Air Kruise (Kent) Ltd Fleet List
Ty p e Reg’n c/n Aquired Fate Date Notes
Airspeed A65 Consul G-AIUS 750 bt 22.12.46 sold 08.03.48to Stewart Smith Ltd
Auster J/1 Autocrat G-AIZZ 2234 bt 19.8.49 tsfd 20.0 4.61 to Skyfotos
Bristol Freighter Mk21 G-AIMEG-AIFM^1277312795 b t 12 .11. 5 5tsfd 9.2.56 tsfdtsfd 28 .10. 5728 .10. 57 to Silver Cityto Silver City
Bristol Freighter
Mk 21E G-AHJI^12741 b t 12 .11. 5 5 tsfd 28 .10. 57 to Silver CityDH98A Dragon RapideG-AESR 6363 bt 1.2.53 w/o 22.09.56at Gerdes El Adol
G-AEWL 6367 bt 4.3.50 sold 2 4 .11. 5 5 named ‘Nicole’
G -ALWK 6856 b t 2 6. 7. 51 sold 15. 0 4. 57 to Algeria.
Douglas C-47A Dakota G-ANLF 119 7 9 bt 20.4.55 tsfd 28 .10. 57 to Silver CityDouglas C-47B DakotaG-AMYV 32943 tsfd 1.2.56 tsfd 28 .10. 57 to Silver City
G-AMYX 33042 tsfd 30.1.56 tsfd 28 .10. 57 to Silver City
G-AMZB 26980 tsfd 6.11.56 tsfd 28 .10. 57 to Silver City
Douglas C-53D Dakota G-AOBN 117 11 bt 20.4.55 tsfd 28 .10. 57 to Silver City
M iles M14A
Hawk Trainer 3 G-AKJX^560 bt 28.3.49 w.f.u 05.09.54scrapped 1954
Miles M38
Messenger 2A G-AHZS^6331 bt 19.7.46 w.f.u 22.05.64scrapped 1964
Miles M65 Gemini 1A G-AKDJG-AJWH^62936448 bt 31.1. 51bt 20.8.46 soldsold 0 4 .11. 5 70 2. 0 7. 51 to private ownerto Shackleton Ltd
Percival Q.6 G-AFIX Q. 31 bt 13.8.46 sold 21.1146 to Freemantle Radio Ltdmade the inaugural flight under the command of the Chief Pilot
Captain Bill Wood. It was an IT charter to Perpignan, Palma
and Ibiza carrying 48 passengers. Alongside the IT work to
some 20 European destinations for Leroy Tours, Air Ferry also
operated scheduled services from Manston to Le Touquet and
Ostend in its first year of operation. Such was the success of this
new airline that a third Viking (G-AOCH) was purchased in
August and by the summer season they had carried in excess
of 70,000 passengers.
In preparation for the 1964 season the fleet size rose to seven
with the purchase of two more Vikings (G-AHOW andG-AJBX), and another C-54A (G-ASOG). As well as regular
freight flights to Le Touquet, which began on January 2, Air Ferry
also undertook flights to Düsseldorf on behalf of the Ministry.
The airline was also on hand to undertake ad-hoc charters
at short notice and on January 10, C-54A G-ASFY departed
Manston bound for Baghdad to collect two damaged engines
from Saudi Arabian Airlines Convair 440 HZ-AAY for repair.
During his tenure at Silver City, Hugh Kennard had
promoted the cross-channel car ferry service and he applied
for route licences from Manston using a Bristol Freighter Mk
31 (G-AMLL) leased from Handley Page. Most of the licence
applications were refused and those that were granted were not
used and the aircraft saw limited use before being returned the
following year having flown just 32 hours.Ousted
The summer season got under way with IT destinations similar
to 1963 but nobody could foresee the events that were about to
unfold. When Hugh Kennard registered the name Air Ferry, the
managing director of British United Airways (BUA), Freddie
Laker objected on the grounds of confusion with the air ferry
operations of both Channel Air Bridge and Silver City. During
the year Air Holdings, the parent company of BUA had been
in negotiations with Lewis Leroy to buy Leroy Tours and, by
association its subsidiary Air Ferry Ltd. In October the deal was
signed and as a minority shareholder Hugh Kennard was forced
to sell and once again he was out of the airline business.
Now part of the Air Holdings Group, operations continued
using the Air Ferry name. On December 18, C-54 G-ASOG
carried 82 passengers on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land; its
routing was via Frankfurt, Athens, Heraklion, Istanbul, Beirut,
Damascus and Jerusalem with the return flight taking in Cairo
and Luxor. Despite the internal turmoil of the take-over,
passenger figures for the year exceeded 153,000 – more than
doubling those of 1963.
The takeover saw changes for the 1965 season with three of
the Vikings being withdrawn for spares leaving just G-AIVF and
G-AHOW to partner the three C-54s. With its lease up, Bristol
Freighter G-AMLL was returned to Handley Page and replaced
by G-ANVR and G-AMLP on short term loan from British
United Air Ferries (BUAF) – but again work was sporadic with
both aircraft flying just 90 hours between them.
Following Kennard’s departure there was a reduction in IT
work with the company increasing its reliance on freight charters
and newly awarded Air Ministry charters to the Near and
Middle East together with India and Africa using the C-54 fleet.
This resulted in a drop in passenger numbers to 109,000.Air Ferry Vickers
Viking G-AIVF
awaits its next service
in front of Liverpool’s
art deco terminal on
December 20, 1964.
ATL 98 Carvair
G-APNH is prepared
at Southend for
operation on the
Zambian oil
relief f lights from Dar-
es Salaam, during
which it carried
Air Ferry titles.
http://www.airlinerworld.com 73