After the outbreak of war, Imperial Airways carried on civilian flying for a year or two. In conjunction with Tasman Empire Airways the final part of the route to Auckland was opened in April 1940. In 1940 structure of Imperial Airways changed with the setting up two organisations, the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA). The Southampton flying boat base became part of BOAC. This company was to operate long-haul flights and one of the first things that the new company implemented was moving the flying boat operations from Southampton to Poole in Dorset. It had become too dangerous to remain in Southampton whose strategic importance made the city a high bombing risk. They weren't to return until 1947.

The route from England to Australia ended with the closure of the Mediterranean in 1940 and the flying boats moved operations to Durban, flying from there to Australia via Cairo, India and Malaya, this was famously known as the ‘Horseshoe Route’. Luxury fittings were forfeited to increase the passenger capacity up to twenty-nine. The subsequent invasion of Malaya meant that some flying boats were left cut off in Australia unable to return to the continent and during the war with Japan many of these aircraft were lost.

From Poole a service was maintained to Foynes in Ireland, the starting point for flights across the Atlantic to America. In 1941 operations from Poole were getting flights through to Cairo and Lagos via Lisbon. The Japanese had managed to cut the India-Australia service, but in 1943 a number of military flying boats were converted by BOAC for civilian use and the Poole–Cairo- Karachi service resumed, as did the route to Calcutta in 1944 and Singapore and Sydney in 1946.

A BOAC flight crew

The end of the wartime period saw the replacement of the 'Empire' flying boat with civilian conversions of the military Short Sunderlands that had so distinguished themselves as part of Britains antisubmarine efforts. These aircraft became the Short Sandringham and Hythe Class boats. With the conversions BOAC was able to bring their service back up to luxury standard and travelling by flying boat was again considered the premier way to travel to your destination.

WW2 service

Imperial Airways to BOAC

Flying hotels flying in style