British European Airways (BEA) or British European Airways Corporation was a Britishairline which existed from 1946 until 1974.
Formed in 1946 by an Act of Parliament, BEA compulsorily acquired the aircraft fleets and routes of most UK private airlines then operating scheduled services within the UK and Europe. The airline operated European and North African routes from airports around the United Kingdom. BEA was the largest domestic airline within the United Kingdom, operating flights to major British cities, including London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast and Glasgow.
BEA was the first customer for British-built short- and medium-haul airliners of the 1950s and 1960s, including the Vickers Viscount, Vickers Vanguard, BAC One-Eleven 500 and Hawker Siddeley Trident. After earlier trials with a Helicopter Experiment Unit the airline formed a separate helicopter airline, BEA Helicopters, to operate services between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly. In 1969 BEA formed a charter subsidiary BEA Airtours to provide inclusive tour holiday charters. BEA ceased operations in 1974 when it was merged with the British Overseas Airways Corporation to form British Airways. The airline IATA code was BE with the callsign Bealine.
On 14 March1957, Flight "Bealine 411" operated by Vickers Viscount G-ALWE crashed on approach to Manchester Airport due to a flap failure caused by metal fatigue. All 20 occupants on board died, and two on the ground.
On 23 October1957, Vickers Viscount G-AOJA crashed after overshooting on approach to Belfast-Nutts Corner Airport. The cause was not determined. All seven occupants died.
Munich air disaster - on February 6, 1958, British European Airways Flight "Bealine 609" crashed in a blizzard on its third attempt to take off from an icy runway at the Munich-Riem airport in Germany. On board the plane was the Manchester Unitedfootball team, along with supporters and journalists. Twenty-three of the 43 passengers on board the aircraft died. The charter flight was operated by British European Airways with an Airspeed Ambassador G-ALZU 'Lord Burghley'.
On 12 October1967, Flight "Bealine 284" operated by De Havilland Comet 4 G-ARCO on behalf of Cyprus Airways exploded in mid-air over the Mediterranean and crashed into the sea with the loss of all 66 on board. The explosion was caused by a device under a passenger seat.
On 2 October1971, British European Airways Flight "Bealine 706", operated by Vickers Vanguard G-APEC, crashed near Aarsele, Belgium following a mid-air explosive decompression caused by a fatigue failure. All 63 on board died.
On 18 June1972, British European Airways Flight "Bealine 548", operated by a British European Airways (BEA) Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C G-ARPI, crashed two minutes after takeoff from Heathrow Airport, killing all 118 passengers and crew. The crash occurred close to the town of Staines, Middlesex.
On 10 June1965 a BEA Trident 1 (G-ARPR) operating Flight "Bealine 343" from Paris to London Heathrow Airport, made the world's first fully-automatic landing of a commercial airliner with fare-paying passengers.
The Beatles occasionally flew BEA. On one flight, Ringo Starr held a “TLES” sign next to the BEA logo on the airplane door, spelling out BEATLES. A similar change to the logo was made at the end of A Hard Day's Night.
The BEA is mentioned in Bill Wyman's 1981 song 'Je suis un rock star'.
