Heritage - Channel Express and Fowler Welch Coolchain
Jet2.com can trace itself back to
the formation of a long forgotten carrier named Express Air Freight in
1978, who were set up to operate a twin turboprop Herald freighter
aircraft carrying perishable produce from the Channel Islands to
Bournemouth. In 1980, the now renamed Express Air Services gained their
initial contract to fly on behalf of the Royal Mail, an operation still
maintained today.
In 1983 Philip Meeson acquired Express Air
Services and renamed the company Channel Express (Air
Services) Limited. Philip’s arrival coincided with a period of growth,
which led to nine Herald aircraft being operated by 1989, when the
initial four-engine Electra freight aircraft was acquired. By this time Channel
Express were also heavily involved with overnight parcel
contracts in addition to the Royal Mail operations.
Flotation on the London Stock Exchange in 1991 led to
a name change for the parent company to Dart Group Plc,
an aviation services and specialist haulage group. This was followed in
1994 by the acquisition of a specialist refrigerated road haulage
company, Fowler Welch. This meant that Dart
Group now owned its own aircraft, flying perishables to the UK
mainland for onward distribution via their own owned vehicles. Today, Dart
Group Plc’s sales are in excess of £540m per annum.
As
the Channel Express fleet of freighter aircraft
continued to expand the older Herald aircraft were replaced by younger
Friendship twin-engine freighters. Channel Express entered
the jet age in 1996 with the acquisition of Airbus A300 wide-bodied
aircraft for conversion to freighter configuration. As launch customer
for the ‘Eurofreighter’, Channel Express acquired a
high performance freighter aircraft capable of carrying a payload of up
to 45 tonnes. The aircraft was subsequently used extensively on long
term contracts on behalf of UPS and DHL.
The expansion of the haulage operation continued
alongside the airline expansion with the acquisition of Coolchain in
1999. Today, the renamed Fowler Welch Coolchain operates
over 600 vehicles on very time sensitive contracts for major retail
companies including a significant number of the major UK supermarket
chains.
As a freight carrier until the new millennium, Channel
Express was able to operate lower cost aircraft very
profitably and successfully on behalf of its varied customer base.
However, it became clear that the aircraft in the fleet were in need of
changing, which heralded the introduction of a new jet type which has
today become the backbone of the current operation.
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