View source for Air Foyle HeavyLift

{{Short description|English aviation company, 2001 to 2006}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2018}}
{{for|the Australian Cargo Airline|HeavyLift Cargo Airlines}}
{{Infobox airline
| airline        = Air Foyle HeavyLift
| image          = Canadair (Conroy) CL-44-O Guppy, HeavyLift AN1183342.jpg
| image_size     = 300
| alt            = <!-- Describe the logo to a sight-impared user -->
| caption        = A Heavylift CL-44-O ("[[Conroy Skymonster]]") at Paris-Charles de Gaulle
| IATA           = <!-- XX -or- XN -or- NX -->
| ICAO           = UPA<ref name="airframes.org">{{Cite web|url=https://www.airframes.org/login|title=AIRFRAMES.ORG - Aircraft Database - Login|website=www.airframes.org}}</ref>
| callsign       = FOYLE<ref name="airframes.org"/>
| founded        = {{start date|df=yes|2001|02|01}}<br/>[[Bishop's Stortford]], [[Hertfordshire]], England
| commenced      = {{start date|df=yes|2001|10|01}}
| ceased         = {{end date|df=yes|2006|07|01}}
| aoc            = <!-- XNXN (alphanumeric pattern varies) -->
| bases          = <!-- {{startplainlist}}
* [[Airport Name1]]
* [[Airport Name2]]
(etc)
{{endplainlist}} -->
| hubs           = <!-- {{startplainlist}}
* [[Airport Name1]]
* [[Airport Name2]]
(etc)
{{endplainlist}} -->
| secondary_hubs = <!-- {{startplainlist}}
*[[Airport Name1]]
*[[Airport Name2]]
(etc)
{{endplainlist}} -->
| focus_cities   = <!-- {{startplainlist}}
*[[Airport Name1]]
*[[Airport Name2]]
(etc)
{{endplainlist}} -->
| fleet_size     = <!-- NNN -->
| destinations   = <!-- NNN -->
| company_slogan = <!-- Insert company marketing slogan -->
| parent         = Air Foyle, HeavyLift Cargo Airlines
| headquarters   = Bishop's Stortford, United Kingdom
| key_people     = Christopher Foyle {{smaller|CEO}}
}}

'''Air Foyle HeavyLift''' was a joint venture airline based in [[Bishop's Stortford]], England. It specialised in heavy air cargo services. It was the worldwide sales agent for [[Antonov Airlines]] of [[Kyiv]], [[Ukraine]]. 

== History ==
The company's Chairman and joint CEO was Christopher Foyle, also Chairman of [[Foyle's]] bookshop.<ref name="tiaca">{{Cite web|url=http://www.tiaca.org/tiaca/WR_Christopher_Foyle.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303094855/http://www.tiaca.org/tiaca/WR_Christopher_Foyle.asp|title=2007 Hall of Fame Award Recipient|archive-date=3 March 2013}}</ref><ref name="FI">[[Flight International]] 27 March 2007</ref>

=== Air Foyle ===
Air Foyle started operations as an executive air charter company with one [[Piper Aztec]] aircraft in 1978.  It grew its fleet of Aztec, Navajo and Chieftain aircraft by carrying passenger, cargo and aerial survey flights. In 1979 it pioneered the overnight carriage of courier traffic between the UK and Europe operating a nightly return flight between Luton and Brussels for Skypak (later a TNT company), and later between Aberdeen and East Midlands Airport (also for TNT). In 1985 it started providing larger cargo aircraft to [[Thomas Nationwide Transport|TNT]], by then its principal cargo customer, using wet leased [[Handley Page Dart Herald]] aircraft operating nightly from Birmingham to Nuremberg and Hannover and these were later replaced by a [[BAC One-Eleven]] jet cargo aircraft and then by a [[Boeing 737|Boeing 737-200QC]] aircraft wet leased from [[Aer Lingus]]. When TNT announced that it would order 72 [[British Aerospace 146]] aircraft converted to freighters, Air Foyle won the contract to operate these aircraft on behalf of TNT, then an Australian company.  This operation commenced in May 1987 with one BAe 146 aircraft and rapidly expanded to ten such aircraft which Air Foyle then operated for thirteen years for TNT on a nightly schedule from various airports in the UK and mainland Europe into TNT's hub in Cologne and later [[Liège Airport|Liège]].

In 1985 Air Foyle took delivery of the first production [[Edgley EA-7 Optica]] aerial observation aircraft. Subsequently, while being operated by Hampshire Police this aircraft was destroyed in a fatal accident.

