• Highland Airways

Following service in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War and setting up an aircraft factory in Northern China, Capt. Ernest Edmund ‘Ted’ Fresson returned to the UK in 1927 and in 1929 became a co-founder, with Lance Rimmer, of North British Aviation Co, based at Hooton Park near Chester. During the summer of 1931, Fresson embarked on a tour of Scotland in DH Moth G-AAWO, giving joy rides and demonstrations at many locations, especially in the north-east and the northern isles. While thus engaged, Fresson began formulating the ideas for an airline and, having secured the backing of Robert Donald, head of both the well-known Inverness motor engineers Macrae and Dick and The Scotsman newspaper, Highland Airways was registered at Inverness on 3 April 1933 with an authorized capital of £2,675.

The company ordered a brand-new GAL Monospar, which arrived at Inverness’ newly-laid out aerodrome at Longman Meadows on 14 April 1933. After a lengthy publicity tour along the proposed route, the inaugural scheduled flight took place on 8 May 1933, flying between Inverness, Wick and Kirkwall, carrying guests from prominent local businesses and newspapers. Despite the frequently inhospitable weather, Fresson maintained the daily weekday service until 3 July, when the Monospar was badly damaged on landing in fog at Wideford Farm, Kirkwall. By this time over 200 passengers had been carried without incident and the service was immediately maintained with initially a DH Fox Moth (G-ACCT) hired from Midland and Scottish Air Ferries of Glasgow and then another Monospar (G-ABVN) hired from Brian Lewis’s dealership at Heston. At the end of July Highland Airways took delivery of a brand-new DH Dragon, which first operated the service to Kirkwall on 2 August 1933. Highland’s Monospar returned mid-way through August and was often used on charters carrying businessmen all over Scotland; in October it became the first aircraft to visit Lerwick on Shetland and Dyce at Aberdeen, which would later become the site of the city’s first airport. By the year’s end the passenger figure had risen to 1,400, together with 10 tonnes of mail and around 4 tonnes of newspapers. A second route was opened on 7 May 1934, linking Aberdeen (Seaton) and Kirkwall, by which time another Dragon had been added to the small fleet; by the season’s end in October 1934, the new service had carried some 2,000 passengers.

Impressed with the airline’s 97% regularity, the postal authorities awarded Highland Airways a mail contract for Inverness-Kirkwall, inaugurated by Dragon G-ACCE on 29 May 1934 carrying 2,000 letters northbound. From December 1934 rights to carry mail through Wick were conferred and similarly, from April 1935, northbound twice weekly to Kirkwall for onward journey by sea to Shetland. Fresson now turned his attention towards bringing the benefits of an air service to the north Orkney Isles and after an extensive survey in the Monospar and community efforts by the islanders in preparing an airstrip, a twice-weekly service linking North Ronaldsay with Kirkwall was opened on 10 August 1934; on request halts were also made at the smaller Orkney islands.

Highland Airways had responded to ad hoc requests for emergency medical flights to Scotland’s offshore islands for some time and in October this was formalised by a contract with Orkney Council to provide on-demand response between the islands and Aberdeen. In April 1935 Fresson received a takeover approach from Blackpool-based United Airways, itself part of the wealthy Whitehall Securities Corporation. An agreement was reached towards the end of May 1935, whereby Highland would continue operations under its own name but there would be a transfer of a majority shareholding to United Airways. From April 1936, prior to purchase of two examples, Highland Airways began trialing the Dragon Rapide, using G-ACPN hired from Airwork to open a new service between Aberdeen (Kintore) and Sumburgh, Shetland, on 3 June 1936. The whole network was finally joined up in June 1937 with the linking of Inverness and Aberdeen, although this route ultimately proved uneconomic and was discontinued at the end of 1938.

While the demise of the Highland Airways’ name was signaled when United Airways merged into British Airways Ltd in October 1935, it was not until British Airways formed Scottish Airways Ltd on 12 August 1937, to integrate its internal Scottish airline interests (Highland and Northern and Scottish) with the surface travel business of joint shareholders, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and sea ferries operator David MacBrayne, that Highland Airways ceased to operate independently. It now effectively became an operating division of the new concern, run by Fresson from Inverness. During its brief existence Fresson’s pioneering airline had carried a total of 18,560 passengers at a remarkable average 98% reliability rate.