At the start of June, British citizens will have an extended bank holiday weekend to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth, the first British monarch to reign for 70 years. . . Although OAG was founded well before 1952, it’s made us think back to how far aviation has come in that 70 years. An era that has seen travel and aviation grow and innovate unlike any other point in time.
1952: The First Commercial Jet Plane Service
As the new Elizabethan age began, so did the era of scheduled jet air services. A British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) aircraft became the first jet plane to enter commercial service, flying passengers between London and Johannesburg. Operating a four-engine de Havilland Comet with 36 seats, the aircraft took almost 24 hours to make the journey, stopping five times for refueling en route, at Rome, Beirut, Khartoum, Entebbe and Livingstone and changing crew at both Beirut and Khartoum. The first return airfares were £350.
Of course, BOAC…
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