CLASSIC JETLINERS SPECIAL

I

n the late 1960s BEA (British European

Airways) identi ed the need for a

widebody airliner that would stem its

declining share of the European market,

provide economy of scale and reduce costs.

The corporation considered Lockheed’s

L1011 TriStar Douglas (later McDonnell

Douglas) DC-10 and Airbus A300B. The

carrier went for the L1011 because, compared

with the European aircraft, it offered better

range and economies of scale with its greater

capacity. It also concluded the Tristar offered

superior economics over the DC-10 as well

as greater British content.

A key attraction of the TriStar for BEA

was its  exibility on routes of varying length:

the airline intended to operate the aircraft on

services as short as 197 miles (317km) and

up to 2,251 miles (3,623km).

On August 7, 1972 an initial order was

announced for six TriStar 1s (with options for six

more), and  rm orders were increased to nine

and then 15 before all of the  rst six had been

delivered. Initial destinations were planned

to be major European cities, such as Paris,

Brussels, Madrid, Rome and Dublin, and leisure

destinations including Malaga, Palma and Faro.

BEA envisaged 320-330 seats, but with the

 exibility to increase this to 393 on high-density

routes and saw the TriStar as the perfect

 t. The carrier had studied the possibility of

using TriStars in high-density inclusive tour

con guration from Heathrow, but concluded it

was not pro table. That kind of traffic was best

handled by BEA Airtours at Gatwick, it decided,

retaining the TriStars for scheduled services

and part-charter operations.

The TriStar never appeared in full BEA

colours, but brie y wore a hybrid scheme.

In 1972 Lockheed had  own a TriStar

into Heathrow at the start of a European

promotional tour. The aircraft, Eastern

Airlines N305EA, had BEA tail markings

and titles applied by BEA engineers before it

attended the Farnborough airshow.

BEA and BOAC were dissolved on March

31, 1974 and the British Airways Board inherited

the TriStar order. In preparation for the winter

1974/75 season the corporation began selling

seats on L1011 scheduled services as well as a

series of charters to Munich. This would enable

Trident 1s to be freed up for a new ‘Shuttle’

service to Glasgow, to ramp up ‘Belfast Express’

 ights and gradually retire the variant as the

TriStar  eet grew.

GIANT LEAP

The TriStar represented an enormous leap of

faith for BEA: its 330-seat capacity was the

equivalent of three Trident 1s. It proportionately

BRITISH AIRWAYS

TriStars

HIGH, WIDE AND HANDSOME

The versatile and reliable Lockheed TriStar served with British Airways

for almost 20 years. David Ransted recalls its career with the airline.

30 Aviation News incorporating Jets June 2018

30-34_jetliners_tristarsDC.mfDC.mfDC.indd 30 02/05/2018 15:51