View source for Imperial Airways

{{Short description|Defunct long-range airline of the United Kingdom (1924–1939)}}
{{distinguish|Imperial Airlines}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2011}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Imperial Airways
| logo = Speedbird logo.png
| logo_caption = [[Speedbird]] emblem, designed in 1932<ref name=PotP>{{citation |pages=37–43 |title=Poetics of the Poster |chapter=Visual Metaphors: Airline logos |author=David H. T. Scott |publisher=Liverpool University Press |year=2010 |isbn=9781846314865}}</ref>
| image = 15 De Havilland D.H.91 Albatross (15650662757).jpg
| image_caption = Imperial Airways ''Frobisher'' class [[de Havilland Albatross]]
| type = [[Privately held company|Private]]
| genre = 
| fate = Merged with [[British Airways Ltd]]
| predecessor = {{ubl|class=nowrap
  | [[British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd|British Marine Air Navigation]]
  | [[Daimler Airway]]
  | [[Handley Page Transport]]
  | [[Instone Air Line]]}}
| successor = [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]]
| foundation = {{start date|1924|03|31|df=yes}}
| defunct = {{end date|1939|11|24|df=yes}}
| location_city = [[Croydon]]
| location_country = England, United Kingdom
| locations = 
| area_served = 
| key_people = 
| industry = Air transport
| services = 
| net_income = 
| num_employees = 
| subsid = 
| footnotes = 
}}

'''Imperial Airways''' was an early British commercial long-range [[airline]], operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the [[British Empire]] routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the [[Far East]], including [[British Malaya|Malaya]] and [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]]. Passengers were typically businessmen or colonial administrators, and most flights carried about 20 passengers or fewer. Accidents were frequent: in the first six years, 32 people died in seven incidents. Imperial Airways never achieved the levels of technological innovation of its competitors and was merged into the [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]] (BOAC) in 1939. BOAC in turn merged with the [[British European Airways]] (BEA) in 1974 to form [[British Airways]].

==Background==
The establishment of Imperial Airways occurred in the context of facilitating British colonialism by making travel to and from the colonies quicker than travel by ship. Air travel would speed up both colonial government and trade. The launch of the airline followed a burst of air route surveying in the [[British Empire]] after the [[First World War]], and after some experimental (and often dangerous) long-distance flying to the margins of Empire.<ref name="Pirie">Pirie, 2009</ref>

==Formation==
[[File:Tanken van een vliegtuig Airplane provided with fuel.jpg|thumb|Handley Page W.8b inherited from [[Handley Page Transport]] when Imperial Airways was formed]]
Imperial Airways was created against a background of stiff competition from French and German airlines that enjoyed heavy government subsidies and following the advice of the government's Hambling Committee (formally known as the C.A.T Subsidies Committee) under [[Herbert Hambling|Sir Herbert Hambling]].<ref name=Ord-Hume1>Ord-Hume, 2010, pp.7–9</ref> The committee, set up on 2 January 1923, produced a report on 15 February 1923 recommending that four of the largest existing airlines, the [[Instone Air Line|Instone Air Line Company]], owned by shipping magnate [[Samuel Instone]], [[Noel Pemberton Billing]]'s [[British Marine Air Navigation Co Ltd|British Marine Air Navigatio]]n (part of the [[Supermarine]] flying-boat company), the [[Daimler Airway]], under the management of George Edward Woods, and [[Handley Page Transport|Handley Page Transport Co Ltd.]], should be merged.<ref name=Ord-Hume2>Ord-Hume, 2010, p.10</ref><ref name=bluffield>{{cite book|title=Over Empires and Oceans: Pioneers, Aviators and Adventurers – Forging the International Air Routes 1918–1939|last=Bluffield|first=Robert|publisher=Tattered Flag|date=19 November 2014|isbn=9780954311568|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4JaPBQAAQBAJ}}</ref>
It was hoped that this would create a company which could compete against French and German competition and would be strong enough to develop Britain's external air services while minimizing government subsidies for duplicated services. With this in view, a £1 million subsidy over ten years was offered to encourage the merger. Agreement was made between the President of the [[Air Council]] and the British, Foreign and Colonial Corporation on 3 December 1923 for the company, under the title of the 'Imperial Air Transport Company' to acquire existing air transport services in the UK. The agreement set out the government subsidies for the new company: £137,000 in the first year diminishing to £32,000 in the tenth year as well as minimum mileages to be achieved and penalties if these weren't met.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1924/1924%20-%200005.html Terms of Agreement Published] ''Flight'', 1924.</ref>

Imperial Airways Limited was formed on 31 March 1924 with equipment from each contributing concern: British Marine Air Navigation Company Ltd, the Daimler Airway, Handley Page Transport Ltd and the Instone Air Line Ltd. [[Eric Campbell Geddes|Sir Eric Geddes]] was appointed the chairman of the board with one director from each of the merged companies. The government had appointed two directors, [[Herbert Hambling|Hambling]] (who was also President of the [[Institute of Bankers]]) and Major [[John Hills (politician)|John Hills]], a former Treasury Financial Secretary.<ref name=bluffield/>

The land operations were based at [[Croydon Airport]] to the south of [[London]]. IAL immediately discontinued its predecessors' service to points north of London, the airline  focused on international and imperial service rather than domestic. Thereafter the only IAL aircraft operating  'North of Watford' were charter flights.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

Industrial troubles with the pilots delayed the start of services until 26 April 1924, when a daily London–Paris route was opened with a [[de Havilland DH.34]].<ref name=DH34>Stroud, June 1984, pp. 315–19</ref> Thereafter the task of expanding the routes between England and the Continent began, with Southampton–Guernsey on 1 May 1924, London-Brussels–Cologne on 3 May, London–Amsterdam on 2 June 1924, and a summer service from London–Paris–Basel–Zürich on 17 June 1924. The first new airliner ordered by Imperial Airways, was the [[Handley Page W8f]] ''City of Washington'', delivered on 3 November 1924.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/coming%20of%20age/imperial%20airways.htm| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071111050826/http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/coming%20of%20age/imperial%20airways.htm| archive-date = 2007-11-11| title = Imperial Airways}}</ref> In the first year of operation the company carried 11,395 passengers and 212,380 letters. In April 1925, the film ''[[The Lost World (1925 film)|The Lost World]]'' became the first film to be shown to passengers on a scheduled airliner flight when it was shown on the London-Paris route.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scheduled airliner flight when it was shown on the London-Paris route |url=https://youtuberead.com/which-eurostar-class-best-ad }}</ref>

==Empire services==
[[File:Imperial routes April 1935.jpg|thumb|April 1935 map showing Imperial Airways'<br />Air routes between England, India, Australia and South Africa]]

