Court Line was a 20th-century British tramp shipping company that was founded in 1905. In the 1960s it diversified into shipbuilding and charter aviation. Its merchant shipping interests were based in London. Its shipyards were at Appledore in Devon and Sunderland in Tyne and Wear. Its airline was based at Luton Airport in Bedfordshire. It also provided bus services in Luton and surrounding areas.
Its airline helped pioneer the concept of "cheap and cheerful" package tours to Spain and other destinations in the Mediterranean in conjunction with Clarksons Holidays, thus taking part in the establishment of a whole new way of holidaymaking for the British public.
The Court Line group, including its airline and subsidiary tour operators, Clarksons Travel Group and Horizon Travel, ceased trading on 15 August 1974, with at least £7 million owing to 100,000 holidaymakers.
Shipping
Philip Haldinstein was a British Jewish businessman from Norwich. He founded the tramp shipping company Haldinstein and Co Ltd in 1905. Robert Stephenson and Company launched Haldinstein's first ship, Arlington Court, at Hebburn on the River Tyne that October.
Between 1906 and 1912 Haldinstein added several new steamships from shipyards on the Tyne and the River Wear. When the First World War broke out in 1914, Haldinstein & Co had a fleet of seven ships and was operating as Court Line, Ltd. Anti-German sentiment arose in Britain in the war, so in 1915 Haldinstein shortened his surname to Haldin.
In 1915 Haldin bought a second-hand ship, Dalebank, which he renamed Ilvington Court. In 1917 a U-boat sank Ilvington Court in the Mediterranean, killing eight of her crew. Haldin sold several ships between 1916 and 1921, reducing his fleet to only two ships: Geddington Court and Hannington Court.
From 1924 onward Haldin expanded his fleet again. He bought a mixture of new and second-hand ships. The second-hand ones were ships that had been built just after the end of the First World War to the Shipping Controller's war standard designs. Haldin continued to name his ships in the same "—ington Court" style, and re-used some names more than once. By 1926 the fleet had 26 ships.
In 1926 Haldin registered his fleet under the name United British Steamship Co Ltd. In 1929 Richard Philipps, the youngest brother of Owen Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant, joined Haldin in the business, which was renamed Haldin and Philipps Ltd. In the 1930s part of the fleet was laid up. In 1939 Haldin was made a Knight Bachelor.
In 1937 Court Line lost two ships. Nollington Court sank in the Caribbean after striking a submerged object. Less than a fortnight later, Quarrington Court sank in the Red Sea after springing a leak in a water intake in her engine room.
When the Second World War began in 1939, Haldin & Philipps Ltd had a fleet of 23 ships. In the war it lost 14 ships, 13 of them to enemy action, with the loss of 136 lives. One ship, , was lost with all hands.
From 1940 onward Haldin & Philipps started to manage some Empire ships for the Ministry of War Transport. In 1945 and 1946 it bought these ships and renamed them with "—ington Court" names.
In 1948 Philipps retired, and the company name reverted to Haldin & Co. Haldin died in 1953, aged 73.
From 1952 onward Haldin & Co started to buy new ships again. In the 1960s the fleet diversified into tankers. The first was Edith Borthen, which Haldin bought in 1963 and renamed Halcyon Days. The second was Halcyon Breeze, which Hitachi built for Court Line in Japan in 1964. The Admiralty chartered Halcyon Breeze as the oiler . All Court Line tankers were named in the same "Halcyon —" style.
In 1964 Court Line bought Appledore Shipbuilders in Devon. In 1972 it took over a larger shipbuilding business, the Doxford and Sunderland Group. When the Court Line group went bankrupt in 1974, the shipyards and remaining ships in the fleet were sold.
Aviation
Autair
The airline, originally named Argus Air Transport, was formed at London Luton Airport in 1957. In 1960, it became Autair (Luton). On 27 September 1963, it changed to Autair International Airways.
Autair started as a division of Autair Helicopters, a helicopter operator established in the early 1950s. (Autair's helicopter interests were subsequently hived off into a separate company.) It began public transport operations with an ex-British European Airways (BEA) Douglas DC-3, used on contract work for other airlines. More DC-3s and Vickers Vikings were bought. The first of the latter joined the fleet in 1962. Both types operated freight and passenger services, including a growing number of inclusive tour (IT) flights.