April The First
p. 96 · Read in the full issue
—The Big Day
April 1 is a big day in the annals of British aviation history. This year it was the date of the formal estab lishment of British Airways, the new airline created by the merger of BO AC and British European Airways. We’re all one big British Airways now — and BO AC and British European Airways cease to exist.
And ifs 50 years ago—April 1, 1924 —that Britain’s first government sponsored airline was formed. That was Imperial Airways, the company which pioneered Britain’s air routes of the world before the second world war.
Another of our important April 1 landmarks was: 1940, the “vesting” date appointed by the British parlia ment for the setting up of BO AC.