===Route proving===
Between 16 November 1925 and 13 March 1926, [[Alan Cobham]] made an Imperial Airways' route survey flight from the UK to Cape Town and back in the [[Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar]]–powered [[de Havilland DH.50|de Havilland DH.50J]] floatplane ''G-EBFO''. The outward route was [[London]]–[[Paris]]–[[Marseille]]–[[Pisa]]–[[Taranto]]–[[Athens]]–[[Sallum|Sollum]]–[[Cairo]]–[[Luxor]]–[[Aswan]]–[[Wadi Halfa]]–[[Atbarah|Atbara]]–[[Khartoum]]–[[Malakal]]–[[Mongalla, South Sudan|Mongalla]]–[[Jinja, Uganda|Jinja]]–[[Kisumu]]–[[Tabora]]–[[Mbala, Zambia|Abercorn]]–[[Ndola]]–[[Kabwe|Broken Hill]]–[[Livingstone, Zambia|Livingstone]]–[[Bulawayo]]–[[Pretoria]]–[[Johannesburg]]–[[Kimberley, Northern Cape|Kimberley]]–[[Bloemfontein]]–[[Cape Town]]. On his return Cobham was awarded the [[Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)|Air Force Cross]] for his services to aviation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sir Alan Cobham; A Life of a Pioneering Aviator |url=https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/sir-alan-cobham-a-pioneering-aviator/south-africa-flight/ |access-date=2023-04-01 |website=RAF Museum |language=en-GB}}</ref>

On 30 June 1926, Cobham took off from the [[River Medway]] at [[Rochester, Kent|Rochester]] in ''G-EBFO'' to make an Imperial Airways route survey for a service to Melbourne, arriving on 15 August 1926. He left Melbourne on 29 August 1926, and, after completing {{convert|28000|nmi|mi km}} in 320 hours flying time over 78 days, he alighted on the Thames at Westminster on 1 October 1926. Cobham was met by the [[Samuel Hoare, 1st Viscount Templewood|Secretary of State for Air, Sir Samuel Hoare]], and was subsequently knighted by HM [[King George V]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sir Alan Cobham; A Life of a Pioneering Aviator |url=https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhibitions/sir-alan-cobham-a-pioneering-aviator/australia-flight/ |access-date=2023-04-01 |website=RAF Museum |language=en-GB}}</ref>

On 27 December 1926, Imperial Airways [[de Havilland DH.66 Hercules]] ''G-EBMX City of Delhi'' left Croydon for a survey flight to India. The flight reached Karachi on 6 January 1927 and Delhi on 8 January 1927. The aircraft was named by Lady Irwin, wife of the Viceroy, on 10 January 1927. The return flight left on 1 February 1927 and arrived at Heliopolis, Cairo on 7 February 1927. The flying time from Croydon to Delhi was 62 hours 27 minutes and Delhi to Heliopolis 32 hours 50 minutes.<ref name=DH66>Stroud, Nov 1986, pp. 609–14</ref>

===The Eastern route===
[[File:Imperial_Airways_Ad_1936.jpg|thumb|right|A 1936 advertisement]]

Regular services on the [[Cairo]] to [[Basra]] route began on 12 January 1927 using [[de Havilland Hercules|DH.66]] aircraft, replacing the [[Cairo – Baghdad air route|previous RAF mail flight]].<ref name=DH66 /> Following two years of negotiations with the Persian authorities regarding overflight rights, a London to [[Karachi]] service started on 30 March 1929, taking seven days and consisting of a flight from London to [[Basel]], a train to [[Genoa]] and a [[Short S.8 Calcutta]] [[flying boat]]s to Alexandria, a train to Cairo and finally a DH.66 flight to Karachi. The route was extended as far as Delhi on 29 December 1929. The route across Europe and the Mediterranean changed many times over the next few years but almost always involved a rail journey.

In April 1931 an experimental London-[[Australia]] air mail flight took place; the mail was transferred at the [[Dutch East Indies]], after the DH66 City of Cairo crashed landed in Timor, on the 19th April, having run out of fuel, and took 26 days in total to reach [[Sydney]]. For the passenger flight leaving London on 1 October 1932, the Eastern route was switched from the Persian to the Arabian side of the Persian Gulf, and [[Handley Page HP 42]] airliners were introduced on the Cairo to Karachi sector. The move saw the establishment of an airport and rest house, [[Mahatta Fort]], in the [[Trucial States|Trucial State]] of [[Sharjah (emirate)|Sharjah]] now part of the [[United Arab Emirates]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=1931-04-20 |title=Mail Plane Crashes On Eve Of Last Stage Of Experimental Flight MACHINE SERIOUSLY DAMAGED IN MISHAP NEAR KOEPANG |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article276156908 |access-date=2025-09-07 |work=Sun News-Pictorial |pages=3}}</ref>

On 29 May 1933 an England to Australia survey flight took off, operated by Imperial Airways [[Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta]] G-ABTL ''Astraea''. Major H. G. Brackley, Imperial Airways' Air Superintendent, was in charge of the flight. ''Astraea'' flew [[Croydon Airport|Croydon]]-[[Paris]]-[[Lyon]]-[[Rome]]-[[Brindisi]]-[[Athens]]-[[Alexandria]]-[[Cairo]] where it followed the normal route to [[Karachi]] then onwards to [[Jodhpur]]-[[Delhi]]-[[Kolkata|Calcutta]]-[[Sittwe|Akyab]]-[[Yangon|Rangoon]]-[[Bangkok]]-[[Prachuap Khiri Khan|Prachuab]]-[[Alor Setar]]-[[Singapore]]-[[Palembang]]-[[Jakarta|Batavia]]-[[Surabaya|Sourabaya]]-[[Bima]]-[[Kupang|Koepang]]-[[Bathurst Island Airport|Bathurst Island]]-[[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]]-[[Newcastle Waters]]-[[Camooweal]]-[[Cloncurry]]-[[Longreach]]-[[Roma, Queensland|Roma]]-[[Toowoomba]] reaching [[Eagle Farm Airport|Eagle Farm, Brisbane]] on 23 June. Sydney was visited on 26 June, Canberra on 28 June and Melbourne on 29 June.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

There followed a rapid eastern extension. The first London to [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] service departed on 1 July 1933, the first London to [[Rangoon]] service on 23 September 1933, the first London to [[Singapore]] service on 9 December 1933, and the first London to [[Brisbane]] service on 8 December 1934, with [[Qantas]] responsible for the Singapore to Brisbane sector. (The 1934 start was for mail; passenger flights to Brisbane began the following April.) The first mail service was inaugurated on March 14th, 1936.<ref>{{Cite web |last=JamesG |date=2016-07-24 |title=1936 – First Regular Mail Service to Hong Kong - Rhodesian Study Circle |url=https://www.rhodesianstudycircle.org.uk/1936-first-regular-mail-service-to-hong-kong/#:~:text=First%20Regular%20Mail%20Service%20to%20Hong%20Kong,mail%20route%20from%20London%20to%20Hong%20Kong. |access-date=2025-04-13 |language=en-GB}}</ref> The mail service, and later the passenger service, from London to Hong Kong connected with the London-Australia branch at Penang.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} The mail leaving London on 14 March 1936 was connected with the first flight in Penang on March 23, following the establishment of a branch from Penang to Hong Kong.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Imperial Airways Route to Hong Kong |url=http://www.nzstamps.org.uk/air/external/eastern/hk.html |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=www.nzstamps.org.uk}}</ref>

