Crowds cheered as the BOAC Comet G-ALYP took off from London airport at 1512 local time carrying 36 passengers.

The De Havilland Comet 1 is regarded as a feather in the cap for British design and innovation and promises to usher in a new era of faster, smoother air travel. The plane's sleek design incorporates its four De Havilland Ghost 50 Mk1 engines inside the wing of the plane.

The total journey of nearly 7,000 miles is expected to take 23 hours 40 minutes, allowing for five stops at Rome, Beirut, Khartoum, Entebbe and Livingstone.

Sir Miles Thomas, the operator's chairman, will join the flight at Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia.

BOAC's regular flights to Johannesburg on piston-engine Hermes airliners take 27 hours and 55 minutes to reach their destination on a route 1,000 miles shorter than the Comet's.

Because of the length of the journey, the crew will be replaced at Beirut and then at Khartoum.

Each passenger on this historic flight will receive a special first flight certificate signed by the pilot of the first part of the flight, Captain AM Majendie.

A single fare costs £175 and a return £315 - the same price as for BOAC's piston-engine aircraft.