Airbus began on 15th November 1980 with two routes operating from Heathrow Airport Central along the M4 into central London, with route A1 taking passengers to and from Victoria via the hotels along the Cromwell Road, and route A2 heading along the Baywater Road into the West End proper and Kings Cross. A third route, the A3, was added later but was not a success.

Sixteen brand new MCW Metrobuses, M 431-446, were delivered to Stamford Brook garage (V) to start the Airbus services off. Their entire lower deck, bar the rear five seats, was given over to luggage racks. The success of the service was such that M 447 was converted to join them, and indeed for many summers, half a dozen standard Metrobuses were roped in from nearby garages (usually Norbiton) to provide enhancements. It was intended to rotate the buses every three years, much like Green Line's policy at the time, and in 1984 twenty-four of the current Metrobus order, M 1006-1029, took over. But three years on from that there weren't any new double-deckers to use, as London Buses had stopped ordering any. Thus, a few years later the existing Ms were comprehensively refurbished with plush coach seats and carpet along the sidewalls. They also received wheelchair lifts in the centre doorways.

A second attempt at an A3 was mounted in the summer of 1992, using the three coach-seated Ls that had come as part of the route 237 order. Intended to link Stansted, it was before its time and did not last the summer out. A more promising outgrowth was Airbus Direct, using retired DTs fitted with luggage racks and air conditioning. This operated by request to any hotel along a reasonable route. Indeed the waiting room at Heathrow was fitted out in comparable luxury.

At the end of 1995 the Airbus's new complement of double-deckers started arriving, the A class of nineteen long-wheelbase Alexander Royale-bodied Volvo Olympians. They had full air-conditioning and a wheelchair lift in the single doorway. But decline started to set in as soon as the Heathrow Express rail link to Paddington opened in 1999. The A1 to Victoria was withdrawn and the A2 was reconfigured to terminate at Russell Square. At this time London United sold the Airbus operation and its buses to Airlinks. As this company was part of National Express, the Airbus operation fell victim to the rebranding of the coach services in 2002, which meant everything going into all-over white with rather anonymous 'National Express Airport' logos. I wonder whether this confused the punters into thinking that these services now had to be booked rather than just waited for. But with Heathrow Airport about to undergo considerable upheaval imminently for the construction of Terminal 5, I'm not sure withdrawing the A2 entirely at this time will help.

Photographed on 2nd February 2002 entering Euston is Heathrow West Ramp-based A 118 (N118 UHP), in the third of four liveries worn by Airbus vehicles in the network's lifetime. In this case it was just a vinyl applied over the existing red and grey livery, whose yellow stripes had already been removed in favour of short-lived Toshiba advertising.