a Skyways associate, established in the early 1950s by Eric Rylands to operate low-fare coach-air services between London and several European capital cities. Following Euravia's acquisition of Skyways, Skyways Coach-Air remained independent until its successor Skyways International was taken over by Dan-Air in 1972. By 15 June 1963, Euravia was operating a mixed fleet of eight Constellations and four Avro Yorks. Euravia also took on Skyways Pan Am engine contract at London Heathrow using ex-Skyways Yorks; under this arrangement, one of these aircraft was on permanent standby at Heathrow ready to fly a spare jet engine to rescue any PanAm Boeing 707 jetliner that encountered engine problems. These rescue flights were flown as far afield as Singapore and Hong Kong. The other Yorks were used for ad hoc freighting until 1965 when the last aircraft G-AGNV was flown from Luton to Staverton, Gloucester to be an exhibit at the now defunct Skyfame museum. Upon retirement, this aircraft was preserved and placed on display at the RAF museum, RAF Cosford. Rebranding On 16 August 1964, the airline was rebranded, becoming Britannia Airways; this name was adopted to coincide with re-equipping with ex-British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) Bristol Britannia turboprop airliners to replace the Constellations. The type would not be used for long however; during December 1970, the last remaining Britannia 102 was withdrawn from service, consequently, the airline became an all-jet operator at this point. During the late 1960s, Britannia became the first charter airline to offer assigned seating, as well as hot in-flight meals. During the mid-1960s, Britannia had attracted the interest of the newspaper business magnate Lord Thomson, who sought a good prospect with which to diversify his business stakes; Thomson also approved of the company's activities being beneficial to the general public. As a result of this interest, during 1965, Britannia became part of Thomson, itself part of the Canadian-owned International Thomson Organisation. This acquisition was beneficial to the company's prospects, including financing the acquisition of a new generation of jet-powered airliners to enable Britannia's rapid transition into the jet age. During 1968, Britannia commenced a re-equipment effort involving the then-new Boeing 737-200 jetliner; it had the distinction of being the first European airline to operate the type. The purchase of the brand new and relatively unproved 737 was seen as a major breach of traditional practice; historically, charter airliners procured secondhand aircraft from their larger scheduled airlines.