Cobham Air Routes was a 1930s British airline formed in 1935 to operate a service between Croydon and the Channel Islands. Following the loss of an aircraft in a fatal accident the airline was sold to Olley Air Service.
Cobham Air Routes Limited was formed on 3 May 1935 by Sir Alan Cobham to operate services between Croydon and Guernsey. The twice daily service started on 6 May 1935. The first sector from Croydon to Bournemouth via Portsmouth was flown by an Airspeed Courier with the Bournemouth to Guernsey sector flown by a six-passenger Westland Wessex.[1] Following the loss of the Wessex aircraft on 3 July 1935, Cobham decided to withdraw from the airline business and sell the company to Olley Air Service.
In 1973 the Guernsey Post Office issued a 3p stamp depicting the Wessex G-ADEW to represent the three aircraft used by Cobham on services to the island, to commemorate 50 years of commercial flying to the island.[4]
Photo of Cobham Air Routes Envoy at Croydon in Swissair Archives https://ba.e-pics.ethz.ch/catalog/ETHBIB.Bildarchiv/r/238434