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Description

One of the Earliest Fixed Wing Commercial Air Travel Maps Published in Europe

Rare premium map of the World, illustrating the airship and aeroplane routes around the world, which was given away as a promotional item by The New Illustrated Magazine, in February 1919.

Published in London in 1919, the map was issued shortly after the first fixed wing commercial air flights in Britain commenced services.

The map routes are centered on London.  Along the bottom are descriptions of several routes, including:

  • London to Australia by Airship
  • Round the World From London By Airshop via India
  • London to India Via Aeroplane
  • London to Vancouver By Airship and Aeroplane
  • London to Cape Town by Aeroplane

The explanation notes that "Figures on Routes indicate hours taken between each point at the rate of (Airships) 60 m.p.h. and (Aeroplanes) 100 m.p.h. 

History of Commercial Air Travel

DELAG, Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft was the world's first airline. It was founded on November 16, 1909,  operating airships manufactured by The Zeppelin Corporation. The first fixed wing scheduled air service was started on January 1, 1914, from St. Petersburg, Florida, to Tampa, Florida. 

The earliest fixed wing airline in Europe was Aircraft Transport and Travel, formed in 1916; this company is an ancestor of modern-day British Airways. Using a fleet of former military Airco DH.4A biplanes that had been modified to carry two passengers in the fuselage, it operated relief flights between Folkestone and Ghent. On July 15, 1919, the company flew a proving flight across the English Channel, despite a lack of support from the British government. The flight took 2 hours and 30 minutes at £21 per passenger.

On August 25, 1919, the company used DH.16s to pioneer a regular service from Hounslow Heath Aerodrome to Le Bourget, the first regular international service in the world 

Other British competitors were quick to follow. Handley Page Transport was established in 1919 and used the company's converted wartime Type O/400 bombers with a capacity for 12 passengers  to run a London-Paris passenger service. 

The first French airline was Société des lignes Latécoère, later known as Aéropostale, which started its first service in late 1918 to Spain. The Société Générale des Transports Aériens was created in late 1919, by the Farman brothers and the Farman F.60 Goliath plane flew scheduled services from Toussus-le-Noble to Kenley, near Croydon, England. 

The first German airline to use heavier than air aircraft was Deutsche Luft-Reederei established in 1917 which started operating in February 1919. In its first year, the D.L.R. operated regularly scheduled flights on routes with a combined length of nearly 1000 miles. By 1921 the D.L.R. network was more than 3000 km (1865 miles) long, and included destinations in the Netherlands, Scandinavia and the Baltic Republics.