===The Africa route===
[[File:De Havilland Hercules.jpg|thumb|right|de Havilland Hercules ''City of Cairo'']]

On 28 February 1931 a weekly service began between London and Mwanza on the Southern shore of Lake Victoria in [[Tanganyika (territory)|Tanganyika]] as part of the proposed route to [[Cape Town]]. On 9 December 1931 the Imperial Airways' service for Central Africa was extended experimentally to Cape Town for the carriage of Christmas mail. The aircraft used on the last sector, DH66 G-AARY ''City of Karachi'' arrived in Cape Town on 21 December 1931. On 20 January 1932 a mail-only route between London and Cape Town was opened. On 27 April this route was opened to passengers and took 10 days. In early 1933 [[Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta|Atalanta]]s replaced the DH.66s on the sector of the London to Cape Town route that started at Kisumu, Kenya, in Homa Bay on the Northern shore of Lake Victoria.<ref name=Atalanta>Stroud, June 1986, pp.321–326</ref> On 9 February 1936 the trans-Africa route was opened by Imperial Airways between Khartoum and [[Kano (city)|Kano]] in Nigeria.  This route was extended to [[Lagos]] on 15 October 1936.

===Short Empire flying boats===
[[File:StateLibQld 1 154471 Flying boat, Challenger on her moorings in the Townsville Harbour, Queensland.jpg|thumb|Short Empire flying boat ''Challenger''.]]

In 1937 with the introduction of [[Short Empire]] flying boats built at Short Brothers, Imperial Airways could offer a through-service from [[Southampton]] to the Empire. The journey to the Cape was via [[Marseille]], [[Rome]], [[Brindisi]], [[Athens]], [[Alexandria]], [[Khartoum]], [[Port Bell]], [[Kisumu]] and onwards by land-based craft to [[Nairobi]], [[Mbeya]] and eventually [[Cape Town]]. Survey flights were also made across the [[Atlantic]] and to [[New Zealand]]. By mid-1937 Imperial had completed its thousandth service to the Empire. Starting in 1938 Empire flying boats also flew between Britain and Australia via the Middle East and India.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/iaw/iaw3810u/iaw38u-7.jpg|title=Imperial Airways Timetable October 1938|publisher=Curwen Press|year=1938|location=London|pages=2–3}}</ref>

In March 1939 three Shorts a week left Southampton for Australia, reaching Sydney after ten days of flying and nine overnight stops. Three more left for South Africa, taking six flying days to Durban.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/complete/iaw39aus/iaw39u-2.jpg|title=Imperial Airways Timetable April 1939|publisher=Curwen Press|year=1939|location=London|pages=2}}</ref>

===Passengers===
Imperial's aircraft were small, most seating fewer than twenty passengers; about 50,000 passengers used Imperial Airways in the 1930s. Most passengers on intercontinental routes or on services within and between British colonies were men in colonial administration, business or research. To begin with only the wealthy could afford to fly, but passenger lists gradually diversified. Travel experiences related to flying low and slow, and were reported enthusiastically in newspapers, magazines and books.<ref name=Cultures>{{harvp|Pirie|2012}}</ref> There was opportunity for sightseeing from the air and at stops.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pirie |first=G. H. |title=Incidental tourism: British imperial air travel in the 1930s |journal=Journal of Tourism History |issue=1 |date=2009 |volume=1 |pages=49–66|doi=10.1080/17551820902742772 |s2cid=144454885 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Imperial Airways sought to attracts tourists to Iraq.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shakir |first=Laith |date=2025 |title=“Bringing ‘The Magic Carpet Up to Date’: Imperial Airways in Iraq, 1920–1932” |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/itinerario/article/bringing-the-magic-carpet-up-to-date-imperial-airways-in-iraq-19201932/9494633A9C7C9A715BF197611D96CF20 |journal=Itinerario |language=en |doi=10.1017/S0165115324000275 |issn=0165-1153|url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Crews===
Imperial Airways stationed its all-male flight deck crew, cabin crew and ground crew along the length of its routes. Specialist engineers and inspectors – and ground crew on rotation or leave – travelled on the airline without generating any seat revenue. Several air crew lost their lives in accidents. At the end of the 1930s crew numbers approximated 3,000. All crew were expected to be ambassadors for Britain and the British Empire.<ref name=Cultures/>

===Air Mail===
[[File:FAM 18 Round the World 1939.jpg|thumb|right|Flown cover carried around the world on PAA Boeing 314 Clippers and Imperial Airways Short S23 flying boats 24 June – 28 July 1939]]

In 1934 the government began negotiations with Imperial Airways to establish a service ([[Empire Air Mail Scheme]]) to carry mail by air on routes served by the airline. Indirectly these negotiations led to the dismissal in 1936 of Sir [[Christopher Bullock (civil servant)|Christopher Bullock]], the [[Permanent Secretary|Permanent Under-Secretary]] at the [[Air Ministry]], who was found by a [[Board of Inquiry]] to have abused his position in seeking a position on the board of the company while these negotiations were in train. The government, including the Prime Minister, regretted the decision to dismiss him, later finding that, in fact, no corruption was alleged and sought [[Christopher Bullock (civil servant)|Bullock's]] reinstatement which he declined.<ref>{{Cite book|title=History of Air Cargo and Airmail from the 18th Century|last=Allaz |first=Camille|publisher=Gardners Books |year=2005|isbn=0954889606|pages=97}}</ref>

The Empire [[Air Mail]] Programme started in July 1937, delivering anywhere for 1{{sfrac|1|2}} d./oz. By mid-1938 a hundred tons of mail had been delivered to India and a similar amount to Africa. In the same year, construction was started on the Empire Terminal in [[Victoria Station (London)|Victoria, London]], designed by A. Lakeman and with a statue by Eric Broadbent, ''Speed Wings Over the World'' gracing the portal above the main entrance. From the terminal there were train connections to Imperial's flying boats at [[Southampton]] and coaches to its landplane base at [[Croydon Airport]]. The terminal operated as recently as 1980.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-10-08|title=The Imperial Airways Empire Terminal, Victoria, London|url=https://londonairtravel.com/2019/08/26/british-airways-100-years-imperial-airways-empire-terminal/|access-date=2021-12-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008091524/https://londonairtravel.com/2019/08/26/british-airways-100-years-imperial-airways-empire-terminal/|archive-date=8 October 2021}}</ref>

To help promote use of the Air Mail service, in June and July 1939, Imperial Airways participated with [[Pan American Airways]] in providing a special "around the world" service; Imperial carried the souvenir mail from [[Foynes]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], to [[Hong Kong]], out of the eastbound [[New York City|New York]] to New York route.  Pan American provided service from New York to Foynes (departing 24 June, via the first flight of Northern FAM 18) and Hong Kong to [[San Francisco]] (via FAM 14), and [[United Airlines]] carried it on the final leg from San Francisco to New York, arriving on 28 July.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

