BOAC became the first airline to operate a regular all-jet passenger service when it introduced the de Havilland Comet on routes from London to Johannesburg in 1952.
The Comet was the world’s first commercial jet airliner, offering greater speed and a smoother flight than piston-engine aircraft. BOAC, the British state airline responsible for long-haul international services, placed the aircraft into scheduled passenger operation on 2 May 1952.
The early Comet service was an important milestone, but the aircraft later suffered a series of fatal structural failures caused by metal fatigue around its square passenger windows. The resulting investigation led to major redesigns and influenced the rounded-window shapes used on later airliners.
BOAC itself ceased to exist in 1974, when it merged with British European Airways to form British Airways. The Comet’s commercial difficulties did not end the jet age; later aircraft such as the Boeing 707 made jet travel economically successful worldwide.