Though expensive, shipping your car via air ferry remains one of the easiest ways to transport it to a different country. You simply drop your car off with your air cargo carrier of choice, and they fly it to the agreed-upon destination. But it hasn't always been that simple. For the longest time, cars had to be shipped across great distances by boat--a process that was considerably more difficult to organize and time-consuming. Let's take a look at the story of Silver City Airways: the first air cargo carrier that flew more than a million cars across the English Channel.

Founded as British Aviation Services

Silver City Airways was founded in 1945 under the name British Aviation Services (BAS) as a means to handle the technical needs of the aviation industry in the years following World War II. RAF Air Commodore Griffith "Taffy" Powell was named managing director, and in 1946 Silver City commenced flights transporting miners between the United Kingdom and Australia.

One of Taffy's favorite pastimes was taking his Armstrong Siddeley Lancaster (motor vehicle) touring in France. However, he found the three-hour boat trip across the English Channel to be incredibly risky and time-consuming, not to mention the fact that it was followed by a two-hour-long customs and immigration process.

An ocean transporter with many cars parked on it.
Photo: Yildiray via Shutterstock

Eventually, Taffy realized that he could use the Bristol 170 freighters in Silver City's fleet to ship his car to France, and on June 15, 1948, one such aircraft successfully completed its first flight carrying two cars from Lympne Airport (LYM) near Kent to Le Touquet Côte d'Opale Airport (LTQ) in the north of France.

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Expanding the business

That summer, Silver City flew around 200 cars across the English Channel for its inaugural charter service. The following year, the airline operated a scheduled service eight times daily in each direction that transported more than 2,700 cars. Passengers could purchase a slot for their vehicle for £18, £22, or £27, depending on whether their car was small, medium, or large. Cars would be loaded into the forward compartment of the freighters by being driven up a ramp, while passengers would reside in a separate compartment for the duration of the flight.

By 1950, Silver City had safely flown more than 4,000 cars, 1,000 motorcycles, and 15,000 passengers, all without a single incident. The service had attracted the attention and business of celebrities like David Niven, Stirling Moss, and even the Queen herself. In fact, demand was so high that the Bristol Aeroplane Company had to engineer an especially large Bristol 170 super-freighter that could transport up to three cars and their passengers at a time.

Silver City's demise

Unfortunately, Silver City's success did not last; the airline's relatively short routes wore down aircraft exceedingly quickly and drove up maintenance costs to the extent that it incurred losses of over £200,000 in 1960 and 1961. Silver City flew its last air ferry service in 1962 before it was sold off.

What do you think of Silver City's journey? What do you think the airline could have done to prolong its period of success? Let us know in the comment section.

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Source: Hagerty UK; Silver City Airways