Captain H. W. C. Alger was the pilot for the inaugural air mail flight carrying mail from England to Australia for the first time on the Short Empire flyingboat ''Castor'' for Imperial Airways' Empires Air Routes, in 1937.<ref name="bluffield" />

In November 2016, 80 years later, the Crete2Cape Vintage Air Rally flew this old route with fifteen vintage aeroplanes – a celebration of the skill and determination of these early aviators.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vintageairrally.com/rallies/past/crete2cape|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925005112/http://www.vintageairrally.com/rallies/past/crete2cape|url-status=usurped|archive-date=25 September 2017|title=CRETE2CAPE|date=2019|website=VintageAirRally|access-date=30 June 2019}}</ref>

==Second World War==
Before the outbreak of war on 1 September 1939, the British government had already implemented the Air Navigation (Restriction in Time of War) Order 1939. That ordered military takeover of most civilian airfields in the UK, cessation of all private flying without individual flight permits, and other emergency measures. It was administered by a statutory department of the [[Air Ministry]] titled [[National Air Communications]] (NAC). By 1 September 1939, the aircraft and administrations of Imperial Airways and [[British Airways Ltd]] were physically transferred to [[Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport]], to be operated jointly by NAC. On 1 April 1940, Imperial Airways Ltd and British Airways Ltd were officially combined into a new company, [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]] (BOAC), that had already been formed on 24 November 1939 with retrospective financial arrangements.<ref>Moss (1962)</ref>

==Accidents and incidents==

===Fatal accidents===

==== 1920s ====
* 24 December 1924: [[de Havilland DH.34]] G-EBBX ''City of Delhi'' [[1924 Imperial Airways de Havilland DH.34 crash|crashed and caught fire]] shortly after take-off from [[Croydon Airport]], killing the pilot and all seven passengers.<ref name="DH34" /><ref name="Flight010125">{{cite magazine|title=Air Disaster at Croydon |magazine=Flight |issue=1 January 1925 |page=4 |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1925/1925%20-%200004.html}}</ref>
*13 July 1928: [[Vickers Vulcan]] G-EBLB [[1928 Imperial Airways Vickers Vulcan crash|crashed]] at [[Purley, London|Purley]] during a test flight, killing four of the six people on board.<ref name="Vulcan">Stroud, Nov 1987, pp.609–612</ref> As a result of the crash, Imperial Airways stopped the flying of staff (so called joy rides) during test flights.
*17 June 1929: Handley Page W.10 G-EBMT ''City of Ottawa'' [[1929 Imperial Airways Handley Page W.10 crash|ditched]] in the [[English Channel]] following engine failure whilst on a flight from Croydon to Paris with the loss of seven lives.<ref name="HPW" />
*6 September 1929: [[de Havilland Hercules]] G-EBMZ ''City of Jerusalem'' [[1929 Jask Imperial Airways de Havilland Hercules crash|crashed]] and burned on landing at [[Jask]], [[Iran]] in the dark due to the pilot misjudging the altitude and stalling the aircraft, killing three of five on board.<ref>{{ASN accident|title= G-EBMZ|id= 19290906-0|accessdate= 18 January 2013}}</ref>
*26 October 1929: [[Short Calcutta]] G-AADN ''City of Rome'' force-landed off [[La Spezia]], [[Italy]] in poor weather; the flying boat sank in the night during attempts to tow it to shore, killing all seven on board.<ref>{{ASN accident|title= G-AADN|id= 19291026-0|accessdate= 18 January 2013}}</ref><ref name="Calcutta">Stroud, Feb 1987, pp.97–103</ref>

==== 1930s ====
*30 October 1930: Handley Page W.8g G-EBIX ''City of Washington'' struck high ground in fog at [[Boulogne-Billancourt|Boulogne]], [[Paris]], [[France]], killing three of six on board.<ref name="HPW" /><ref>{{ASN accident|title= G-EBMZ|id= 19301030-0|accessdate= 18 January 2013}}</ref>
*28 March 1933: [[Armstrong Whitworth Argosy]] G-AACI ''City of Liverpool'' [[1933 Imperial Airways Diksmuide crash|crashed]] at [[Diksmuide]], [[Belgium]] following an in-flight fire. This is suspected to be the first case of sabotage in the air. All fifteen people on board were killed.<ref name="Argosy">Stroud, May 1985, pp.265–269</ref>
*30 December 1933: [[Avro Ten]] G-ABLU ''Apollo'' collided with a radio mast at [[Ruysselede]], Belgium and [[1933 Imperial Airways Ruysselede crash|crashed]]. All ten people on board were killed.<ref name="Avro">Stroud, Feb 1991, pp.115–120</ref>
*31 December 1935: Short Calcutta G-AASJ ''City of Khartoum'' crashed off [[Alexandria, Egypt|Alexandria]], [[Egypt]] when all four engines failed on approach, possibly due to fuel starvation; twelve of 13 on board drowned when the flying boat sank.<ref name="Calcutta" /><ref>{{ASN accident|title= G-AASJ|id= 19351231-0|accessdate= 18 January 2013}}</ref>
*22 August 1936: [[Short Kent]] G-ABFA ''Scipio'' sank at [[Mirabello Bay]], [[Crete]] after a heavy landing, killing two of 11 on board.<ref name="Calcutta" /><ref>{{ASN accident|title= G-ABFA|id= 19360822-0|accessdate= 18 January 2013}}</ref>
*24 March 1937: [[Short Empire]] G-ADVA ''Capricornus '' crashed in the Beaujolois Mountains near [[Ouroux]], France, following a navigation error, killing five.<ref>{{ASN accident|title= G-ADVA|id= 19370324-0|accessdate= 18 January 2013}}</ref>
*1 October 1937: Short Empire G-ADVC ''Courtier'' crashed on landing in [[Phaleron Bay]], [[Greece]] due to poor visibility, killing two of 15 on board.<ref>{{ASN accident|title= G-ADVC|id= 19371001-0|accessdate= 18 January 2013}}</ref>
*5 December 1937: Short Empire G-ADUZ ''Cygnus '' crashed on takeoff from [[Brindisi]], Italy due to incorrect flap settings, killing two.<ref>{{ASN accident|title= G-ADUZ|id= 19371205-0|accessdate= 18 January 2013}}</ref>
*27 July 1938: [[Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta]] G-ABTG ''Amalthea'' flew into a hillside near [[Kisumu]], [[Kenya]] shortly after takeoff, killing all four on board.<ref>{{ASN accident|title= G-ABTG|id= 19380727-0|accessdate= 18 January 2013}}</ref>
*27 November 1938: Short Empire G-AETW ''Calpurnia'' crashed in [[Lake Habbaniyah]], [[Iraq]] in bad weather after the pilot descended to maintain visual contact with the ground following spatial disorientation, killing all four crew.<ref>{{ASN accident|title= G-AETW|id= 19381127-0|accessdate= 18 January 2013}}</ref>
*21 January 1939: Short Empire G-ADUU ''Cavalier'' [[1939 Imperial Airways flying boat ditching|ditched]] in the Atlantic 285&nbsp;mi off [[New York (state)|New York]] due to [[carburettor]] icing and loss of engine power; three drowned while ten survivors were picked up by the tanker ''Esso Baytown''. Thereafter Imperial Airways and Pan-American trans-oceanic flying boats had the upper surfaces of the wings painted with orange high visibility markings.
*1 May 1939: Short Empire G-ADVD ''Challenger'' crashed in the [[Lumbo]] lagoon while attempting to land at [[Lumbo Airport]], killing two of six on board.<ref>{{ASN accident|title= G-ADVD|id= 19390501-0|accessdate= 18 January 2013}}</ref>

