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The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the exclusive British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. BOAC later became part of British Airways when it was merged with British European Airways in 1974 following a British Act of Parliament in 1971.During the 1930s, 1940s and until November 1950 Imperial Airways and then BOAC operated flying boat services from SouthamptonThis page discusses the English city of Southampton. For other places named Southampton, see Southampton (disambiguation). Southampton is a city and major port situated on the south coast of England. It is the closest city to the New Forest and lies at th to colonial possessions in AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. 30,244,050 km2 (11,677,240 mi2) including the islands, it covers 20. 3% of the total land area on Earth, and with over 800 million human inhabitants it accounts for ar and AsiaThe continent of Asia is defined by subtracting Europe and Africa from the great land mass of Africa-Eurasia. The boundaries are vague, especially between Asia and Europe: Asia and Africa meet somewhere near the Suez Canal. The boundary between Asia and E. Aeroplanes such as the Short EmpireThe Short Empire or S. 23 was a passenger and mail carrying flying boat, of the 1930s and 1940s, which flew between Britain and British colonies in Africa, Asia and Australia. It was manufactured by Short Brothers and was the precursor to the more famous and Short S.8 CalcuttaThe Short Calcutta or S. 8 was a flying boat made by Short Brothers. It had three Bristol Jupiter engines and bi-plane wings. The two pilots flew the plane from an open cockpit while the radio operator shared the main cabin with the 15 passengers. The Cal flying boat were used to transport passengers and mailPostal service redirects here. There is also a band called The Postal Service. For mail as armour, see chainmail. For digitally delivered mail, see Electronic mail. British mailboxes, visual counterparts to red telephone boxes, collect outbound mail for t.
In May 1952Summary of notable events in 1952 . Events January events January 8 West Germany has 8 million refugees inside its borders. January 24 Sudden heavy snowfall in Algeria. January 24 Vincent Massey sworn in as first Canada-born Governor-General of Canada., BOAC became the first airline to use a passenger jet, the De Havilland Comet. All Comet I's were grounded in April 1954 after three BOAC Comets crashed. Investigators discovered serious cracks in the planes' structures. The cracks were caused by metal fatigue due the repeated pressurization and depressurization of airplanes as they ascended and descended. De Havilland engineers then designed an improved Comet, which was called the Series 4. In 1958, BOAC used the new Comets to become the first airline to fly jet passenger services across the Atlantic.
BOAC also operated the Vickers VC-10 and Boeing 747, and would have become one of the first operators of the Concorde had it not merged to become British Airways (one of BA's Concordes carried the registration G-BOAC).
BOAC is mentioned in the first line of The Beatles song " Back in the U.S.S.R.".
