The Caravelle at Liverpool 1964 - 1986
This first appeared on the xsorbit incarnation of nwan format, fortunately saved and copied onto the nwan website by Dave Graham before xsorbit disapeared overnight. It was one of the first of my 'type reviews' prepared for the forum. Then fortunately saved back by Brian Jones (as I had not a kept a copy saved on word of the original) when the nwan website was withdrawn. While no photos initially, it is time I got this back onto the nwan forum. Being the first jet airliner into Speke it is an important type to cover. Over to those around at the time to illustrate with relevant pictures of Caravelles at Speke. It was the Caravelle that performed the first landing at Liverpool by a jet airliner in 1964. There are fond memories too of the Caravelles that brought so many of the St. Etienne supporters to Liverpool in 1977. Given the widespread use of the Caravelle by State and later charter operators around Europe, only in 1976 and 1979 were there inclusive tour series using the Caravelle into Liverpool. The year that the Caravelle was most abundant was not 1977, but 1979 - which would have been a good year even without the Manchester strike closures. The final Caravelle movement into Liverpool occured in 1986 - although a very few continued operating in Europe until the mid 90s.
1964Sabena brought in Caravelle
OO-SRC shortly after dawn, on the morning of 26th November positioning across from Manchester with the morning Manchester-Brussels scheduled passengers aboard. Many spotters were there to watch this, the first jet airliner ever to visit Liverpool Airport. My memory of this momentous event is of the Caravelle 'popping' a tail parachute to help retard the landing on Liverpool's short(ish) runway. I've never since seen an airliner do this - Lightnings, Phantoms, Starfighters a plenty. The Caravelle left for Brussels having collected Anderlecht FC after a European match at Anfield.
1966In May the new 'long' runway 10/28 (later adjusted to 09/27) was opened and available for jet airliners. On 2nd December Caravelle 3
SE-DAB of Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) diverted in due to weather at Manchester f&t Copenhagen.
1967The early 1967 flights were on weather diversion from Manchester. On 11th January both
OO-SRF of Sabena from Brussels and
F-BJTN of Air France from Paris diverted on scheduled flights. On 8th February it was the turn of
OY-KRG of SAS to arrive on diversion.
Later in the year, on 25th August
LN-KLP of SAS routed Bergen-Oslo on weather diversion from Gatwick.
1968In 1968 all the Caravelle arrivals were on diversion from Manchester, those in June (at least) due to strike action. Air France
F-BHRV operated on the 14th June,
YU-AHE of JAT on 16th June and
EC-ATX of Iberia, Barcelona-Manchester, on 30th June.
YU-AHB of JAT called on 11th August routing Ljubljana-Split.
1969Winter weather diversions caused all the visits in 1969. On 3rd January
LN-KLN of SAS operated Dublin-Copenhagen due weather at Manchester.
On 13th October
EC-BIC arrived from Palma, followed on 20th by
EC-BIF both operated by Iberia/Aviaco and diverting from Manchester. On 12th December
OY-KRF operated both legs Copenhagen-Dublin and Dublin-Copenhagen through Liverpool as Manchester was closed, while on 19th December snow at Manchester brought in
SE-DAG of SAS on diversion Dublin-Copenhagen.
1970All the visits in the past few years had been on diversion. On 11th June, two Caravelles arrived as part of an airlift of guests for the opening of the new Massey Ferguson factory.
F-BRIM a Caravelle 3 of Trans-Union f&t Le Bourget and
HB-ICN a Caravelle 10R of SATA f&t Clermond Ferrand. Just why Caravelle 10B3
OH-LSH of Finnair (but operated by Kar-Air) appeared on 15th September routing Helsinki-Hannover was not recorded, but the visit by
PH-TRR of Transavia on 4th November f&t Dusseldorf was to bring in European competition football supporters. Only the final visit of the year, a Caravelle 3 of Sabena,
OO-SRB from Brusssels on 9th December was a Manchester weather divert.
1971Two more charters, for reasons now long fogotten.
HB-ICN a Caravelle 10 of SATA on 1st July routed f&t Geneva, while on 29th July
PH-TRS a Caravelle 6 of Transavia routed Amsterdam-Geneva. A further Transavia visit brought in
PH-TRP on 5th September Frankfurt-Gatwick, but this known to have been a Mancheseter divert. During the late Sixties/early Seventies it always appeared that the best Manchester weather diversion days always included a SAS flight. On 3rd December on Manchester divert, routing Dublin-Copenhagen SAS brought in
SE-DAF to prove the point.
