AT 12 minutes past three on the afternoon of May 2, 1952, the age of jet travel dawned at London Airport as a sleek, shiny airliner lifted off the tarmac.
De Havilland Comet G-ALYP in BOAC livery was making the first-ever commercial flight by a jet passenger aircraft with paying customers.
Seventy years later, we can pretty much travel the world by air in comfort and unprecedented safety, a privilege the Comet kickstarted.
We would find that first 7000mile flight, to Johannesburg, South Africa, very different from today’s intercontinental aviation.
There was much more space in the cabin. BOAC’s seating arrangement allowed for just 36 passengers, and the aircraft’s large square windows added to the feeling of space. Air France operated Comets
