White Heather
Well-Known Member
Thank goodness Jet2 operate using two different liveries, otherwise it would be even more boring from a photographer point of view. Back in 1979 and the years following, the holiday market was almost totally dependent on charter airlines and there were, as as result, a lot of them, especially from Spain, most of whom went out of business. We were at our peak in terms of different operators in the period 1985 through to the mid 90s when the number of airlines started to diminish. We have had and lost so many carriers now it is hard to keep up, but so have all the other airports. It was great to see them all and fortunately I have photos of many, but lets not forget we could go 2 to 3 hours each day with no movements at all back then and a largely empty apron. The Britannia flights generally didn't even operate weekly - many were 2 or 3 weekly. Air Malta started around the late 70s too and of course at weekends we had a good selection of Dan Air who all by themselves gave us a rich variety with 737 200, 1-11 300 and 500, 727 200, their based 748, and later their BAe146. They even operated a Viscount one summer in the late 70s. It all seemed exciting then as we were not used to it, but I remember wishing very much we would end up more like we are now and if that means having lots of the same, then so be it. It just makes the occasional different visitor even more special.