==== 1940 ====
*1 March 1940: Flight 197,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-handley-page-hp42e-gulf-oman-8-killed|title=Crash of a Handley Page H.P.42E into the Gulf of Oman, 8 killed|website=Bureau of Aircraft Accidents|access-date=24 September 2019}}</ref> operated by [[Handley Page H.P.42]] G-AAGX ''Hannibal'', disappeared over the [[Gulf of Oman]] with eight on board; no wreckage, cargo or occupants have been found. The cause of the crash remains unknown, but fuel starvation, a [[bird strike]] damaging a propeller and causing an engine or wing to separate, an in-flight breakup or multiple engine failure were theorized. Two months after the crash, the H.P.42 was withdrawn from passenger operations. It was also recommended that all commercial aircraft used in long flights over water be equipped with personal and group life saving gear; this would later become standard throughout the airline industry.

===Non-fatal accidents===
*21 October 1926: [[Handley Page Type W|Handley Page W.10]] G-EBMS '' City of Melbourne'' ditched in the [[English Channel]] {{convert|18|nmi|km}} off the English coast after an engine failed. All 12 people on board were rescued by FV ''Invicta''.<ref name=HPW>Stroud, Oct 1983, pp.535–539</ref><ref name=GEBMS>{{cite web|url=http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1926/1926-10.htm |title=ACCIDENT DETAILS |publisher=Plane Crash Info |access-date=8 March 2011}}</ref>
* 19 April 1931: [[de Havilland DH.66 Hercules]] with registration G-EBMW, damaged beyond repair in a forced landing following fuel starvation at [[Surabaya]]. The airplane operated on a trial mail flight from India to [[Melbourne]] with en route stops at [[Semarang]], [[Surabaya|Soerabaja]] and [[Kupang]].
*8 August 1931: [[Handley Page H.P.42]] G-AAGX ''Hannibal'' was operating a scheduled passenger flight from Croydon to [[Paris - Le Bourget Airport|Paris]] when an engine failed and debris forced a second engine to be shut down. A forced landing at [[Five Oak Green]], [[Kent]]<!--Times states Tudeley in error--> resulted in extensive damage. No injuries occurred. Hannibal was dismantled and trucked to Croydon to be rebuilt.<ref name=Times100831>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Accident To Air Liner. Damaged in Forced Landing |date=10 August 1931  |page=p10  |issue=45897 |column=G}}</ref>
*9 November 1935: [[Short Kent]] G-ABFB ''Sylvanus'' caught fire and burned out during refueling in Brindisi Harbor; the refueling crew were able to jump clear of the burning aircraft and survived.{{#tag:ref|One source states the aircraft caught fire before takeoff with 12 killed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-short-s17-kent-brindisi-12-killed|title=Crash of a Short S.17 Kent in Brindisi: 12 killed|website=Bureau of Aircraft Accidents|access-date=24 September 2019}}</ref>|group="nb"}}
*29 September 1936: [[Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta]] G-ABTK burned out in a hangar fire at Delhi, India.
*31 May 1937: [[Handley Page H.P.42|Handley Page H.P.45]] (former H.P.42) G-AAXE ''Hengist'' was destroyed in a hangar fire at [[Karachi]], India.<ref name=HP42>Stroud, Aug 1985, pp.433–437</ref>
*3 December 1938: [[de Havilland Express]] G-ADCN burned out at Bangkok.
*12 March 1939: [[Short S.23 Empire]] Flying Boat Mk 1 ''G-ADUY'', damaged beyond repair at Tandjong, [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]], [[Netherlands East Indies]]. Struck a submerged object while taxiing after alighting. Aircraft beached but damaged beyond repair by immersion and mishandling during salvage. Aircraft dismantled and shipped to [[England]] but not returned to service.<ref>{{citation|url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19390312-1|title = ASN Aircraft accident Short S.23 Empire Flying Boat Mk I G-ADUY Tandjong, Batavia, Java (Netherlands East Indies)}}</ref>
*7 November 1939: [[Handley Page H.P.42]] G-AXXD ''Horatius'' was written off following a forced landing at a golf course at Tiverton, Devon.
*19 March 1940: [[Handley Page H.P.42|Handley Page H.P.45]] G-AAXC ''Heracles'' and H.P.42 G-AAUD ''Hanno'' were written off after being blown over in a windstorm while parked at Whitchurch Airport.

