In the 1980s British Aerospace developed an enhanced version of their popular HS748, originally conceived by Avro / Hawker Siddeley in the early 1960s with Rolls Royce Dart engines. The HS748 sold very well but by the 1980s, newer technology was available so the engineers at British Aerospace gave the aircraft a major upgrade, which included increased fuselage length for additional passenger capacity, newer more efficient engines, an upgraded cockpit and overall improved performance and economics.

The airline industry of the 1980s and early 1990s was in recession and with Fokker, De Havilland, ATR and SAAB all developing similar aircraft to bring to a lacklustre market, not all contenders would meet with overwhelming commercial success. The BAe ATP first flew in 1986 and entered airline service in 1988, and by the time production closed down on the type in 1996, only 64 examples were manufactured.

The BAe ATP can haul a 30 percent larger load than the HS748 and its long fuselage makes it ideal for cargo transport. Today, many ATPs have been converted to freighters. But back in the late 1980s prospects were upbeat that the type would find a number of passenger carrying roles with international airlines. This BAe promo film features footage of airlines that took delivery of the BAe ATP in the late 1980s and early 1990s including Air Wisconsin, LAR, British Midland, Bangladesh Biman and others.

We hope you enjoy the short teaser video presented above. The full run version of this very interesting period film can be viewed by JetFlix members. You can support our airline filming and historic film preservation efforts here at JetFlix TV by becoming a JetFlix TV member, for a very small out of pocket cost, which brings some very nice additional “members only” perks.