CAL AIR INTERNATIONAL

HISTORY: CAL AIR INTERNATIONAL was a charter airline that operated in the United Kingdom between 1985 and 1988. CAL AIR International was initially conceived in early 1982 after the sudden demise of Laker Airways which had left a large gap in the UK inclusive tour/charter market. The airline was a joint set up between British Caledonian and the Rank Organisation which already had its interests firmly established in the travel industry with its own tour operators: Blue Sky Travel/Holidays, Wings Holidays, Ellerman Travel and OSL Holidays. The Airline was initially named "British Caledonian Charter" with exactly the same livery as its parent company British Caledonian. This lasted only a short time when a radical step was taken between the Rank Organisation and BCAL to completely rebrand the charter arm as CAL AIR International along with the lion rampant logo in red. In 1988 British Caledonian was bought by and merged into British Airways. Cal Air International was of no interest to British Airways. The Rank Organisation decided to buy the other 50% share of the company making it the wholly owned subsidiary and renamed the airline to Novair International Airways.