Imperial Airways
Fact file
This fact file is a snapshot of the company between 1930
and 1945. Owners / Company name
Imperial Airways – Empire Air Mail Service Company logo (BOAC) Major routes
Southampton - Greece, Egypt, Sudan, South Africa, Palestine, Iraq,
India, Siam, Malaya, Australia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong Flying boat livery 
 Flying boat at Southampton |
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Timeline | 1924 | Imperial Airways is formed through the merger of four companies
and a government subsidy to provide the first UK national
airline | | 1934 | Empire Air Mail scheme begins. IA orders a large amount of
`Shorts` flying boats which will carry mail all over the British
Empire. The operation is based in Southampton Docks | | 1935 | Flying boat Canopus flies to Alexandria via Rome
and Brindisi on the first proving flight | | 1937 | Inauguration of the Empire Air Mail scheme. First flights to
Durban and Karachi occur in this year. In July the first flight
across the Atlantic from Britain by Imperial Airways | | 1938 | Routes from Southampton to Singapore, Sydney and Hong Kong are
established . In July the Maia/Mercury composite aircraft
experiment successfully launches a seaplane off the back of a
flying boat in mid air over the Atlantic to fly non-stop to the
American continent | | 1938 | British Airways and Imperial Airways merge to become a new
state owned national carrier called British Overseas Airways
Corporation (BOAC) |
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