The first budget transatlantic flights
Listen now
Description
In 1955, a small Icelandic airline, 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.' In 2017, Mike Lanchin spoke to Edda Helgason, whose father, Sigurdur Helgason, launched the ambitious scheme, and Hans Indridason, who ran the company's sales and marketing department at the time. (Photo: Icelandic Airlines plane, with passengers disembarking, 1965. Credit: Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images)
More Episodes
Published 07/17/24
When visionary architect Antoni Gaudi died unexpectedly in 1926, his followers were left with incredible plaster of Paris models showing how to complete his famous church, La Sagrada Familia. The only problem was they were smashed “to smithereens” during the Spanish Civil War. New Zealand...
Published 06/25/24
At the end of World War Two, the Czechoslovak government expelled up to three million German speakers, known as the Sudeten Germans. They were accused of being loyal to Nazi Germany and collaborating in war crimes. By 1946 the expulsions were in full swing, and Helmut Scholz, who was a...
Published 06/24/24