When pioneering French aviator Louis Bleriot flew across the English Channel in July 1909 he made the dream of air travel a reality. Commercial air transport began with a few small, fledgling companies and during the First World War routes and technology improved as the military on both sides realised the potential of aviation.

European commercial airlines and manufacturers soon realised that in order to become successful they would have to consider more than just safety and reliability. The earliest passenger planes to operate in Europe were converted First World War bombers, which did the job but didn't offer much in the way of passenger comfort. This changed with the introduction of planes like the de Havilland 18 and German Junkers F.13. Progress in European commercial aviation slowed down during the Second World War while huge advances were being made on the military side.

While Frank Whittle was struggling to get backing to develop his design for a jet engine in Britain, a young German engineer was working on a similar idea. Although Whittle submitted his patent first, it was Hans von Ohain who developed the first operational jet engine while working with aircraft designer Ernst Heinkel. It is widely acknowledged that although von Ohain's design was very similar to Whittle's, the pair worked without being aware of the other's idea and that it was a case of two great minds thinking alike.

The German government saw the potential in the jet's design, and engineer Anselm Franz worked during the Second World War to produce a turbojet that powered the Me-262, the world's first operational jet fighter.

Europe embraced the new aviation technology that was accelerated by the Second World War and airports sprang up near major cities, stimulating business and becoming status symbols of progress and financial growth. Just as after the First World War, many passenger liners were converted bombers, but soon European companies like Vickers, de Havilland and Tupolev began producing custom-made commercial planes. They adopted the new jet technology before their American rivals and the first commercial jetliner, the de Havilland Comet, went into service in 1952.

The USSR covered a vast area and the introduction of jet aircraft shaved hours off the flying time between the major cities. The Soviet airline Aeroflot operated the first scheduled internal jet passenger flights in the world, flying the Tu-104 between Moscow and Irkutsk from September 1956. By the 1960s all the major European airlines, including BOAC, KLM (Netherlands), Iberia (Spain), Air France and Lufthansa (Germany) offered routes on jetliners.

The next step was supersonic travel - jets that could travel faster than the speed of sound. Many people believe that Concorde was the first supersonic passenger jetliner, but that honour belongs to the Tu-144. Dubbed by the west as 'Concordski' it was designed by Russian engineer Andrei Tupolev and flew for the first time in 1968. Tupolev designed 70 different types of aircraft for the USSR, including the first Soviet all-metal planes and the Tu-2 dive bomber while he was in prison.

Today the European firm Airbus has overtaken US giant Boeing as the world's biggest aircraft manufacturer with more than a 50% share of global orders for passenger planes. Airbus manufacture the A380, the world’s first double-decker jetliner, which made its first commercial flight in October 2007, flying from Singapore to Sydney.