The company BKS Aero Charter was registered on February 7, 1952, based at Southend. Adhoc charter work was operated throughout 1952 which was followed by ski charters to Innsbruck in the Winter of 1952/1953 as a contract service for a winter club made up of ski and outdoor sports enthusiasts. BKS commenced scheduled domestic UK operations in May of 1953, and this same month IT charters were commenced from Newcastle to Southend using Douglas DC-3s. At the end of 1953, the airline’s name was changed to BKS Air Transport and by 1965, the fleet stood at five DC-3s and three Vickers Viking.

Vacation charters from Southend continued through the 1959 summer season, and from that point forward BKS Air Transport re-focued their operational efforts on building Newcastle as their main base with much reduced efforts at Southend. AS.57 Ambassadors were added to the BKS fleet and were used on charter routes supplemented by Vickers Viscounts in 1961, and Hawker Siddeley HS748s from April, 1962, and Bristol Britannias commencing in April, 1964.