==Aircraft==
Imperial Airways operated many types of aircraft from its formation on 1 April 1924 until 1 April 1940 when all aircraft still in service were transferred to [[BOAC]].<ref name="Jackson55" />
{{Incomplete list|date=August 2013}}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:95%;"
|-
!width="21%"|Aircraft
!width="10%"|Type
!Number
!Period
!Names
!width="24%"|Notes
|-
|[[Armstrong Whitworth Argosy|Armstrong Whitworth Argosy Mk.I]]|| rowspan="2" |landplane<br />''City class''||3||{{nowrap|1926–34}}
|''Birmingham'' (crashed 1931), ''City of Wellington'' (later ''City of Arundel'') (1934), ''Glasgow'' (retired 1934)||<ref name=Argosy /><ref name="Bluffield213" />
|-
|{{nowrap|[[Armstrong Whitworth Argosy|Armstrong Whitworth Argosy Mk.II]]}}||4||1929–35
|''City of Edinburgh'' (wrecked 1926), ''City of Liverpool'' (wrecked 1933), ''City of Manchester'' (sold 1935) and ''City of Coventry'' (scrapped 1935)||<ref name=Argosy /><ref name="Bluffield213" />
|-
|[[Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta]]<ref name="Jackson52" />||landplane<br />''Atalanta class''||8||1932–41
|''Atalanta'' (sold), ''Andromeda'' (withdrawn 1939), ''Arethusa'' (renamed ''Atalanta''), ''Artemis'', ''Astraea'', ''Athena'' (burnt 1936), ''Aurora'' (sold) and  ''Amalthea'' (wrecked 1938).||For Nairobi-Cape Town leg on South Africa route & [[Karachi]]-[[Singapore]] leg on Australia route.<ref name=Atalanta /><ref name="Jackson52" />
|-
| [[Armstrong Whitworth Ensign]]||landplane<br />''Ensign class''||12||1938–46
|Empire type (27 passengers) ''Ensign'', ''Egeria'', ''Elsinore'', ''Euterpe'', ''Explorer'', ''Euryalus'', ''Echo'', ''Endymion'' and Western Type (40 passengers) ''Eddystone'', ''Ettrick'', ''Empyrean'' and ''Elysian''||''Everest'' & ''Enterprise'' delivered to BOAC. Intended to deliver 1st-class mail to the Empire by air.<ref name="Jackson55" /><ref name="Bluffield213" /><ref name=Ensign>Stroud, June 1988, pp.433–437</ref>
|-
|[[Avro 618 Ten]]<ref name="Bluffield213" />|| rowspan="2" |landplane||2||1930–38
|''Achilles'' (crashed 1938)<ref name="Bluffield213" /> ''Apollo'' ([[1933 Imperial Airways Ruysselede crash|collided]] with radio mast 1933)||licence-built Fokker F.VII 3/m<ref name=Avro />
|-
|[[Avro 652]] ||2||1936–38
|''Avalon'' and ''Avatar'' (later ''Ava'') to RAF in 1938.<ref name="Bluffield213" />||Prototypes for Anson bomber/trainer<ref name=Avro />
|-
|[[Boulton & Paul P.71A]]||landplane<br />''Bodiciea class''||2||1934–36
|''Bodiciea'' (lost 1935) and ''Britomart'' (lost 1936)<ref name="Bluffield213" />||Experimental mailplanes<ref name="BP">Stroud, Aug 1986, pp.433–436</ref>
|-
|[[Bristol Type 75 Ten-seater]]|| rowspan="6" |landplane||2||1924–26
|''G-EAWY'', ''G-EBEV'' (retired 1925)||ex-[[Instone Air Line]] used as freighters
|-
|[[de Havilland DH.34]]||7||1924–26
|ex-[[Instone Air Line]] ''G-EBBR'' (wrecked 1924), ''G-EBBT'' (scrapped 1930), ''G-EBBV'' (scrapped 1926), ''G-EBBW'' (scrapped 1926) and ex-[[Daimler Airway]] ''G-EBBX'' (wrecked 1924), ''G-EBBY'' (scrapped 1926), ''G-EBCX'' (wrecked 1924)||<ref name=DH34 />
|-
|[[de Havilland DH.50]]||3||1924–33
|''G-EBFO'' (damaged 1924 and sold), ''G-EBFP'' (scrapped 1933), ''G-EBKZ'' (crashed 1928)||G-EBFO used for surveys, later fitted with twin floats and sold in Australia<ref name="Bluffield213" />
|-
|[[de Havilland Highclere]]||1||1924–27
|''G-EBKI''||freighter, destroyed in hangar collapse
|-
|[[de Havilland Giant Moth]]||1||1930-30
|''G-AAEV'' (wrecked 1930)||crashed in Northern Rhodesia 2 weeks after hand over.
|-
|[[de Havilland Hercules]]||9|| 1926–35
|''City of Cairo'' (wrecked 1931), ''City of Delhi'' (to [[South African Air Force|SAAF]] 1934), ''City of Baghdad'' (withdrawn 1933), ''City of Jerusalem'', ''City of Tehran'', ''City of Basra'' (to [[South African Air Force|SAAF]] 1934), ''City of Karachi'' (withdrawn 1935), ''City of Jodhpur'' (sold) and ''City of Cape Town'' (sold)<ref name="Bluffield213" />||
|-
|[[de Havilland Express]]<ref name="Bluffield213" /> ||landplane<br />''Diana'' class||12||1934–41
|''Daedalus'' (burned 1938), ''Danae'', ''Dardanus'', ''Delia'' (wrecked 1941), ''Delphinus'', ''Demeter'', ''Denebola'', ''Dido'', ''Dione'', ''Dorado'', ''Draco'' (wrecked 1935), and ''Dryad'' (sold 1938)||All surviving aircraft impressed in 1941
|-
|[[de Havilland Albatross]]||landplane<br />''Frobisher'' class||7||1938–43
|''Faraday'' (impressed 1940), ''Franklin'' (impressed 1940), ''Frobisher'' (destroyed 1940), ''Falcon'' (scrapped 1943), ''Fortuna'' (crashed 1943), ''Fingal'' (crashed 1940) and ''Fiona'' (scrapped 1943).<ref name="Bluffield213" />||1 used as long range mail carrier<ref name=Jackson1973>Jackson, 1973, 433–437</ref>
|-
|[[Desoutter I]]B|| rowspan="6" |landplane||1||1933–35
|''G-ABMW''||Air-taxi No 6
|-
|[[Handley Page Type O|Handley Page O/10]]||1||1924-24
|''G-EATH''||ex-Handley Page Transport but never used
|-
|[[Handley Page Type W|Handley Page W8b]]||3||1924–32
|''Princess Mary'' (wrecked 1928), ''Prince George'' (retired 1929) and ''Prince Henry'' (retired 1932)<ref name=HPW /><ref name="Bluffield213" />||ex-[[Handley Page Transport]]<ref name=HPW />
|-
|[[Handley Page Type W|Handley Page W8f Hamilton]]||1||1924–30