After an average of 4 different Caravelles a year, it was a shock to the enthusiasts at the end of the 12 months of 1972 to discover not a single example had graced the tarmac at Liverpool.
1973It only took until 3rd January in 1973 for the first Caravelle to visit. Again a SAS example on weather diversion from Manchester,
OY-KRD arriving from Dublin. On 1st April
OY-SAE a Caravelle 12 of Sterling routed Stansted-Copenhagen for an unrecorded reason. On 9th May a football charter brought in
D-ABAW of LTU f&t Dusseldorf.
The year finished with two Air France visits, both Manchester weather diversions, with
F-BHRG on 30th November and
F-BHRM on 13th December, both f&t Paris/Orly.
1974During September Sterling visited twice, with
OY-SBZ on 16th operating Oslo/Gardermoen-Stansted and
OY-STC two days later on 18th London/Gatwick-Oslo, presumably with the returning load. On 22nd November Aer Lingus Manchester flight EIN603/602 diverted to Liverpool, f&t Dublin. Why it needs to be mentioned here is beacause it was being operated by sub-chartered Transavia Caravelle
PH-TRS.
Again in 1975 a whole 12 calender months passed without a single visit by a Caravelle. 1976 and 1977 were to prove record years though....
1976For the first time a season of inclusive tour flights to Liverpool was planned using Caravelles. However due to poor bookings, first the frequency was cut to fortnightly, then the season was terminated very early. A series of flights JR2216/7 f&t Pula used JAT Caravelles on a Friday.
YU-AHG was first of the season on 21/5, appearing again 2/7, while
YU-AHF operated 4/6, 18/6 and the final flight 16/7.
A number of Spanish Caravelles appeared during the summer months. On a fortnightly frequency an Aviaco flight f&t Malaga brought in on Sundays
EC-BIB on 6/6,
EC-BIE 20/6 & 1/8, and
EC-CAE 4/7, 18/7, 15/8 & 29/8. A further Aviaco machine
EC-BRX appeared on 11th July in lieu of a DC-9 on the regular Palma I/T flight. On 27th August, again in lieu of the usual Aviaco DC-9, a TAE Caravelle
EC-CUM operated.
1977While March 1977 is the month most associated with Caravelles and Liverpool Airport, the year started off on 25th January with Air France AF960 operated by
F-BHRL diverting due to Manchester weather.
On 15th March Air France Caravelle 3
F-BJTE brought in the first St.Eteinne supporters to watch their team play Liverpool, on the evening of 16th March
F-BHRH arrived to collect them after the game. During the 16th an armada of aircraft arrived with supporters, by the late afternoon 24 airliners were parked at Liverpool in connection with the game - 11 of them Caravelles.
There was Air France (AF) with Caravelle 3
F-BHRE; Minerve (MN) with Caravelle 6R
F-BUZC and Caravelle 6N
F-BRGU; Aerotour (QR) with Caravelle 3
F-BUFH and 6N
F-BVPU; Catair (QV) with Caravelle 6N
F-BYCB &
F-BYCD and 6Rs
F-BUFC &
F-BUFF; Air Charter International (SF) with Caravelle 3
F-BJTJ and finally SATA (VS) with Caravelle 10R
HB-ICO. There were two incidents, one aircraft (F-BHRE) rolled off the paved area while being parked, while another (F-BVPU), during the early hours of the 17th diverted back with a problem (was in the air 20 minutes), only to depart a second time a little under 2 hours later.
The year was not over as there were further Caravelle visits: on 25th May Sterling's
OY-SAM was involved in the LFC 'Red Army' Rome cup final airlift. Aviaco diverted in due to weather at Manchester on 16th October with Caravelle 10R
EC-CAE.
1978Another 12 months were to pass before further Manchester weather diverts arrived. On 27th October Air France operated
F-BHRP f&t Paris/CdG, while December proved to be busy, bringing in Transeuropa(TR) Caravelle 10R
EC-CYI Palma-Alicante on the 5th, Sabena
OO-SRI f&t Brussels overnight 19-20th and Air France
F-BHRI on 23rd.
