HistoryLink.org

On July 15, 1947, scheduled airline service to the Far East from Seattle begins with the departure of a Northwest Airlines DC-4 from Boeing Field. The three-times-a-week flight serves Tokyo, Shanghai, and Manila from Boeing Field using the Great Circle route (heading northwest from Seattle rather than west) across the North Pacific Ocean.

Present at the inaugural ceremonies was Erik Nelson of Toppenish, Washington, a technical adviser for Scandinavian Air Service. In 1924, Nelson was one of the U.S. Army flyers who took off from Sand Point Naval Air Station on the world's first circumnavigation of the globe by airplane.

Sources:

The Seattle Times, July 15, 1947, p. 4.

Licensing: This essay is licensed under a Creative Commons license that encourages reproduction with attribution. Credit should be given to both HistoryLink.org and to the author, and sources must be included with any reproduction. Click the icon for more info. Please note that this Creative Commons license applies to text only, and not to images. For more information regarding individual photos or images, please contact the source noted in the image credit.

Major Support for HistoryLink.org Provided By: The State of Washington | Patsy Bullitt Collins | Paul G. Allen Family Foundation | Museum Of History & Industry | 4Culture (King County Lodging Tax Revenue) | City of Seattle | City of Bellevue | City of Tacoma | King County | The Peach Foundation | Microsoft Corporation, Other Public and Private Sponsors and Visitors Like You