Air Contractors has grown considerably since its inception in 1972 as Air Bridge Carriers. It was formed with four Argosy freighters to fly fresh produce from the Channel Islands to the UK. This work was quickly supplemented by ad-hoc charter work, with special emphasis on ''awkward loads'' such as aircraft engines and heavy machinery for the North Sea oil fields.\r\n\r\n1976 saw the arrival of the first of the Merchantman aircraft. This heralded an introduction to new markets such as fresh fruit flights through the Gulf and the Middle East and overnight newspaper flights. At the beginning of the 1980''s the overnight express parcels business was in it''s infancy within Europe and Air Bridge was ideally placed to take advantage. TNT, FedEx, DHL and UPS were all nightly customers