British European Airways - City Centre Check-in Facilities

City Centre Check-in Facilities

Following BEA's formation, its first Central London air terminal at which check-in facilities for passengers and baggage were available was located close to Victoria station. Before World War II, this facility had been used by Imperial Airways. When wartime restrictions on civil aviation in the UK were lifted, BEA began sharing it with BOAC. Once passengers had checked-in, they boarded one of the Commer Commando buses the airline provided to take them to Northolt. These 1½-deckers featured a raised seating area at the back, which increased the baggage space below.

On 31 May 1948, BEA moved its Central London check-in to Kensington Air Station, the first purpose-built facility for the exclusive use of BEA's passengers.

From 1952, BEA introduced new AEC Regal IV 1½-decker buses to carry its passengers from Central London to Northolt and Heathrow. London Transport operated these on BEA's behalf, in white/grey (later white/blue) livery.

In late-1953, BEA's Central London air terminal was moved again to a new site at Waterloo station on the south bank of the River Thames between the Houses of Parliament and the City of London. The Heathrow bus journey was now 20 minutes longer but an optional, more expensive, helicopter link was briefly operated from a South Bank helipad.

On 6 October 1957, BEA relocated its Central London air terminal once more to the West London Air Terminal in Cromwell Road in London's Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. This was a new, £5 million facility that was officially inaugurated upon completion in 1963.

In 1966, BEA introduced a fleet of double-decker London Routemaster buses. These initially wore a blue and white livery, before being repainted in a white/grey livery, a white/blue livery incorporating BEA's famous "red square" logo and, finally, a white/red livery with Speedjack-style BEA lettering. The London Routemasters carried BEA's passengers from the West London Air Terminal to Heathrow and towed their baggage in large, two-wheeled trailers.

In 1974, British Airways withdrew the Central London check-in facilities it had inherited from BEA because of declining demand and closed the West London Air Terminal. This resulted in disposal of the dedicated fleet of Routemaster buses, some of which had already been repainted in the new red, white and blue Negus & Negus livery of British Airways.