In 1989, following two years of negotiations with the Soviets, Air Foyle became the worldwide General Sales Agent of the [[Antonov Design Bureau]] of Kyiv and became responsible for the marketing and sales and commercial and operational management of Antonov's fleet of [[Antonov An-124|AN-124]] heavy cargo aircraft.<ref name="canadian">{{Cite web|url=https://www.canadianshipper.com/transportation-and-logistics/air-foyle-and-heavylift-cargo-in-joint-venture/1000032069/|title=Air Foyle and HeavyLift Cargo in joint venture|first=Canadian|last=Shipper-41|date=29 October 2001}}</ref><ref name="fg">{{Cite web|url=https://www.flightglobal.com/business-booms-for-air-foyle-heavylifts-an-124/42320.article|title=Business booms for Air Foyle HeavyLift's An-124|website=Flight Global}}</ref>

Between 1998 and 2000 Air Foyle bid an AN-124 solution for the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] Short-Term Strategic Airlift (STSA) procurement. After a protracted procurement process, Ministers in the Ministry of Defence chose a very much more expensive [[Boeing C-17]] solution.<ref>{{citation |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmpubacc/369/36902.htm |chapter-url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmpubacc/136/1011719.htm |title=Ministry of Defence: Major Projects Report 2000 - The Role of the Equipment Capability Customer |chapter=Annex: Short Term Strategic Airlift |publisher=House of Commons, Public Accounts Committee |date=14 November 2001 |access-date=20 February 2011}}</ref> Air Foyle believed it had been misled during the procurement process about the basis for decision on the procurement.<ref>{{citation |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmpubacc/369/36902.htm |chapter-url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmpubacc/136/1011717.htm |title=Ministry of Defence: Major Projects Report 2000 - The Role of the Equipment Capability Customer |chapter=Copy of a letter from Air Foyle Ltd to the Chief of Defence Procurement |author=Bruce Bird |publisher=House of Commons |date=23 January 2001 |access-date=20 February 2011}}</ref> The [[Comptroller and Auditor General]] later concluded that the procurement process was "that the Department has not fully followed its own preferred practice in evaluating the Short Term Strategic Airlift proposals, but there is no evidence of illegality."<ref>{{citation |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmpubacc/369/36902.htm |chapter-url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmpubacc/136/1011715.htm |title=Ministry of Defence: Major Projects Report 2000 - The Role of the Equipment Capability Customer |chapter=Copy of a letter from the Comptroller and Auditor General to the Director of Air Foyle Ltd |author=Sir John Bourn |publisher=House of Commons |date=10 October 2001 |access-date=20 February 2011}}</ref>

[[File:HeavyLift Hercules.jpg|thumb|PK-PLR, a HeavyLift Lockheed Hercules L100-30 loading oil spill boom equipment]]
In 1994 Air Foyle won a contract to operate one [[Lockheed L-100 Hercules]] and one [[Ilyushin Il-76]] aircraft on permanent 24/7 standby for Oil Spill Response, to provide immediate response on a worldwide basis in the event of a major oil spillage.

Adopting the TNT aircraft management principle, Air Foyle and then its sister passenger airline Air Foyle Passenger Airlines operated a variety of aircraft including Boeing 707-300F, 737-200, 737-300, 727-200, Airbus A320 and A300 for a number of airline and virtual airline customers including [[EasyJet]], Sunseeker, Sabre, [[Virgin Express]], [[Debonair (airline)|Debonair]], [[Color Air]], and [[Air Scandic]] from 1993 until 2000.

