KK - Headquarters London, United Kingdom Ceased operations August 15, 1979 | Commenced operations 1962 Founded 1962 Date of operation 1962 | |
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Transmeridian Air Cargo (IATA: KK, ICAO: ยท, Call sign: Transmeridian) was a British cargo airline that operated from 1962 until 1979 when it merged with IAS Cargo Airlines to form Heavylift Cargo Airlines.
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Company history
Transmeridian began operations under the name Trans Meridian Flying Service on 5 October 1962 and began operations on 1 November 1962 using a Douglas DC-4. The airline was then based at Liverpool and used the DC-4 for freight and passenger charters. A second DC-4 (both were ex-military Douglas C-54 Skymaster) was bought and freight services to Dublin and Paris - Le Bourget Airport were begun.
At the beginning of 1965 the DC-4s were replaned by Douglas DC-7C and a year later two more DC-7s were acquired. With the expansion in the fleet freight to the Middle East and Africa were begon. By the end of 1967 the company was taken over by Trans World Leasing and converted into a pure freight operation, with that the name was changed to Transmeridian Air Cargo.
In 1968 the Canadair CL-44 was introduced and eventually eight examples were incorporated the fleet, all being fitted with swinging rear fuselages to facilitate the loading of large items of cargo. It was during this period that the base of operations was moved to London Stansted Airport. Operations continued throughout the 1970s with 1975 being the year when a base was set up in Hong Kong for freight flights to Australia.
In 1977 the Trafalgar House Group bought 90% of Transmeridian and on 15 August 1979 merged it with IAS Cargo to form British Cargo Airlines, which later became HeavyLift Cargo.