The Traveller's Magazine
Ready to take a trip into the past, to an era when commercial flights were only just beginning and few airlines dominated the skies. From Air France to KLM and others, here’s selection of what airline ads used to look like in the past.
Bright colours, hand-painted illustrations and fashionable spreads to tempt travellers to far-off corners of the world previously only accessible by long boat journeys. Havana, Africa, Chicago, Paris… these were cities that dreams were made of but were finally easy to reach by plane onboard airlines like KLM, Air France and British Airways.
Some say we are living in the golden age of travel right now with thousands of destinations to choose from and an innumerable amount of services to help us plan, book and arrange our holidays. Flights have never been so affordable thanks to stiff competition, particularly among the low cost airlines. But taking a look at these ads, it’s true that somethings have been lost along the way. The glamour of air travel for one.
Even if just for a second, let’s remember how we felt the first time we boarded a plane, what it was like to see the Eiffel Tower for the first time and admire the glowing luxury and style that came with travelling in the 1930s to 1960s, the true golden age of air travel.
