1950
1 January: Mr Peter G Masefield appointed Chief Executive of BEA.

New York operating base transferred from La Guardia to the new international airport at Idlewild.

16 April: First scheduled BEA service from London Airport, a Vickers Viking to Paris.

May: Start of carriage of parcels mail on services to North America and Africa.

The world’s first regular scheduled helicopter passenger service was opened by BEA on 1 July between Cardiff and Liverpool.

28 July: World’s first gas turbine-powered service flown by BEA from Northolt to Le Bourget, Paris with a Vickers V630 Viscount aircraft.

6/7 August: Handley Page Hermes aircraft introduced on BOAC’s UK-African services. First flight by G-ALDJ Hengist replaced York aircraft on London-Tripoli-Kano-Lagos-Accra.

October: Avro York aircraft withdrawn from service.

7 November: BOAC replaced its Southampton-Johannesburg Solent flying boat services with a thrice-weekly Hermes service from London to Johannesburg via Tripoli, Kano, Brazzaville and Livingstone. BOAC then withdrew all Solents, which had been the airline’s last flying boats. Imperial Airways and BOAC had maintained continuous flying boat operations since 1924.

1951
BOAC introduced their luxury Monarch service to New York on 1 March using the Stratocruiser, which offered sleeper accommodation.

July: Withdrawal of BOAC operations through Malta with services taken over by BEA. All BOAC’s East African services were re-routed to operate through Rome.

8 October: First Royal flight by BOAC: the then Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh flew to Montreal in a Stratocruiser for their Canadian tour (G-AKGK Canopus, Captain O P Jones).

1952
HM Queen Elizabeth II arrived at London Airport on 7 February from East Africa in BOAC Argonaut G-ALHK Atalanta after the death of her father, King George VI.

13 March: First scheduled BEA Airspeed 'Elizabethan' service operated between London Airport and Paris.

1 May: World’s first tourist-fare introduced by BOAC on the North Atlantic route.

On 2 May BOAC flew the world’s first pure jet service; Comet G-ALYP operated from London Airport to Johannesburg via Rome, Beirut, Khartoum, Entebbe and Livingstone.

16 June: First BEA ‘Silver Wing’ service operated on the London-Paris route with Airspeed 'Elizabethan' aircraft.

26 October: Introduction of £8 return fare from London to Scotland by BEA.

1953
1 April: Tourist fares introduced on BEA routes throughout Europe.

3 April: BOAC introduced Comet jet services to Tokyo, reducing the flight time to 33 hours from the previous 86 hours.

On 18 April BEA began the world’s first sustained airscrew-turbined airliner passenger service with Vickers Viscount V.701 G-AMNY flying London-Rome-Athens-Nicosia.

19 May: BEA’s Kensington Air Station closed; Waterloo Air Terminal opened.

October: Start of Tourist services by BOAC to Pakistan, India, Ceylon, Persian Gulf, East Africa and Trinidad.

BOAC’s Handley Page Hermes aircraft withdrawn from service.

Between 8-10 October BEA operated Viscount V.700 G-AMAV in the Transport Handicap section of the London-Christchurch Air Race; it flew the 12,365 miles in 40hrs 43mins calling at Bahrain, Colombo, Cocos Islands and Melbourne.

1954
On 30 October BEA operated its final service from Northolt, a DC-3 (G-AHCZ) to Jersey.

Two BOAC Comet aircraft exploded in mid-air within three months of each other, causing the fleet to be grounded. Exhaustive tests revealed that the aircraft had suffered from metal fatigue.

1955
17 April: Start of services from London Airport Central Area. First service was a BEA departure to Amsterdam via Viscount G-ALWE Discovery.

9 May: BOAC introduced tourist class London-Sydney weekly service, with Constellations.

25 July: BEA began scheduled passenger helicopter services between London airport and the South bank Heliport at Waterloo; the service was discontinued on 31 May 1956 having carried 3,822 revenue passengers. First flight by Westland-Sikorsky S55 G-ANUK.

July: BOAC moved into its new centralized headquarters at London Airport.

30 December: BOAC took delivery of its first two Bristol Britannia 102s when G-ANBC and –BD were delivered from Filton to London Airport.

1956
1 May: Mr Gerard D’Erlanger appointed Chairman of BOAC in succession to Sir Miles Thomas.

3 May: Mr Anthony Milward appointed Chief Executive and Member of the Board of BEA.

15 October: BOAC’s first Douglas DC-7C G-AOIA was handed over at a ceremony at Santa Monica, California.

8 November: BOAC signed a contract for 15 Rolls-Royce-engined Boeing 707-436s.

1957
BOAC introduced DC-7Cs to New York on 6 January and to San Francisco in March; Bristol Britannia services were inaugurated on 1 February to Johannesburg and on 2 March to Sydney.

13 February: First scheduled BEA 'Viscount' flight operated between London and Glasgow and two days later its first international flight, to Amsterdam; both flights by G-AOJD Sebastian Cabot.

On 29 June a BOAC Britannia 312 made the first ever non-stop airliner flight from London to Canada’s Pacific coast, flying the 5,100 miles to Vancouver in 14hrs 40mins.

6 October: BEA’s West London Air Terminal at Cromwell Road opened.

19 December: BOAC operate the first gas-turbine trans-Atlantic scheduled passenger service with Bristol Britannia 312s between London and New York.

1958
1 May: Mixed-class – First Class and Tourist - services introduced by BEA.

30 July: Last scheduled service by BEA Airspeed Ambassador 'Elizabethan' aircraft.

4 October: BOAC opened the first jet service across the North Atlantic to New York using the Comet 4; G-APDB operated the eastbound flight and G-APDC operated the westbound. The two aircraft passed about 300 miles apart at 47degW at 1335Z; Sir Gerard d’Erlanger, BOAC’s Chairman, in the westbound aircraft and Basil Smallpiece, Managing Director, in the eastbound exchanged messages.

6 October: BOAC Lockheed Constellations withdrawn from service.

1 November: BEA introduces cheap weekend fares on UK domestic trunk routes.

19 December: Start of BOAC’s De Havilland Comet 4 services to Canada; G-APDC flew London-Montreal.

1959
20 January: First flight of Vickers-Armstrong Vanguard aircraft, prototype G-AOYW.

21 January: BOAC De Havilland Comet 4 proving flight to Tokyo, with G-APDC.

31 March: Britannia 312 G-AOVT left London for New York and Tokyo to inaugurate BOAC’s round-the-world service (operated regularly from the following August). The following day 'Comet' 4 G-APDH inaugurated the eastward round-the-world service.

14 May: BEA service between London and Moscow started with Vickers 'Viscount' aircraft.

30/31 May: Last BOAC Stratocruiser services. London-Barcelona-Kano-Accra on 30 May and Accra-Kano-Barcelona-London the following day, by G-ANTY Coriolanus.

July: BOAC began all-cargo service between London and Hong Kong.

20 August: BOAC starts the first regular round-the-world service by Britannia 312s operating via San Francisco and Hong Kong.

1 November: BOAC De Havilland Comet 4 inaugural London-Sydney service.

2 December: BOAC Comet 4 inaugural London-Johannesburg service.