The first regular jet flight leaves London for Johannesburg

Date: 2 May 1952
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946, and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 (later merged with British European Airways Corporation to form British Airways). In 1952, BOAC became the first airline to introduce a passenger jet, the de Havilland Comet. On 2 May 1952 the first regular jet flight, with a Havilland Comet, left London with 36 passengers on board. It arrived in Johannesburg 18 hours later. The London-Johannesburg route therefore became the first regular service flown by a jet airliner.

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How we know this

01Wallis, F. (1952), 'Worlds First Turbojet Passenger Service' from Geneology, [online], Available at: freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com [Accessed 21 April 2009]

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). The first regular jet flight leaves London for Johannesburg. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011774

South African History Online (2011) 'The first regular jet flight leaves London for Johannesburg', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011774 (Accessed: 28 August 2026).

South African History Online, The first regular jet flight leaves London for Johannesburg [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011774, (accessed 28 August 2026).

"The first regular jet flight leaves London for Johannesburg." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011774. Accessed 28 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "The first regular jet flight leaves London for Johannesburg." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011774.