The British Overseas Airways Corporation came into being in 1939 as the successor to the pre-war British Airways and the legendary Imperial Airways, and through the dark days of the Second World War it used flying-boats to maintain air links between Britain, Africa, Australia and the USA. Post-war, flying-boats and converted bombers soon gave way to Lockheed Constellations, Bristol Britannia's, de Havilland Comets, Boeing 707s and Vickers VC-10s, which carried BOAC's name to all points of the globe and established the airline as a supported of the latest in aviation technology.

This culminated in an order for the Concorde supersonic airliner, but before BOAC could take delivery of this revolutionary design it was amalgamated with its short-haul counterpart BEA to form British Airways However, in the memories of its passengers and staff, BOAC will remain the airline that lived up to its slogan, 'BOAC takes good care of you'.