The Golden Age of Air Travel

Book excerpt: For much of the twentieth century travel by air was a luxury available only to the wealthy, and accordingly the airlines – Pan Am, BOAC, TWA, BEA and many others – offered premium services that connected far-flung parts of the world with con trails of glamour. This book looks back at the golden age, from the 1920s to the 1970s, when well-appointed airliners whisked the rich and famous around the world on holiday and on business. It evokes the chink of champagne glasses, the aroma of expensive cigars and the roar of early jet engines: the experience of air travel before package holidays and budget airlines changed flying forever. The various types of aircraft, the routes and the airports, as well as the changes undergone by the industry, are all explored here and illustrated by fascinating historical material.