Today, Air Florida is best remembered for a tragic crash in the Potomac River. But few recall that the airline, which for a time was run by the flamboyant Ed Acker actually operated extensive, scheduled services from Miami International Airport to Central America, the Caribbean and Europe.
The airline also had a large domestic operation centered around the three south Florida airports and to a lesser extent Tampa and Orlando. But today, the European operation is our focus.
In February 1981, Air Florida began service from Miami to London's Gatwick Airport. The service had been awarded to Air Florida over Eastern Airlines the previous year following the Pan Am-National merger. But due to the Bermuda II agreement, any new entrant to the London market from the US had to serve Gatwick (this continued until 2008) instead of the much more attractive Heathrow Airport.
Air Florida also acquired the route authority to a number of cities on the European continent disgarded by Pan Am after the merger with National
Air Florida's route system to Europe was as follows:
(all destinations sevred nonstop or via same plan service from Miami)
Febraury 1981:
Amsterdam
Brussels
London
July 1981:
Amsterdam
Brussels
London
Shannon
April 1982:
Amsterdam
Brussels
London
Shannon
April 1983:
Amsterdam
Brussels
Dusseldorf
Frankfurt
London
Madrid
Zurich
January 1984:
Amsterdam
Brussels
Dusseldorf
Frankfurt
London
Madrid
Zurich
By mid 1984, Air Florida was no more, having over expanded and suffered from the Flight 90 crash in Washington DC.
So agressive was Air Florida's marketing campaign, English top flight football club Southampton had Air Florida as their shirt sponsor for a few years.
Here is the kit:
