British Caledonian

If you go through old Gatwick slides from the 1970s and 1980s, you almost inevitably come across a lion on the tail. It belongs to British Caledonian, BCal for short – the airline that was Britain’s private counterweight to the state airlines for over 17 years. This page explains where BCal came from, which aircraft it flew, why it disappeared in 1988 and how to identify historic shots correctly.

British Caledonian at a glance

British Caledonian was a historic British scheduled airline based at London Gatwick Airport. It came into being on November 30, 1970, when the Scottish charter airline Caledonian Airways took over the much larger British United Airways (BUA). In the first few years, the new company operated as “Caledonian/BUA,” then as British Caledonian. Key figures were Sir Adam Thomson as chairman and managing director and John de la Haye.

Behind the merger was a political idea. A government report had called in the late 1960s for building a strong private “second force” in British air transport alongside the two state-owned carriers BOAC and BEA. BCal became exactly that second force – and remained so after BOAC and BEA merged into British Airways in 1974.

At the start, the airline had 31 jets and around 4,400 employees. In the mid-1980s, at times around 7,700 people worldwide worked for BCal. The story ended on April 14, 1988: British Airways had taken over the airline and integrated it completely.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code BR: appeared in British Caledonian’s flight numbers.
• Callsign CALEDONIAN: how the crews identified themselves on the radio.
• Registration G-: All aircraft were registered in Britain. How the British system works is explained in the guide to British G- registrations.

Be careful with old timetables and ticket receipts: the code BR is carried today by EVA Air from Taiwan. So a flight number with BR from the 1980s belongs to BCal, one from today to EVA Air. Without a date, such a document cannot be reliably identified.

From Caledonian/BUA to the second force: the history

The beginnings, 1970 to 1976

The new airline started with a mixed fleet from both predecessors: seven Boeing 707s from Caledonian (more on the type in the history of the Boeing 707), four Vickers VC10s from BUA and 20 BAC One-Elevens for short haul. From 1971, BCal flew to West Africa, namely to Lagos, Kano and Accra – routes that were among the network’s most important for years. Later that year, Paris was added.

In 1973, BCal started scheduled flights to New York and Los Angeles but had to stop them again as early as 1974. The oil crisis hit the airline hard. With the “Plan S” austerity program, it cut jobs at the end of 1974 and retired the VC10s. After that, things looked up again.

South America, Texas and the DC-10

In 1976, the British government divided the world into zones of influence: British Airways got New York, among others, and BCal got South America in return. Soon after, the new air services agreement with the USA opened further doors. From October 1977, BCal flew to Houston, and in 1980 Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth and St. Louis were added. The route to Hong Kong, then still to Kai Tak airport, also started in 1980.

For these long-haul routes, BCal ordered the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 in the long-range DC-10-30 version in 1976. The first aircraft arrived in March 1977, with more following until 1981. The three-engine widebody became the airline’s face on long haul. For the Houston route, BCal also leased a Boeing 747-100 from Aer Lingus in 1978/79.

The 1980s: Laker, the Falklands and new destinations

The early 1980s brought setbacks and opportunities at the same time. In 1982, Argentina and Peru closed their airspace to British airlines in the course of the Falklands War – which eliminated some of the most profitable South America routes. In the same year, Laker Airways collapsed. BCal then resumed the Gatwick–Los Angeles route and took over aircraft and Laker’s Gatwick hangar, among other things.

In 1983, BCal ordered the then-new Airbus A320 as the first airline outside France. In 1984, two Airbus A310s joined the fleet, and the last Boeing 707 left it. In the same year, the group reported a record profit, and the authorities approved new routes to the Middle East.

1985: Swap with British Airways and the 747 to New York

In 1985, BCal and British Airways swapped routes: BCal took over the connections to Dhahran and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia but gave up the rights to several destinations in South America and the Caribbean, including Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Caracas and Bogotá. At the same time, in summer 1985, BCal returned to New York JFK with second-hand Boeing 747-200s, including a Combi version. The A310s left again, replaced by additional second-hand DC-10-30s.

The fleet: from the One-Eleven to the 747

BCal’s fleet was never huge, but it was varied. In March 1984, for example, it consisted of 25 jets: eight DC-10-30s, twelve One-Eleven 500s, two A310s, two 707s and one 747-200. Over its entire history, these types flew for the airline:

Type	Period at BCal	Use	Spotter note
BAC One-Eleven (mainly Series 500)	1970–1988	Europe and domestic	British short-haul jet with rear-mounted engines and T-tail
Boeing 707-320	1970–1984	Long haul of the early years	Four engines under the wings, narrow fuselage
Vickers VC10	1970–1974	Long haul, including South America	Four engines in pairs at the rear, T-tail
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30	1977–1988	Most important long-haul type	Third engine in the vertical stabilizer
Boeing 747-100 (leased)	1978/79	Houston	Short-term lease from Aer Lingus
Airbus A310-200	1984–1985/86	Medium haul	Twin-engine widebody, in service only briefly
Boeing 747-200	Mid-1980s–1988	New York, later Tokyo among others	Second-hand aircraft, some Combi versions
Airbus A320	ordered 1983	–	Delivered only in 1988, in British Airways colors

Two types are especially interesting for spotters. The DC-10-30 was the backbone of long haul for over a decade and still shapes the picture many have of BCal in their heads. The Boeing 747-200, by contrast, came late: in 1985 it brought BCal back to New York, and with the fifth 747, which arrived in 1986, the new Gatwick–Tokyo route started on May 31, 1987. You can read more about the jumbo’s development in the history of the Boeing 747, and how to tell the variants apart in the guide Recognizing the Boeing 747-100 through 747-8.

