AN airline tycoon whose family built their fortune in the days of flying boats has swooped to land one of Britain’s most romantic country estates.

James Gaggero, 49, a former officer in the Irish Guards, is understood to have paid £20m so his family can become only the sixth owners of the Encombe estate in its 1,100-year history.

At its heart is Encombe House, a Georgian pile set in the hills of Dorset, which comes with 2½ miles of its own unspoilt coastline, designated as a world heritage site.

The Gaggeros built their fortune operating an airline and ferries to the Moroccan port of Tangier. The airline, Gibraltar Airways, eventually moved to Britain as GB Airways and was bought for £103m by easyJet two years ago. Gaggero’s Bland Group of companies now encompasses travel and hotel firms.

The 2,000-acre Encombe estate includes 60 acres of formal gardens, a swimming pool, three lakes and a Grecian-style temple. The house itself has 13 bedrooms, a galleried hall, a dining room with a double-height ceiling and Victorian library with marble fireplaces.

It was placed on the market for £25m last September by Charles McVeigh III, an American merchant banker who bought it for £11m in 2002 and spent millions restoring it.

“It is exceptional - one of the biggest estates that have come to the market in the past few years,” said Mark McAndrew, head of country homes at Strutt & Parker, the estate agent who had been instructed to sell the property.

Another agent who is familiar with the property confirmed that Gaggero was the buyer, adding: “I imagine he is buying it for the shoot.”

Encombe is considered one of the best pheasant shooting estates in the country. It has carp in ornamental lakes and also offers flyfishing for sea bass off its rocky coast.

A source who has toured the house said: “In many ways it is a house for the super-rich to entertain in. It’s just perfect for a sporting weekend.”

Those said to have shown an interest in the estate include Sir Richard Branson, the head of Virgin Atlantic, and Kylie Minogue, the singer.

McVeigh said: “The house swells up for Christmas, Easter and for shooting parties, then shrinks right back again on a Sunday evening.”

The grade II*-listed house was built by John Pitt, the MP, in the late 18th century. His cousin William Pitt the Younger, who in 1783 became Britain’s youngest prime minister, aged 24, often wrote expressing his sorrow at not being able to visit “dear, unknown, delightful, picturesque Encombe”.

There was no one available for comment at the Bland Group’s offices in Gibraltar and Gatwick.

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