British Airways Celebrates It’s 90th Birthday
Britain’s national carrier British Airways, which has flown under a series of names in its history, celebrates its 90th anniversary today.
The airline can trace its origins back to the time Air Transport & Travel Ltd (AT&T) embarked on its first flight – from London to Paris – on August 25 1919.
Over the past ninety years much has changed for the company; from it’s name to the hundreds of types of aircraft used to the ever evolving uniforms worn by the cabin crew.
The 32 pictures that follow take a look back at 90 years of British Airways history.
Key dates in British Airways history:
August 25 1919: Air Transport & Travel Ltd (AT&T) flew an Airco DeHavilland 4A aircraft, powered by a single Rolls-Royce engine, flew from Hounslow Heath in west London to Le Bourget in Paris in two hours 30 minutes. The fare was 42 guineas (£44.10) which is the equivalent of around £1,700 today
1922: Daimler Airways (a successor company to AT&T), which began operations from Croydon to Paris
30 January 1929: The Imperial Airways ‘City of Glasgow’, a Short S.8 Flying Boat, leaves the new Croydon Aerodrome for Karachi, India. Imperial Airways was formed in 1924
1938: Imperial Airways route map, as the airline launched the Empire Airmail scheme with the introduction of the Short C Class Empire flying boat
2 May 1952: The world’s first regular jetliner service, opened when the 36 seater De Havilland Comet G-ALYP of BOAC took off from London Airport on the inaugural passenger-carrying flight to Johannesburg, South Africa
21 January, 1976: The world’s first passenger supersonic service, Concorde, is inaugurated. British Airways was formed in 1974 through the merger of BEA and BOAC
Posted on August 25, 2009 | Filed Under Travel
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