The story of the A320 is curious. BCal had ordered the type early but did not live to see delivery. The first aircraft arrived in spring 1988 – already in British Airways colors. For the type history of the Airbus A320, BCal is thus an important early customer without ever having flown an A320 itself.

How to recognize British Caledonian

The most important identifying feature is the Scottish lion, called “Lion Rampant” in English, meaning a lion standing upright. It was displayed large on the vertical stabilizer and showed the airline’s Scottish roots, which went back to Caledonian Airways. Even the BUA aircraft taken over were repainted into this livery.

A nice tradition helps when identifying photos: all aircraft carried names, namely after famous Scots and well-known places in Scotland. BCal kept up this naming tradition throughout its 17 years. In older shots, the name can often be read at the nose and, together with the registration, tells you which aircraft you are looking at. The airline was also known for the tartan uniforms of its flight attendants.

The takeover by British Airways

1986: the crisis year

Things actually looked good in 1985: BCal again reported a record profit. In 1986, the situation turned within a few months. After the US air strike on Libya in April 1986 and the Chernobyl reactor accident shortly afterward, many Americans canceled their trips to Europe. That was especially bitter for BCal because the transatlantic routes brought in a large part of its revenue. In addition came the fall in oil prices, which caused lucrative business travel to the oil industry to collapse, and problems with revenue from Nigeria, which barely made it back to Britain because of currency devaluation and foreign exchange restrictions.

Instead of another record, there was a loss of around £19 million before tax. BCal cut around 1,000 jobs and sold parts of the business: two DC-10-30s went to Continental Airlines, the One-Eleven fleet was sold and leased back, and hotels and subsidiaries changed hands.

1987: the bidding war

On July 16, 1987, British Airways announced it would take over BCal for £237 million. What followed was a months-long tug of war:

• Rival bid: The parent company of Air Europe submitted its own offer, which the BCal board rejected.
• Stock market crash: The price collapse in October 1987 significantly reduced the value of BA’s offer, which partly consisted of BA shares.
• Competition review: The British competition authority examined the takeover and attached conditions. BA had to give up thousands of takeoff and landing slots at Gatwick and some routes, among other things.
• SAS steps in: The Scandinavian SAS offered to buy a good quarter of the BCal group.
• Decision: On December 21, 1987, the majority shareholder accepted the raised BA offer of £250 million.

On April 14, 1988, British Caledonian ceased to exist as a separate company. British Airways took over routes, staff and a large part of the fleet but replaced the One-Eleven with its own Boeing 737s and the second-hand 747s with its own jumbos. In March 1988, the new North Terminal opened at Gatwick, and the airport remained an important base for British Airways. Today BA belongs to the International Airlines Group.

Risk of confusion: the many “Caledonians”

If you sort historic photos, you stumble over several airlines with similar names. This overview helps you tell them apart:

Airline	Period	What it was
Caledonian Airways (first)	until 1970	Scottish charter airline, the seed of BCal
British Caledonian	1970–1988	Scheduled airline from Gatwick, topic of this page
British Caledonian Airways Charter / Cal Air	from 1982	Charter offshoot, later Cal Air International, not part of the BA takeover
Caledonian Airways (BA subsidiary)	1988–2000	Renamed British Airtours, holiday charters with its own IATA code KT

The BA subsidiary Caledonian Airways flew Lockheed TriStars, DC-10s, Boeing 757s and Airbus A320s, among others – so photos of these from the 1990s are not BCal, even if a lion is visible. It wore a modified BA livery. In 1995, British Airways sold this airline to the tour operator Inspirations, and in 2000 it was absorbed into JMC Air in a merger.

BCal today: an archive topic

You will never see British Caledonian in scheduled service again. The airline stays fascinating anyway – as part of British aviation history and as a subject in old collections. Many spotters photographed at Gatwick in the 1970s and 1980s, and BCal slides still turn up at flea markets, in estates or in photo archives.

If you digitize such pictures, proceed systematically: record registration, type, location and – as far as known – the date. Besides BCal, it is worth looking at the other British airlines of that era, such as Dan-Air, Laker Airways or Air Europe, which were also based at Gatwick. If you go to Gatwick yourself today, you will find suitable locations in the Gatwick spotter guide. Note the British rules there, which the article Spotting in Britain summarizes.

Common mix-ups

• Thinking BR is a current flight – today BR stands for EVA Air; for BCal documents, the date counts.
• Thinking every lion is BCal – the BA subsidiary Caledonian Airways (1988–2000) also wore the lion.
• Thinking BCal was a charter airline – British Caledonian was mainly a scheduled airline with a worldwide network.
• Looking for an A320 at BCal – the A320s on order only arrived at British Airways.
• Equating BCal with BUA – BUA was one of the two predecessors, not the same airline.
• Thinking Caledonian/BUA was a separate airline – that was just the name of the first years.

Conclusion

For 17 years, British Caledonian was the private alternative to the British state airlines and later to British Airways. From Gatwick, BCal flew One-Elevens, DC-10s and finally Boeing 747s to Africa, the Americas, the Middle East and Asia. A series of crises in 1986 shook the airline, and at the end of 1987 British Airways prevailed in the bidding war. For you as a spotter, BCal lives on today in photos and logbooks – and if you read lion, titles, type and registration together, you can place these pictures with confidence.