1900 History is made when the Zeppelin airship completes its first trip. Designed by Count Zeppelin, the cigar-shaped vessel was later adapted for passengers.
1937 Instead of enduring a 22 hour steamer journey to Denmark, a writer tells of a more comfortable three hour flight as the guest of Danish Air Lines.
1955 In an unusual move, the area manager of British European Airways invites school children to fill empty seats on the Manchester-Liverpool-Isle of Man route for a “flying geography lesson.”
1969 The first flight of the supersonic airliner Concorde is deemed a flying success.
1971 Reports of a wrangle over a new Thames Estuary airport for London emerge.
1984 Bigger planes with more seats hasten mass tourism. Adverts for cheap package holidays can be found in the classified section of newspapers.
1985 Despite great improvements in safety, flying is not without risk. In 1985, 524 people are reported to have died in the worst air disaster involving a single aircraft.
1997 Upstart no-frills Ryanair takes on established airline rivals by offering some fares for 80% less.
2009 At 30,000ft “there’s nowhere to get away from a drunk,” says a judge when passing sentence on a man accused of ‘air rage’.
2019 Concerned about the environmental impact of too much flying, a growing number of travellers are abandoning air travel.