=== HeavyLift ===
In 1977, the [[Trafalgar House (company)|Trafalgar House Group]] bought 90% of [[Transmeridian Air Cargo]] and on 15 August 1979 merged it with [[IAS Cargo Airlines]] to form British Cargo Airlines.<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 September 1979 |title=Aid for flood victims |work=Herts and Essex Observer |pages=1}}</ref> In 1978 the HeavyLift division of the carrier acquired five ex-Royal Air Force [[Short Belfast|Shorts Belfast]] freighters to operate outsized cargo and spent £4 million on the civil certification programme for the aircraft with [[Marshall Group|Marshall Aerospace]]. British Cargo Airlines collapsed in March 1980, although '''TAC HeavyLift''' survived, owned two-thirds by Cunard and one-third by Eurolatin Aviation Ltd.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |date=Spring 1980 |title=TAC Heavy Lift: take off |journal=Cunarder: Journal of the Cunard Shipping Companies |pages=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=7 March 1980 |title=One-plane firm arrives at Stansted |work=Cambridge Daily News |pages=19}}</ref> The managing director was P.J. McGoldrick who was later CEO of [[Ryanair]] and founder of both [[TransAer International Airlines|TransAer]] and [[EUjet|EU-Jet]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-09-27 |title=PJ McGoldrick |url=https://www.independent.ie/business/pj-mcgoldrick/26235502.html |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=Irish Independent |language=en}}</ref> The first load carried by a civil Belfast at HeavyLift was containerised agricultural machinery from Amsterdam to Libya.<ref name=":1" /> The company later founded [[Prime Airlines]] as a passenger charter operation in 2001.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last= |date=2001-02-06 |title=HeavyLift plans passenger flights |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/heavylift-plans-passenger-flights/35972.article |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=Flight Global }}</ref> 
[[File:CCCP-..... An-124 Air Foyle-Antonov MAN AUG91 (6936268687).jpg|thumb|Air Foyle / Antonov Airlines AN-124]]
In the early 1990s HeavyLift joined with the Russian [[Volga-Dnepr Airlines|Volga-Dnepr airlines]] to become the worldwide general sale agent for its outsized cargo operations with [[Antonov An-124 Ruslan|AN-124]] aircraft. This was similar to UK rival Air Foyle which was the general sales agent for the Ukrainian AN-124 operator [[Antonov Airlines]]. Volga-Dnepr terminated the agreement in 2001 after ten years of cooperation.<ref name=":0" />
[[File:G-HLFT Shorts Belfast Mk2 HeavyLift Cargo Al MAN 06AUG93 (6779364632).jpg|thumb|G-HLFT, a HeavyLift Cargo Shorts Belfast at Manchester Airport, 1993]]
HeavyLift collapsed in 2002 with the closure of HeavyLift Cargo Airlines, Prime Airlines, and HeavyLift Aircraft Engineering. The joint venture Air Foyle HeavyLift was unaffected and continued to operate until 2006.<ref>{{cite web |last= |date=2002-09-24 |title=HeavyLift closes down after restructuring fails |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/heavylift-closes-down-after-restructuring-fails/45034.article |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=Flight Global }}</ref> The HeavyLift name continued with two new and independent airlines, [[HeavyLift Cargo Airlines]] in Australia and [[HeavyLift International]] in the UAE, founded by former employees and investors.<ref>{{Cite news |date=26 Oct 2001 |title=Australia's HeavyLift seeks to serve China, Europe and USA |work=FlightGlobal}}</ref>

== Joint Venture ==
In 2001, following Volga-Dnepr's termination of its deal with HeavyLift, the British rivals Air Foyle and HeavyLift agreed to form a joint venture responsible for the sales and marketing of charters and leases of Antonov Airline's fleet of [[Antonov An-124]], [[Antonov An-225]] and [[Antonov An-22]] cargo aircraft. The venture was originally to be named ''Antonov Airlines (UK)'' but this was changed to '''Air Foyle HeavyLift'''.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

The new joint venture, ''Air Foyle HeavyLift'', became the worldwide General Sales Agent of the Antonov Design Bureau of Kyiv, a function previously held from July 1989 by Air Foyle independently.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jeffrey |first=Rebecca |date=2023-08-02 |title=1993-2002: Time for technology |url=https://www.aircargonews.net/40th-anniversary/1993-2002-time-for-technology/ |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=Air Cargo News |language=en}}</ref>

Antonov terminated the joint venture on 30 June 2006 to allow it to pursue a joint marketing venture with its erstwhile Russian competitor [[Volga-Dnepr]] under the name Ruslan International<ref name="FI"/><ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2006-07-18 |title=Volga-Dnepr and Antonov join forces for heavylift |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/volga-dnepr-and-antonov-join-forces-for-heavylift/68438.article |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=Flight Global |language=en}}</ref>

Air Foyle and Air Foyle HeavyLift ceased trading in July 2006, AFH closed for business on 31 July 2006.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

==See also==
* [[List of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Portal bar|United Kingdom|Companies|Aviation}}
{{Airlines of the United Kingdom}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Air Foyle Heavylift}}
[[Category:Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Defunct cargo airlines]]
[[Category:Airlines established in 2001]]
[[Category:Airlines disestablished in 2006]]
[[Category:Soviet Union–United Kingdom relations]]
[[Category:2001 establishments in England]]
[[Category:2006 disestablishments in England]]
[[Category:British companies established in 2001]]
[[Category:British companies disestablished in 2006]]
[[Category:Cargo airlines of the United Kingdom]]