British European Airways — formally British European Airways Corporation — was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. BEA operated to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East from airports around the United Kingdom. The airline was also the largest UK domestic operator, serving major British cities, including London, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Belfast, as well as remote areas of the British Isles such as the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. From 1946 until 1974, BEA operated a network of internal German routes between West Berlin and West Germany as well. Formed as the British European Airways division of British Overseas Airways Corporation on 1 January 1946, BEA became a crown corporation in its own right on 1 August 1946. Operations commenced from Croydon and Northolt airports, with DH89A Dragon Rapides and Douglas DC-3s. Having established its main operating base at Northolt, BEA operated its first service from Heathrow in April 1950; by late-1954, all Northolt operations had moved to Heathrow, which remained the airline's main operating base until the merger with BOAC in 1974. During 1952, BEA carried its one-millionth passenger, and by the early 1960s it had become the Western world's fifth-biggest passenger-carrying airline and the biggest outside the United States. Wikipedia [ - ]

British European Airways — formally British European Airways Corporation — was a British airline... [ + ]