Welcome to the future of Air Travel!
To reach the continent and go to Paris, I know that by now you are accustomed to traveling by train or boat, or both at the same time:
but let me tell you about a new way to get around:
Air Travel!
1919 : an exciting year in the history of aviation
It saw the first flights across the Atlantic between America and Europe, as well as from Britain to Australia.
But it was really not an obvious win for the plane…
Heavier-than-air aircraft were starting to be considered safe enough to use for short distance flights, but for long-distance flights, the safest and most reliable form of aerial transport was the airship.
In July 1919, the two successful transatlantic flights of the R34 airship seemed very promising.
The main reason for that trust in the airship and dislike for the aircraft?
Unlike an aeroplane, if an airship had engine trouble, it could still remain in the air. It also had the advantages of long range : when unladen, the R34 could fly non-stop for more than 1.000 kilometres. And the icing on the cake : airships could also fly in conditions of poor visibility.
Various more or less enlightened comments about airplanes appeared in the newspapers at the time:
“One obstacle that at least they will never can surmount and that is fog. Unless a means is found by which aeroplanes can land in a fog the airship will always have an advantage.”
The Times, 5 July 1919
“The single-engined aeroplane is not, and never will be, a long distance over water machine.’’
Aircraft Magazine, May 1919
However, since the end of WWI, engineers had been busy adapting the design of military machines to the needs of civil aviation.
These new machines were described as having a windowed cabin, lofty enough for a passenger to stand up, and were fitted with easy chairs.
It is said that passengers could even consult an indicator to know which towns they were passing over – the grand-mother of all in-flight maps?
The First Domestic Flights
On 1st May 1919 the first commercial flight in England was made between Cricklewood Aerodrome and Manchester, aboard a Handley Page plane, carrying ten passengers.
Due to bad weather and headwinds, the flight took four hours to reach Manchester which, as the Daily Mail remarked, was the same length of time it took to do the journey by train.
A few days later, a flight from Filton to Hounslow carried one of the world’s first business passengers.
The businessman in question, a Mr H J Thomas, reported travelling in a ‘warm closed-in coupe’, complete with a writing desk to allow him to work on his business correspondence en route.
The First International Flights
The first international air services were soon to follow.
In August 1919, a small company called Air Transport & Travel (AT&T) – the precursor of British Airways – launched the world’s first daily international passenger air service from London to Paris. The aircraft took off from Hounslow Heath, not far from what is now London’s Heathrow Airport, and landed at Le Bourget.
4 places per flight !
The journey took about two and a quarter hours, and tickets cost 15 Guineas – that would be more than £500 in today’s money!
So it was (already) very expensive at the time, but the door to door service was impeccable:
From the Ritz to the Ritz
Tickets would be available from the Ritz London…
… and at 10am each day, passengers would be taken by car from the hotel to Hounslow Aerodrome, for a 10:30 flight departure* (subject to weather conditions of course)
The aircraft would land at Le Bourget, and passengers would be taken to the Parisian Ritz, on the iconic Place Vendôme – ETA 1.30pm.
However, even from the very first trip, the passengers already had to go through customs and passports checks…
A few weeks later, some started to predict that there would come a time when air travel would start to compete with sea travel – which seemed laughable at the time but proved true as early as the 1950s, with the advent of jet engines.
And as early as 1919, experts also said:
“There is no reason why aeroplanes should not travel at 800 miles an hour before long, which would enable one to breakfast in London and lunch in New York”.
The Future of the Future of Air Travel?
As for the future of air transport, I don’t know… Can aviation ever be sustainable ?
There is certainly still space for innovation and invention here, for more respectful and sustainable ways to travel, with leads such as e-planes, hydrogen powered engines, or even virtual reality for travel ?
But if you are in London, you can go see this story for yourself (and more) at the ‘Flight’ gallery of the fantastic Science Museum in South Kensington.
Helene
