British European Airways (BEA) was the national short-haul carrier of the United Kingdom from 1946 to 1974, when it was merged with British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) to form British Airways (BA). Up to that time, it was the largest domestic carrier of Great Britain.
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In 1946, British European Airways was founded as the British national airline for domestic and inner-European flights. It became the biggest domestic carrier in the UK.
In 1969, BEA launched a charter subsidiary, BEA Airtours (later British Airtours) as a reaction to the higher demand for holiday flights.
In 1972, BEA was combined with British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) under the newly formed British Airways board.
In 1974, BEA ceased operations when it completely merged with BOAC forming British Airways.
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