BCALDavid

Like many on here, my first flight with Dan-air was a school trip to Austria (1977) from Manchester to Munich and back by BAC 1.11. The following year we did the same trip again, this time returning to Gatwick though, by Comet. I can still remember the feeling of disappointment as the coach took us from the terminal at Riem, past a company 727 to the Comet. Having already flown on a BEA Airtours Comet a few years previously, I was desperate to board my first 727. I don't remember much about the flights other than the fact that Dan air only sold chocolate on flights to Norway for some reason. I do remember my parents telling me they watched in horror at Manchester as the rear airstairs wouldn't retract fully and in the end, one mechanic sat on the shoulders of another and pushed the door shut. I have no reason to think this untrue . . . .

I also flew on the inaugural flight from London Gatwick to Manchester when Dan-air took over the service - on 23rd October 1988, operated by G-ATTP. Happy days!

BOH

Yes, I remember them well. Took a 1-11 from LGW to ARN in the very early 90s and at the time I was a licensed avionics engineer for a TPM that supported the 1-11 and 737. The plane I was on went tech in ARN just before we were due to come back and they announced that there would be a long delay as although a replacement LRU was available at ARN there was not someone there who could sign the plane off for quite a few hours (can't remember the reason why).

So I made myself known to the flight deck and they via the ground handling at ARN contacted Dan-Air at their Lasham (nicknamed "Lashup" in the industry) maintenance centre in the UK. They contacted my company and 45 minutes later I signed it off (we already had a call-off type contract for engineering support in place with Dan-Air). A very rewarding day in my job at the time ^

BOH

Like many others I also flew on a Dan-Air Comet - this was on a school cruise trip around 1976-7-ish out to join the SS Uganda!

Not quite my first ever flight though, this was on a Convair CV990 Coronado 4-jet operated by Spantax from BOH to PMI in 1973 with my parents. Being one of the very early jet transport planes they belched black smoke on take-off and were colloquially known as "Sooty Spantax" during the days they operated the CV990

BRITINJAPAN4

Indeed it was excellent ! I had my first taste of Borsin on Dan-Air and still love it and all cheeses !

JamieABZ

My favourite job ever was working for Dan Air at ABZ. The fun, the challenges, the people were all unforgettable. I too have a Dan Air teaspoon at home - it must have been the thing to do back in the 80's.
I think we put a 33" pitch into ATTP and ATVH for the ABZ and NCL to LGW routes with large meal trays and 3 course meals - plus cheese! Many happy memories of such special times and people.

Bluecardholder

My first flight, ever, in 1983, was on our honeymoon from Gatwick to Corfu on a Dan Air 727. Having never flown before I was terrified.

South London Bon Viveur

bisonrav

They did

BESTEDIFLYER

Flew with Dan-Air once, that I have recorded, in mid 1976. Had done a short spell down in Barry Docks laying up BP tankers that had been taken out of service and were waiting to be sold, and I was heading home. Had travelled down by train but was allowed to fly home so my routing was CWL-LBA-GLA. Unfortunately at that time I was only keeping note of my routing, airline and aircraft type were of no real interest.
I flew onto Aberdeen but cannot remember who that was with.

Deltus

I don't think there's even a single event in this thread that took place in my lifetime. Flying before the internet sounds like a different world!

Globaliser

I still remember my last trip on Dan-Air. It was for a couple of days in Amsterdam in June 1992. At Gatwick, we duly went to the gate that had been displayed on the monitors, but there was no aircraft there. There had been a late gate change, involving hoofing most of the way across to the other end of the terminal - but fortunately, the aircraft waited.

It was also a memorable trip for being the victim of an attempt at a distraction theft. While sitting at an outdoor table at a cafe, someone came to one side of me, showed me a map and asked me incomprehensibly for directions. His accomplice was on the other side, trying to rummage in and then make off with my backpack. Fortunately, some kind people on the next table saw this and shouted, and they ran off without taking the bag. Some lessons you never forget, although I get frustrated when friends refuse to heed the advice that I'm giving from personal experience.

Less than 6 months later, Dan-Air was no more.

I had done one previous trip on Dan-Air about a year before. A week's break on some island in the Canaries, taken there and back by a charter flight. But I really don't remember anything about that trip now!

bisonrav

Flying before the internet was interesting. You got a paper ticket with about a million pages, mostly a description of your rights should the plane crash as I recall. At check-in you would get a boarding pass too. Onboard there were smoking sections and non-smoking sections, although the latter was essentially meaningless because the smoke just circulated, so you got off smelling of smoke. Long haul, you got a film projected onto the bulkhead, with pneumatic earpieces, that is to say a sort of stethoscope arrangement to hear the sound, there were a few more audio channels but that was about it for the IFE, so people read books mostly.

The most significant change the internet brought though - and this was before mobile boarding passes - was that a couple of weeks away meant that the first thing you asked your taxi driver for was a summary of the news, because you had no idea what had been happening, and keeping up with news from home was often difficult at hotel phone rates.

I got sufficiently inspired by this thread to start entering historic data into my flight info (link in the sig), and have been progressing through the years for which I have email confirmations, that started in about 2008 roughly speaking. And I actually did find a copy of the Clarksons Greece 1971 brochure from which my very first flight was booked.

anniegray

mlafqtv

Dan Air ticket up thread (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/31161295-post85.html) was positioning flight for Nevasa school trip.Flew back to UK on BOAC VC-10 from Naples.

Ah, Spantax. I remember flying in their DC 3s in the late 60's between PMI and IBZ and MAH - the days before the 'big' planes from UK could land at the two smaller islands.Boarded at back of aircraft, whilst baggage was 'secured' by mesh webbing between cockpit and passenger cabin. I seem to remember wearing a glass of orange juice on one inter-island flight due to turbulence.

mlafqtv

You're not mad: here's proof that Court Line/Clarksons did (and I think Monarch did too): https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=31160387&postcount=75