Commercial aviation author Charles Woodley charts the rise of Britain's largest independent airline, British United Airways, during the 1960s.

In the early 1960s the British airline scene was dominated by the nationalised carriers British European Airways and British Overseas Airways Corporation. The independent sector was mainly composed of small charter companies, under-financed and prone to commercial failure without notice. Two notable exceptions were Airwork Ltd and Hunting-Clan, both of which had secured government troop-carrying contracts. Their shipping-line owners were hungry for the security of scheduled passenger route licences and were convinced that their future lay in amalgamation. In July 1960 these airlines were merged to form British United Airways (BUA), based at London's new Gatwick Airport. From here, a network of services to Europe, Africa and South America was developed, and pioneering orders for new British-built jets were placed. During 1969 BUA carried 1.4 million passengers and its mainline fleet comprised 16 BAC One-Elevens and 4 VC-10s. In 1969 a report on Britain's airlines recommended the creation of an even larger 'second-force' airline to provide viable competition for BEA and BOAC and the foreign carriers. This would lead to the takeover of BUA by ambitious charter specialist Caledonian Airways and the eventual establishment of British Caledonian Airways, after a decade of growth and innovation by British United Airways had shown the way.