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How air travel has changed in the last 100 years

A history of air travel in pictures
1920s: passengers wait to board a plane in 1929
1920s: a Western Air Express airliner in 1928
1920s: Lady Heath pilots a plane for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
1920s: passengers are served drinks on a French Air Union plane in 1929
1920s: an early in-flight movie in 1925
1930s: a woman hands over an airmail parcel to Western Air Express staff circa 1930
1930s: passengers listen to a broadcast aboard a flight in 1931
1930s: a Qantas plane and the first Anglo-Australian airliner in 1934
1930s: Eastern Air Lines stewards in the 1930s
1930s: an Imperial Airways cabin in 1935
1930s: a Douglas DC-3 in flight
1930s: Pan American Airways flies across the Atlantic in 1939
1940s: Pan American World Airways' 'Flying Cloud' clipper
1940s: passengers aboard a Pan Am Boeing 307 aircraft circa 1945
1940s: poster advertising TWA
1950s: crowds wave off the world's first jet airliner service
1950s: a passenger enjoying lunch on the world's first commercial jet airliner service
1950s: a test flight for the Boeing 707 jet airliner with Pan Am
1950s: the Queen arrives in Bermuda on a BOAC flight in 1953
1950s: an air hostess attends to passengers on a National Airways Corporation flight in 1959
1950s: a movie projector on a United Airlines flight circa 1950
1960s: lunch service on a Lufthansa flight in 1967
1960s: dinner aboard a SAS aircraft in 1969
1960s: The Beatles arrive in London on a Pan Am flight in 1964
1960s: flight attendants line up before a model of Concorde in the 1960s
1970s: the first Concorde flight from London Heathrow to Bahrain in 1976
1970s: the Queen on a Concorde aircraft in 1977
1970s: Laker Airways founder Freddie Laker celebrates the airline's success
1970s: Laker and passengers aboard Laker Airways' Skytrain
1970s: the first scheduled Pan Am Boeing 747 flight
1970s: passengers in the cabin of a Boeing 747
1970s: passengers are served Champagne on a Pan Am 747 flight
1970s: lunch is served aboard a Boeing 747
1970s: a lounge on a SAS Boeing 747-B Huge Viking
1980s: Laker celebrates further fare cuts in 1980
1980s: passengers are stranded as Laker Airways collapses in 1982
1980s: a Ryanair aircraft in 1988
1980s: Richard Branson celebrates the launch of his new airline, Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984
1980s: a flight attendant serves dinner on a SAS flight circa 1980s
1980s: ashtrays on a commercial flight
1990s: easyJet boss Stelios Haji-Ioannou in 1995
1990s: Ryanair's chief executive promotes low-fare flights
1990s: a Pan Am aircraft in 1991
2000s: security at Salt Lake City International Airport in 2001
2000s: the door to an aircraft cockpit in 2001
2000s: an easyJet aircraft flying in 2009
2000s: a traveler books flights online
2010s: a man works on his laptop during a flight
2010s: a sign for premium economy class in Hong Kong International Airport
2010s: an American Airlines flight in 2017
2020s: grounded planes at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, Germany
2020s: a passenger undergoes a temperature check at Heathrow Airport
2020s: a masked flight attendant on a Brussels Airlines plane
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Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

A history of air travel in pictures

From the early days of flight and the "golden age of travel", to modern-day budget airlines and the current regulations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, air travel has changed a lot over the past century. Here, we take a journey through time to bring you the biggest milestones in commercial aviation history.
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Jacqui Agate

27 July 2021

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