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The Handley Page Halton was a British passenger aircraft of the 1940s and 1950s converted from the Handley Page Halifax bomber.

Design and development
In 1946 British Overseas Airways Corporation ordered a civil conversion of the Halifax from Handley Page for use as a passenger machine on their African and Indian routes pending the arrival of the Avro Tudors they had ordered.

The Halton was converted from the Halifax C.VIII transport, and fitted to carry ten passengers. A large entrance door was fitted in the starboard rear fuselage and rectangular windows were fitted in the cabin walls. The C.VIII's pannier was also used and could carry 8,000 lb of cargo and mail. A crew of five was carried.

Operational history
The first of 12 Haltons for BOAC, G-AHDU, was christened Falkirk at Radlett on 18 July 1946. The Halton was introduced into service on the London-Karachi route on 1 July 1947, and on the next day the London-Lagos coastal service was initiated. This latter service, via Casablanca, [Dakar] and Accra, was replaced by the trans-Sahara route, also flown by Haltons, on 1 September. For a short time during August 1947, Haltons also flew on the London-Tripoli-Cairo-Basra-Karachi-Colombo route.

The BOAC Haltons were withdrawn from service on 2 May 1948, and sold to various charter firms, 8 going to Bond Air Service Ltd. who used them soon afterwards in the Berlin Air Lift. Forty-one Haltons and Halifaxes from seven companies flew 8,000 sorties into Berlin from Wunsdorf with 53,000 tons of cargo including coal and oil.

Production
All Haltons were converted from Halifaxes. Approximately 90 British registered machines were used in charter freight service, approximately 50 more carried marks for ferry purposes, and 15 were sold to the Egyptian and Pakistan Air Forces.

Civil Operators

 * British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC)
 * British South American Airways (BSAA)
 * Bond Air Service Ltd.
 * Worldair Carriers
 * Westminster Airways

Military Operators

 * Egyptian Air Force
 * Pakistan Air Force
 * Pakistan Air Force
 * Pakistan Air Force

Specifications (Halton)
General characteristics
 * Crew: 5
 * Capacity: 10 passengers
 * Loaded weight: 65000 lb (BIII) 68000 lb (BVI, CVIII)
 * Length: 71 ft (BVI, AIX) 73 ft (C VIII)
 * Wingspan: 104 ft
 * Height: 21 ft
 * Powerplant: 4 x Bristol Hercules 100 engines
 * Max speed: 282 mph (BIII) 320 mph (AIX, CVIII)