History
Air Ceylon was established in 1947 as the state-owned airline company, initially operating scheduled domestic flights using Douglas C-47 Dakota aircraft. International services with Douglas DC-4s commenced in 1949, in a co-operation with Australian National Airways (ANA), which acquired a 49% stake in Air Ceylon. The longest route flown was to London Heathrow airport.
The partnership with ANA lasted until 1953, when it was replaced by new international co-operations: In 1956 with KLM, which included the lease of 2 Lockheed Constellation airliners for long-haul flights, and with BOAC in 1962, allowing the re-launch of flights to London using the de Havilland Comet.
From the mid-1960s, the Hawker Siddeley HS 748 became the aircraft mainly used on Air Ceylon's short-haul routes, along with the Aérospatiale N 262. When Bandaranaike International Airport was completed in 1967, Air Ceylon opened its hub there. A Hawker Siddeley Trident 1E jet airliner was purchased in 1969 and it was operated on South East Asia regional routes until it was withdrawn in July 1978.
In 1972, Union de Transports Aériens (UTA) became Air Ceylon's partner, introducing French-made aircraft into the fleet. UTA ended the partnership on 31 March 1977, leaving Air Ceylon without a European aide. In 1978, Air Ceylon was shut down by the Sri Lankan government due to bankruptcy, and Air Lanka became new national carrier.
Read more about this topic: Air Ceylon
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.... In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present and get us past that idiot delusion of the exceptional Now that blocks good thinking.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“Boys forget what their country means by just reading “the land of the free” in history books. Then they get to be men, they forget even more. Liberty’s too precious a thing to be buried in books.”
—Sidney Buchman (1902–1975)
“Jesus Christ belonged to the true race of the prophets. He saw with an open eye the mystery of the soul. Drawn by its severe harmony, ravished with its beauty, he lived in it, and had his being there. Alone in all history he estimated the greatness of man.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)