|''City of Washington'' (wrecked 1930)<ref name=HPW /><ref name="Bluffield213" />||Converted to twin engines and redesignated as W8g in 1929
|-
|[[Handley Page Type W|Handley Page W9a Hampstead]]||1||1926–29
|''City of New York'' (sold 1929)<ref name=HPW /><ref name="Bluffield213" />||
|-
|[[Handley Page Type W|Handley Page W.10]]||4||1926–33
|''City of Melbourne'' (sold 1933), ''City of Pretoria'' (sold 1933), ''City of London'' (crashed 1926) and ''City of Ottawa'' (crashed 1929).<ref name=HPW /><ref name="Bluffield213" />||
|-
|[[Handley Page H.P.42]]E||landplane<br />''Hannibal class''||4||1931–40
|''Hannibal'' (wrecked 1940), ''Horsa'' (impressed 1940), ''Hanno'' (wrecked 1940), ''Hadrian'' (impressed 1940)
||(24 passengers) used on long "Empire" routes<ref name=HP42 />
|-
|[[Handley Page H.P.42|Handley Page H.P.42W/H.P.45]]||landplane<br />''Heracles class''||4||1931–40
|''Heracles'' (wrecked 1940), ''Horatius'' (wrecked 1939), ''Hengist'' (wrecked 1937) <!--???-->and ''Helena'' (impressed 1940)
||(38 passengers) on short "Western" routes, ''Hengist'' and ''Helena'' converted to H.P.42E.<ref name=HP42 />
|-
|[[Short S.8 Calcutta]]||flying boat||5||1928–35
|''City of Alexandria'' (wrecked 1936), ''City of Athens'' (later ''City of Stonehaven'') (scrapped), ''City of Rome'' (wrecked 1929), ''City of Khartoum'' (wrecked 1935) and ''City of Salonica'' (later ''City of Swanage'') (scrapped)<ref name=Calcutta />||
|-
|[[Short Kent]]||flying boat<br />''Scipio class''||3||1931–38
|''Scipio'' (wrecked 1936), ''Sylvanus'' (burned 1935) and ''Satyrus'' (scrapped 1938)<ref name=Calcutta />||
|-
|[[Short Scylla]]||landplane||2||1934–40
|''Scylla'' (wrecked 1940) and ''Syrinx'' (scrapped 1940)<ref name="Bluffield213" />||Landplane version of Kent, replacement for lost H.P.42s.<ref name=Scylla>Stroud, Oct 1984, pp.549–553</ref>
|-
|[[Short Mayo Composite]]||flying boat||2||1938–40
|''Mercury'' (scrapped 1941) and ''Maia'' (destroyed in German raid, 1942).<ref name="Bluffield213" />||Long range piggyback [[Composite aircraft]] derived from Short Empire. 
|-
|[[Short Empire|Short S.26 Empire]]||flying boat<br />''C class''||31||1936–47
|''Canopus'', ''Caledonia'', ''Centaurus'', ''Cavalier'', ''Cambria'', ''Castor'', ''Cassiopea'', ''Capella'', ''Cygnus'', ''Capricornus'', ''Corsair'', ''Courtier'', ''Challenger'', ''Centurion'', ''Coriolanus'', ''Calpurnia'', ''Ceres'', ''Clio'', ''Circe'', ''Calypso'', ''Camilla'', ''Corinna'', ''Cordelia'', ''Cameronian'', ''Corinthian'', ''Coogee'', ''Corio'', and ''Coorong''. ''Carpentaria'', ''Coolangatta'', ''Cooee'' delivered but not used, and transferred to [[Qantas]]||provided mail and passenger service to Bermuda, South Africa and Australia.<ref name="Bluffield213" /><ref name=Empire1>Stroud, Dec 1989, pp.763–769</ref><ref name=Empire2>Stroud, Jan 1990, pp.51–61</ref>
|-
|[[Short S.26]]||flying boat<br />''G class''||3||1939–40
|''Golden Hind'', ''Golden Fleece'' and ''Golden Horn''||Built for trans-atlantic service, impressed by RAF before entering revenue service.<ref name="Bluffield213" /> 2 returned to BOAC service and used until 1947.
|-
|[[Short Empire|Short S.30 Empire]]||flying boat<br />''C class''||9||1938–47
|''Champion'', ''Cabot'', ''Caribou'', ''Connemara'', ''Clyde'', ''Clare'', ''Cathay'', ''Ao-tea-roa'' (to [[Tasman Empire Airways Limited|TEAL]] as ''Aotearoa''), ''Captain Cook'' (to TEAL as ''Awarua'').||long range variant of S.23<ref name="Bluffield213" /><ref name=Empire1 /><ref name=Empire2 />
|-
|[[Supermarine Sea Eagle]]|| rowspan="3" |flying boat||2||1924–29
|''Sarnia/G-EBGR'' (retired 1929) and ''G-EBGS'' (wrecked 1927)||ex-[[British Marine Air Navigation]]<ref name="Bluffield213" />
|-
|[[Supermarine Southampton]]||1||1929–30
|''G-AASH''||RAF ''S1235'' on loan for 3 months to replace crashed Calcutta on Genoa-Alexandria airmail run.<ref name="Jackson443">Jackson, 1974, p.443</ref>
|-
|[[Supermarine Swan]]||1||1925–27
|''G-EBJY'' (scrapped 1927)||RAF prototype loaned for cross-Channel service
|-
|[[Vickers Type 170 Vanguard|Vickers Vanguard]]|| rowspan="5" |landplane||1||1926–29
|''G-EBCP'' (wrecked 1929)||on loan from Air Ministry for evaluation
|-
|[[Vickers Vellox]]||1||1934–36
|''G-ABKY'' (wrecked 1936)||cargo/experimental flights.<ref name="Bluffield213" /> Crashed at [[Croydon airport|Croydon]] in August killing pilots and two wireless operators.<ref>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1936/1936%20-%202214.html "Commercial Aviation"] ''Flight'' 13 August 1936 p181</ref>
|-
|[[Vickers Vimy Commercial]]||1||1924–25
|''City of London'' (wrecked 1925)||ex-Instone Air Line<ref name="Bluffield213" /><ref name=Vimy>Stroud, Feb 1984, pp.101–105</ref>
|-
|[[Vickers Vulcan]]||3||1924–28
|''G-EBLB/City of Brussels'' (wrecked 1928), ''G-EBFC'' (withdrawn 1924 unused), G-EBEK (loaned from Air Ministry for 1925 Empire Exhibition Display.<ref name="Bluffield213" />)||<ref name=Vulcan />
|-
|[[Westland Wessex (fixed wing)|Westland IV and Wessex]]||3||1931–37
|''G-AAGW'', ''G-ABEG'' (wrecked 1936), ''G-ACHI'' ||2 leased to other operators. IV (G-AAGW) upgraded to Wessex.<ref name=Wessex>Stroud, Dec 1985, pp.657–661</ref>
|-
|}

