The First Budget Flights Across the Atlantic
In 1955 a small Icelandic airline slashed the cost of flying across the Atlantic. It was known as the 'Hippie Express.'
In 1955 a small Icelandic airline called Loftleioir Icelandic slashed the cost of flying across the Atlantic. For the first time thousands of young Americans were able to afford air travel to Europe on what became known as the 'Hippie Express.' Mike Lanchin speaks to Edda Helgason, whose father Sigurdur Helgason, launched the ambitious scheme, and to Hans Indridason, who ran the company's sales and marketing department at the time.
Photo: An Icelandic Airlines advertisement from May 1973, in New York's Fifth Avenue (US National Archives)
Last on
More episodes
Next
Broadcast
- Mon 26 Jun 2017 07:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except News Internet
Featured in...
Witness Archive 2017—Witness History
History as told by the people who were there. All the programmes from 2017.
Podcast
-
Witness History
History as told by the people who were there