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de HavillandAirlinerRetired

de Havilland Comet family

The Comet story, from first flight to lasting reputation

The first jet airliner to enter service and the aircraft that made the world confront both the promise and the risk of pressurized jet transport.

de Havilland Comet family is a retired airliner built by de Havilland. It first flew in 1949, entered service in 1952, and went on to shape airline fleets, passenger journeys, and aviation memory.

First flight

1949

Service entry

1952

Seating band

36 to 119

de Havilland Comet family is a retired airliner by de Havilland, first flown in 1949 and introduced in 1952, with typical seating for 36 to 119 and range up to 2,800 nautical miles.

Its history runs through the airlines that flew it, the routes it opened, the cabin experience it offered, and the variants that changed the family's role over time.

Range band

2,800 nm

Notable operators

BOAC · BEA · Dan-Air

Source stack

  • Manufacturer heritage material
  • type certificate and planning data
  • museum and preservation references

Variants

Representative variants

Manufacturer pageForum hubCompare families

DHC4

Comet 4

Comet 4 is a retired member of the de Havilland Comet family, known for the mature long-range branch that returned the line to transatlantic passenger service.

Range 3,225 nm · Entry 1958

Specifications

Current public facts

Manufacturer
de Havilland
Program history
Class
Airliner
Aircraft category
First flight
1949-07-27
Program history
Service entry
1952-05-02
Operator records
Current status
Retired
Fleet references
Typical seating
36 to 119
Operator and cabin references
Range band
Up to 2,800 nm
Program literature
Cruise speed
430 kt
Planning data

Archive moments

Human context

The Comet sits in memory as both breakthrough and lesson: beautiful, fast, and central to the way the jet age learned from failure in public.
Passenger memory matters here because airport routine, cabin atmosphere, and route geography are part of the aircraft story rather than side notes.

Timeline

Program milestones

  1. 1949

    First flight

    The Comet begins flight testing and establishes the public shape of the family.

  2. 1952

    Service entry

    The family enters passenger or executive service and begins building its operating footprint.

  3. Today

    Archive afterlife

    Surviving aircraft, photographs, documents, and first-hand memories keep the program visible long after regular passenger service.

Related news

Editorial context

All news
No editorial dispatches are attached to this family yet. The aircraft record is live, and newsroom or archive coverage can be layered onto it later without changing the URL.

Forum threads

Community memory

Family hub