1979The final year of the decade was to prove the peak year in terms of Caravelles visiting Liverpool.
Transeuropa operated a season-long series of weekly flights (in the early hours of a Tuesday morning) f&t Palma as TR208/209. Although normally a Manchester operation, it was published as a Liverpool flight as Manchester would be closed to night flights for runway work. The season commenced 22/5 and finished 30/10 and involved 7 different aircraft
EC-BIB, EC-BRJ, EC-BRX, EC-CIZ, EC-CPI, EC-CYI &
EC-DCN. Transeuropa could not be kept away that summer as on 7th June EC-BRX Alicante-Newcastle and EC-BIB Malaga-Newcastle, both on weather diversion from Newcastle. During the September Manchester strikes EC-BIB 13/9 and EC-CPI 20/9 f&t Malaga TR284/5 along with EC-DCN on 14/9 and 21/9 f&t Palma TR286/7 operated from Liverpool.
Other Spanish Caravelles operated regularly from Liverpool that summer too on night diversion from Manchester. TAE JK236/241 operated f&t Palma using
EC-CMS, EC-CUM &
EC-DFP weekly 25/6 through to 20/8.
By 1979 the only airline still operating Caravelles into Manchester on day-time scheduled flights was Air France. The strikes in April and September, brought a number of their fleet into Liverpool
F-BHRD 13/9,
F-BHRH 14/9,
F-BHRI 18/9,
F-BHRT 4/4, 8/9
F-BHRU 22/9,
F-BHRV 17/9,
F-BHRX 5/4,
F-BJTL 10/9,
F-BJTQ 19/9, 21/9
F-BJTR 11/9, 12/9, 15/9
F-BJTS 6/4,
F-BLKF 20/9 all on AF962/961 f&t Paris/CdG.
One further Manchester night diversion requires mention here.
F-BXOO of Europe Aero Service(EY) on 11th May routed Sigonela (Italy) to Tarbes as SF361/EY1199.
Finally for 1979 former Air France Caravelle 3
F-BJTI operated by ETAT:SFA (an organisation similar to our CAA Calibration Unit - I think) operated from and to Paris/Orly and flew local flights on 26th July. The official reason was to perform beacon calibration on behalf of Euro-Control. The conspiracy theorists reckoned that the French did not trust their CAA charts, so had to check that the British could route Concorde properly when she arrived at Liverpool on a charter in September!
After 1977 and 1979, the numbers of Caravelles visiting diminished rapidly during the 'Eighties, reflecting reducing numbers of Caravelles in service.
1980A familiar aircraft from the year before Transeuropa's
EC-DCN called on 17th August routing f&t Palma. Just why is not clear as only one passenger was picked up. The next Caravelle to call had previously appeared in March 1977. Aerotour(FV) Caravelle 3
F-BUFH diverted in for fuel while en route Dublin to Paris/CdG on 5th October.
Final visitor for 1980 was an French Air Force (L'Armee de l'Air) Caravelle 10R of GLAM (as I understand it the VIP flight),
No.201 with fixed radio call-sign F-RAFH. On 11th September, while on a training flight it performed a touch & go landing at 10:30 on runway 27 while en route Paris/Orly to Shannon.
1981CTA (RU) operated a number of charter flights, which brought in Caravelle 10Rs
HB-ICO on 28th April Basle-Zurich,
HB-ICN on 5th and again on 12th May f&t Zurich and
HB-ICQ on 6th August f&t Geneva. The most notable CTA flight of the year was on 16th July when they operated
TZ-ADS f&t Geneva.
Familiar Spanish aircraft visited again, Transeuropa diverted in with
EC-DCN on 13th June - quite unusual as this was a diversion from the Isle of Man, an airport which at this time handled very few jet charter flights. While TAE Manchester flight on 11th October diverted in, Caravelle 10B
EC-CMS operated f&t Palma.
1982CTA provided all the visits of 1982, using
HB-ICO on 8th July Geneva-Zurich, 17th August f&t Zurich and 24th August Zurich-Teesside, with
HB-ICN on 29th July f&t Geneva. Thoughts that HB-ICO might be the last visit of type were premature, while there were no visits by Caravelles in 1983, the type had a few more years to go.