== See also ==

* [[Aviation in the United Kingdom]]
* [[History of British Airways]]
* [[List of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom]]

== Footnotes ==

===Notes===
<references group="nb" />

==References==
{{reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="Bluffield213">Bluffield 2009, pp. 211–213</ref>
<ref name="Jackson52">Jackson, 1973, pp.52–54</ref>
<ref name="Jackson55">Jackson, 1973, pp.55–57</ref>
}}

=== Bibliography ===
*Baldwin, N.C. 1950.''Imperial Airways (and Subsidiary Companies): A History and Priced Check List of the Empire Air Mails.'' Sutton Coldfield, England: Francis J. Field.
*{{cite book |last=Bluffield |first=Robert |date=2009| title= Imperial Airways – The Birth of the British Airline Industry 1914–1940 |publisher= Ian Allan Publishing| location= Hersham, Surrey, England |isbn= 978-1-906537-07-4}}
*Budd, Lucy [http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/rb/rb253.html  "Global Networks Before Globalisation: Imperial Airways and the Development of Long-Haul Air Routes"] Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Research Bulletin 253, 5 December 2007.
*Cluett, Douglas; Nash, Joanna; Learmonth Bob. 1980. Croydon Airport 1928 – 1939, The Great Days. London Borough of Sutton {{ISBN|0-9503224-8-2}}
*Davies, R.E.G 2005. ''British Airways: An Airline and Its Aircraft, Volume 1: 1919–1939—The Imperial Years.'' McLean, VA: Paladwr Press. {{ISBN|1-888962-24-0}}
*Doyle, Neville. 2002. The Triple Alliance: The Predecessors of the first British Airways. [[Air-Britain]]. {{ISBN|0-85130-286-6}}
*Higham, Robin. 1960. ''[[Britain's Imperial Air Routes 1918 to 1939: The Story of Britain's Overseas Airlines]]'' London: G.T. Foulis; Hamden, CT: Shoe String. 
*Jackson, A.J. 1959 and 1974. ''British Civil Aircraft since 1919'' 2 vols (1st ed.); 3 vols (2nd ed.) London: Putnam. 
*Moss, Peter W. 1962. Impressments Log (Vol I-IV). Air-Britain.
*Moss, Peter W. October 1974. British Airways. ''[[Aeroplane Monthly]]''.
*{{cite book|last=Ord-Hume|first=Arthur W. J. G.|title=Imperial Airways, From Early Days to BOAC|year=2010|publisher=Stenlake Publishing|location=Catrine, Ayrshire|isbn=9781840335149|page=10|url=http://www.stenlake.co.uk/books/view_book.php?ref=635|access-date=6 February 2013|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304122207/http://stenlake.co.uk/books/view_book.php?ref=635|url-status=dead}}
*Pirie, G.H. 2004. Passenger traffic in the 1930s on British imperial air routes: refinement and revision. ''Journal of Transport History'', 25: 66–84.
*Pirie, G.H. 2009. ''Air Empire: British Imperial Civil Aviation 1919–39''. Manchester: Manchester University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-7190-4111-2}}.
*Pirie, G.H. 2009. Incidental tourism: British imperial air travel in the 1930s. ''Journal of Tourism History'', 1: 49–66.
*{{cite book|last=Pirie|first=G. H.|title=Cultures and Caricatures of British Imperial Aviation: Passengers, Pilots, Publicity|year=2012|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=Manchester|isbn=978-0-7190-8682-3}}
*Pudney, J. 1959. ''The Seven Skies – A Study of BOAC and its forerunners since 1919''. London: Putnam.
*Salt, Major A.E.W. 1930.''Imperial Air Routes.'' London: John Murray.
*Sanford, Kendall C. 2003. ''Air Crash Mail of Imperial Airways and Predecessor Airlines.'' Bristol: Stuart Rossiter Trust Fund. {{ISBN|0-9530004-6-X}}
*Stroud, John 1962.''Annals of British and Commonwealth Air Transport 1919–1960.'' London: Putnam.
*Stroud, John. 2005. ''The Imperial Airways Fleet.'' Stroud, England: Tempus Publishing. {{ISBN|0-7524-2997-3}}
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (Armstrong Whitworth Argosy)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=May 1985|publisher=Kelsey|pages=265–269}}<!--<ref name=Argosy>Stroud, May 1985, pp.265–269</ref>-->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (Armstrong Whitworth A.W.XV Atalanta)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=June 1986|publisher=Kelsey|pages=321–326}}<!--<ref name=Atalanta>Stroud, June 1986, pp.321–326</ref>-->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (Armstrong Whitworth A.W.27 Ensign)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=July 1988|publisher=Kelsey|pages=433–437}}<!--<ref name=Ensign>Stroud, June 1988, pp.433–437</ref>-->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (Avro Monoplanes)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=February 1991|publisher=Kelsey|pages=115–120}}<!--<ref name=Avro>Stroud, Feb 1991, pp.115–120</ref>-->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (Boulton Paul P.64 and P.71A)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=August 1986|publisher=Kelsey|pages=433–436}}<!--<ref name="BP">Stroud, Aug 1986, pp.433–436</ref>-->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (De Havilland DH.34)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=June 1984|publisher=Kelsey|pages=315–319}}                  <!--<ref name=DH34>Stroud, June 1984, pp.315–319</ref>-->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (De Havilland DH.66 Hercules)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=November 1986|publisher=Kelsey|pages=609–614}}<!--<ref name=DH66>Stroud, Nov 1986, pp.609–614</ref> -->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (De Havilland Albatross part 1)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=June 1990|publisher=Kelsey|pages=369–372}}<!--<ref name=Alb1>Stroud, June 1990, pp.369–372</ref>-->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (De Havilland Albatross part 2)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=July 1990|publisher=Kelsey|pages=433–437}}<!--<ref name=Alb1>Stroud, June 1990, pp.369–372</ref><ref name=Alb2>Stroud, July 1990, pp.433–437</ref>-->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (Handley Page Type W & derivatives)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=October 1983|publisher=Kelsey|pages=535–539}}<!--<ref name=HPW>Stroud, Oct 1983, pp.535–539</ref>-->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (Handley Page H.P.42 and H.P.45)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=August 1985|publisher=Kelsey|pages=433–437}}<!--<ref name=HP42>Stroud, Aug 1985, pp.433–437</ref>-->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (Short S.8 Calcutta & S.17 Kent)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=February 1987|publisher=Kelsey|pages=97–103}}<!-- <ref name=Calcutta>Stroud, Feb 1987, pp.97–103</ref> -->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (Short L.17 Scylla)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=October 1984|publisher=Kelsey|pages=549–553}}<!--<ref name=Scylla>Stroud, Oct 1984, pp.549–553</ref>-->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (Short Empire flying-boats part 1)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=December 1989|publisher=Kelsey|pages=763–769}}<!---->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (Short Empire flying-boats part 2)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=January 1990|publisher=Kelsey|pages=51–61}}<!--<ref name=Empire1>Stroud, Dec 1989, pp.763–769</ref><ref name=Empire2>Stroud, Jan 1990, pp.51–61</ref>-->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (Vickers Vulcan)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=November 1987|publisher=Kelsey|pages=609–612}}<!-- <ref name=Vulcan>Stroud, Nov 1987, pp.609–612</ref> -->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (Vickers Vimy Commercial)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=February 1984|publisher=Kelsey|pages=101–105}}<!-- <ref name=Vimy>Stroud, Feb 1984, pp.101–105</ref> -->
*{{cite magazine|last1=Stroud|first1=John|title=Wings of Peace (Westland IV and Wessex)|magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly]]|date=December 1985|publisher=Kelsey|pages=657–661}}<!-- <ref name=Wessex>Stroud, Dec 1985, pp.657–661</ref> -->

==External links==
{{commons category|Imperial Airways}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20010822124059/http://www.imperial-airways.com/ www.imperial-airways.com enthusiast website at archive.org]
* [http://www.britishairways.com/travel/explore-our-past/public/en_gb British Airways "Explore our past"]
* [http://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/iaw.htm Imperial Airways Timetables]
* [http://www.nzstamps.org.uk/air/external/eastern/easternroute.html History Imperial Airways Eastern Route]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130518132232/http://imperial-airways.co.uk/ Website for historical information on the airline]}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140317160801/http://www.imperial-airways.gb.com/ Website for the Imperial Airways Museum]
* [http://www.crete2cape.com Website for The Crete2Cape Vintage Air Rally]
* {{PM20|FID=co/070671|TEXT=Documents and clippings about|NAME=}}
* [https://eafa.org.uk/work/?id=1025635 Egypt And Back With Imperial Airways] in the [https://eafa.org.uk East Anglian Film Archive]

{{British Airways}}

[[Category:Imperial Airways| ]]
[[Category:Airlines established in 1924]]
[[Category:Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Airlines disestablished in 1939]]
[[Category:Defunct seaplane operators]]