In the early ears of European flying history, around the years of 1900 – 1910, aviation developed rapidly, but flying was still a dangerous adventure.
Louis Blériot (1 July 1872 – 2 August 1936) was the first pilot to fly across a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft, when he in 1909 crossed the English Channel.
Blériot created the world's first successful monoplane, the Blériot V, but this model crashed easily. However, in 1909, he created the Blériot XI, which was more stable.
Blériot took off just after dawn, at 04:30 on 25 July 1909, an flew at an altitude of about 250 feet (76 m). Soon after take off the weather deteriorated and Blériot lost sight of any landmarks, and rapidly outpaced the destroyer escort. He flew 36.6 km from Les Baraques near Calais, to Dover. The flight took 37 minutes.
In passenger air traffic, airships, lighter then air aircraft, ruled the skies, but this was soon to change.
The first regular flight connections in Europe was between major cities like London and Paris. Trans continental flights to distant regions followed.
Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long range air transport company, operating from 1924 to 1939 and serving parts of Europe but especially the Empire routes to South Africa, India and the Far East.
Imperial Airways, 1936 Brochure for the airline, illustrated with the first Short Empire flying boat Canopus.
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