1984A series of Lourdes charters employed Minerve(FQ) aircraft, which brought in Caravelle 6N
F-BRGU on 20th July and 27th July operating f&t Tarbes, with the final flight of the series on 3rd August operated by Caravelle 6N
F-GATZ. Final visitor of the year was Caravelle 10B3 of Altair(SM)
I-GISU that operated on 6th November, departing the following day which brought Roma supporters to a European game against Wrexham. The aircraft operated f&t Rome/Ciampino.
1985All the Caravelles to appear during 1985 were operated by Air Charter International (SF) but flown by European Air Service crews, and were all on behalf of Airbus Industrie with passengers.
F-GDFZ on 20th October Hatfield-Limoges,
F-BJTU on 21st October Orly-Hamburg and
on 3rd November Hatfield-Limoges, with F-BJTU again on Monday 4th November Paris/Orly-Hamburg. The two pairs of flights both brought in Pan Am executives and employees to be shown around the various Airbus production plants. The October flight passengers also observed the loading of A.300 wings onto a Guppy around on the south apron.
1986The final visit to Liverpool by a Caravelle was the only one to be handled through the new apron and terminal on the south airfield. On 19th September Air Charter International brought in Caravelle 10B
F-GDFY on flight SF161 this time with staff of Continental Airlines on a tour of Airbus factories to show that Europeans could build aircraft as well as Boeing and Douglas. They routed Hatfield-Hamburg, departing at 1421 on 20th September as SF162.
Although ever decreasing numbers operated in France until circa October 1996, F-GDFY was to be the last visit of type into Liverpool.
This review of Caravelles at Liverpool covers every aircraft to have visited, however, it is just possible that if an aircraft visited more than once in a year, not every visit appears above.
THE AIRCRAFT THAT VISITED LIVERPOOL:To complete the review of Caravelle visits to Liverpool a list in alphabetical order of the registrations:
(* = visited in more than one calendar year)
D-ABAW.
EC-ATX, EC-BIB* EC-BIC, EC-BIE, EC-BIF, EC-BRJ, EC-BRX* EC-CAE* EC-CIZ, EC-CMS*, EC-CPI, EC-CUM* EC-CYI* EC-DCN* & EC-DFP
F-BHRD, F-BHRE, F-BHRG, F-BHRH* F-BHRI* F-BHRL, F-BHRM, F-BHRP, F-BHRT, F-BHRU, F-BHRV* F-BHRX, G-BJEN, F-BJTE, F-BJTI, F-BJTJ, F-BTJL, F-BJTN, F-BJTQ, F-BJTR, F-BJTS, F-BJTU, F-BLKF, F-BRGU* F-BRIM, F-BUFC, F-BUFF, F-BUFH* F-BUZC, F-BVPU, F-BXOO, F-BYCB, F-BYCD, F-GATZ, F-GDFY, F-GDFZ & F-RAFH
HB-ICN* HB-ICO* HB-ICQ
I-GISU
LN-KLN, LN-KLP
OH-LSH
OO-SRB, OO-SRC, OO-SRF, OO-SRI
OY-KRD, OY-KRF, OY-KRG, OY-SAE, OY-SAM, OY-SBZ, OY-STC
PH-TRP, PH-TRR, PH-TRS*
SE-DAB, SE-DAF, SE-DAG
TZ-ADS
YU-AHB, YU-AHE, YU-AHF, YU-AHG
This makes 83 different registrations on (at the current count) 80 different airframes as: OH-LSH ('70) became F-GDFZ ('85); OY-STC ('74) became EC-CUM ('79); OO-SRI ('78) became F-GATZ ('84). There may be others too that have been missed.
CARAVELLE MARKSThe Caravelle series 3, 6 and 10R - 80 passengers capacity
The Caravelle series 11R between 89 and 99 passengers
The Caravelle series 10B - 105 passengers capacity
The Super Caravelle 12 - 140 passengers capacity
Usually the earlier marks of Caravelle are shown as Caravelle III or Caravelle VIN etc rather than Caravelle 3, Caravelle 6N etc. I've not followed that convention though I've enjoyed the research, looking back through the old copies of the MGAE/MSEA/MAS 'Flypast' magazines. Hope you have enjoyed the memories triggered, or simply the knowledge of activity at the airport in the past. BPJ.
Found this photo of a caravelle F-BJTU of Air Charter taken 21/oct/1985
