slots at Gatwick. ILG's acquisition of Connectair therefore represented a golden opportunity to substantially increase the number of slots the group's airlines controlled at Gatwick, thereby strengthening Air Europe's competitive position at that airport. Following that airline's acquisition by ILG, Connectair was renamed Air Europe Express and adopted a new corporate identity as of 1 February 1989.

Fleet

Connectair fleet consisted of the following aircraft when the name change became official:

• 1 x Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante
• 1 x Short 330
• 1 x Short 360