British Caledonian in the 1970s 31 March 1973 - with the BR airline designator it had inherited from BUA at the time of its formation. This resulted in exclusive use of the BR designator as a prefix for all BCal flight numbers. In 1973, BCal also inaugurated its fourth scheduled domestic trunk route between London Gatwick and Manchester. The new service was contracted to British Island Airways (BIA), BUIA's successor, which operated two daily return trips using its Handley Page Dart Herald turboprops. On 20 March 1974, BCal switched its Gatwick—Paris services to the then brand-new Charles de Gaulle Airport in the northern Paris suburb
Vadsø Airport Norving planned to operate with their Britten-Norman Islanders and Britten-Norman Trislanders. The government opted to selected Widerøe and their Twin Otters, citing the need for a single operator for all subsidized regional routes in the country. Vadsø Airport opened on 1 August 1974 at the same time as Sørkjosen Airport, Hammerfest Airport, Mehamn Airport and Berlevåg Airport. The airport featured a combined control tower and terminal, which had a capacity for 30 people. Twin Otters landed at Vadsø four times daily. Norving started a service from Kirkenes via Vadsø to Båtsfjord Airport in January 1975. However, they did not have