Perhaps, when planting their London offices, the airlines based their location decisions on the Monopoly board. In the latter half of the 20th century, Regent Street, Piccadilly and the fringes of Mayfair were littered with ticket offices for the world’s carriers. Usually a model of a Boeing 707 or elegant Caravelle decorated the window, while inside neatly uniformed staff perched behind primitive computer terminals.
All the European airlines – Air France, Iberia, Lufthansa, Swissair – had an imposing aviation embassy. Even the Eastern bloc carriers such as CSA (Czechoslovak Airlines) and Lot of Poland could afford swish premises, because air fares were so ridiculously high. As customers were paying a sum equivalent to the cost of a small car for a flight to, say, South America or Asia, collecting their intricately written ticket from an actual West End office was an important part of the experience.
