Court Line was an airline based in the UK that operated for the package holiday market. Aircraft were painted in colourful liveries designed by Peter Murdoch and they invented the concept of seat back catering. As well as that, they were the first European operator of the famous Lockheed L-1011 TriStar.
The colourful TriStars in Court Line configuration were packed with 400 seats. Two were delivered from Lockheed, G-BAAA named Halcyon Days and G-BAAB called Halcyon Breeze. Colloquially, people referred to them as The Big Banana (though, if it were Braniff, it would probably be The Big Yellow!) and The Pink Lady.
What Was Special About These TriStars?
Since Court Line would be operating to airports that might not have appropriate facilities, a degree of self-sufficiency was required. For a start, the airline required integral airstairs, which Lockheed designed to deploy electrically from the centre cargo compartment.
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- Looking pretty in pink – Court Line’s second L-1011 TriStar.
All four doors on each side were the largest type available, type A, to facilitate passenger loading. That is probably no surprise with so many seats on board! Also, special baggage loading belts were designed into the cargo holds to help load and offload luggage quickly and easily.
Court Line TriStar Video
Lockheed produced a promotional film in 1973 about the Court Line TriStar which runs for just over 13 minutes. It begins with some company history about the aircraft and its production, then from 6:30 it turns its focus onto the airline. The self-sufficient features incorporated for Court Line are shown from 8:15, beginning with the wider type A doors.
Next, it shows the automatic baggage loaders and then the on board stairs. Immediately after, we go into the cabin and plenty is shown, such as the underfloor galley and lifts. I did laugh at how it is pointed out that the “flight station provides a cineramic view” – I’m sure the pilots of the L-1011 appreciated that! All in all, it’s well worth checking out.
Overall Thoughts
Unfortunately, the package holiday market deteriorated markedly right around the time Court Line put the aircraft into service in 1973. That resulted in the airline ceasing operations on 15 August 1974.
Both aircraft were returned to Lockheed and Cathay Pacific eventually took them in March 1977. The halcyon days of Court Line and its special widebody TriStars was over. Today the airline is remembered on a quite active Instagram account which is worth a look.
It is not the first time Lockheed customised their trijet for a customer. California’s PSA had theirs featuring a lower deck lounge and stairs into the cargo hold. It was really something else!
Did you know Court Line had specified these unusual modifications to their Lockheed L-1011s? What did you think of the video? Did you ever fly on one of these and what was that like? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Michael Bernhard on Airliners.net via Wikimedia Commons.
G-BAAB by Ralf Manteufel on Airliners.net via Wikimedia Commons.
Interesting fun facts on the special modifications for Court Lines’ L-1011s. Learned something so thanks for that. Now on to my “argument”: Orange is both a color and the name of a fruit so it worked both ways for Braniff nicknaming their orange 747 “Big Orange”. It was also known as “Fat Albert” and the “Great Pumpkin”. “The Big Yellow” doesn’t sound right to American ears as we are left wondering “The Big Yellow WHAT?” If said yellow aircraft was a hangar queen it might have been not-so-lovingly referred to as “The Big Lemon”. Much ado about nothing of course,… Read more »
Hahaha! Your argument makes perfect sense of course, and I also realised Braniff worked due to the fruit reference. I hope breakfast sorted you out there!! 🙂 Hope there was an orange involved, just for that seamless link!
Does orange soda count? Probably not but the leftover pizza was awesome.
Haha – breakfast of champions!!
Remarkably modern livery for the time
Absolutely, it sure would have stood out among the plain aircraft back then… especially in Europe, as they would not have seen things like Braniff.