52 Aviation News incorporating Jets November 2018
Left: By the early 1930s, Imperial Airways had
got into its stride and its initial long-haul route
development to the Middle East and India
was well established. The airline’s advertising
also started to become more interesting;
this example highlighting Egypt, which was
Imperial’s Middle East hub. It was used as a
base from which to develop new routes to
Africa and the Far East in the early 1930s.
C Peckham, c. 1930
1: The Short ‘C’ class Empire ying boats were
progressively introduced by Imperial Airways
between 1937 and 1939. A total of 28 aircraft
were ordered ‘off the drawing board’, a major
commitment and risk if the aircraft did not
perform as expected. The carrier anticipated
a major uplift in mail traffic following the
introduction of the Post Office’s new Empire
Air Mail Scheme in 1937 with cheap postal
rates to encourage communication by air
between Great Britain and its then Empire.
This poster was part of a major advertising
campaign to introduce the new aircraft and
encourage more passenger and mail traffic.
Mark Severin, 1957
2: BOAC continued to use ying boats up to
1950 because it did not have enough modern,
land-based aircraft to operate its services. It
also used Lockheed Constellations, but had
only ve and they were serving the important
London-New York market. The ying boats,
which were extremely luxurious but slow and
unpressurised, operated in BOAC’s African,
Eastern and Australian markets where the
airline did not have to compete with the strong
American airlines such as Pan Am and TWA.
3: British European Airways was formed in
1946 as the second UK nationalised airline to
operate air services on UK domestic routes
and to Europe. Its early advertising often
emphasised the aircraft used on services,
in this case the Vickers Viking – an offshoot
from the wartime Wellington bomber.
Roy Nockolds, 1946
4: Frank Wootton was a proli c artist
producing many superb posters for BOAC.
These tended to promote overseas travel
and foreign-language versions promoted
travel to the UK. The primary image would
be the advertised destination with only a
small representation of the aircraft on which
passengers would y. Frank Wootton, c. 1952
5 and 6: With the introduction of the new
jet and turboprop aircraft types from 1958
onwards, posters focused on these aircraft
rather than a destination. Air travel was rapidly
becoming part of daily life both for business
and holidays. The so-called ‘jet age’ was an
important part of the technological change
that was sweeping the Western world during
the 1960s. Both BOAC and BEA made sure
they promoted their part in this revolution.
7: A BOAC poster depicting the roomy interior
of the Boeing 747.
8: The early years of British Airways’ existence
produced some interesting images, not least
of Concorde on its introduction into service
in 1976.Left: By the early 1930s, Imperial Airways hadTHE ART OF TRAVEL
I
f you hanker for the glamour and adventure
of the early decades of air travel, then you
will enjoy this selection of evocative posters
from the British Airways archive.
Paul Jarvis, who unfortunately passed
away earlier this year, was curator of
the British Airways Heritage Collection,
carefully chose 200 of these imaginativeadvertisements from more than 1,000
preserved posters. They have been included
in a book published ahead of the 100th
anniversary of international air services
by British Airways and its predecessors on
August 25, 2019.
So sit back, relax and travel around the
world in bygone style...A TRIBUTE TO THE AUTHOR
Paul Jarvis joined BOAC, BA’s predecessor, in 1966 starting in government affairs and progressing to
the role of BA’s assistant company secretary. Upon retirement, after 52 years at the airline, he took on
the voluntary role of curator at BA’s heritage centre. Mr Jarvis, who died on May 16, was working on
his sixth book. For the rst time in BA’s history, the airline named an aircraft after a member of staff and
Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, registration G-ZBJJ, is called Paul Jarvis.