Vickers Vanguard - Operational History

Operational History

The Vanguard entered service with BEA and TCA in late 1960. BEA operated their first Vanguard schedule on 17 December from Heathrow to Paris. Following delivery of their full fleet of six V951 and 14 V953 aircraft by 30 March 1962, the type took over many of BEA's busier European and UK trunk routes. The aircraft received names of famous Royal Navy warships; the first G-APEA was named "Vanguard", but these tended to be dropped later in service. Initial seating was 18 first-class at the rear and 108 tourist, but this was changed to 139 all-tourist, in which configuration, the Vanguard had very low operating costs per seat/mile. On flights up to 300 mi (480 km), such as from London to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, the type could match the block times of the pure jets which were being introduced in the early 1960s. The remaining BEA fleet passed to British Airways on 1 April 1974 and the last BA passenger flight with the type was on 16 June.

TCA initiated Vanguard schedules on 1 February 1961 with two flights from Toronto and Montreal via intermediate stops to Vancouver. The fleet was also used on services from Toronto and Montreal to New York and Nassau, Bahamas.