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S. Huang

Seeking airline print adverts from the past...

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In the 70s and early 80s, airline ads used to depict inflight service, new aircraft interiors and smiling flight stewardesses serving lobsters and caviar on trolleys to First Class passengers. Readers Digest, Air Transport World and Asia Travel Trade used to have lots of these adverts scattered all over the pages.

 

I used to collect these magazines, but they have unfortunately been discarded by my parents when we renovated our house many years ago. It still pains me to think how much all those magazines would be worth to aviation enthusiasts like us on e-bay...hehe

 

One of the ads that I miss were those featuring Philippine Airlines' brand new 747-200 with the orange seats in First and Economy class...Pan Am's new First Class on their 747SPs.... and Cathay Pacific's brand new Tristar L1011. The CX L1011 ad is particularly memorable because it showed their multi-national stewardesses standing in the aircraft's economy class.

 

If anyone has scans of these ads (especially the CX L1011 one), please post them here. I will be eternally grateful....

 

Thanks MW in advance ;)

 

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Few days ago,while browsing some older magazines (Reader's Digest & Time), I've stumbled upon some airline adverts.

 

Here are the examples (Will try to scan and upload them if possible)

 

-Lufthansa (photo of B747-200 tail,rego D-ABYM.The advert says: 'Honey,Don't worry.You're onboard Lufthansa.') Time 1970,with Gunther Grass as the main cover.

-PIA-Reader's Digest

-Royal Brunei-Reader's Digest

-Air France ( Launching of Paris-Tokyo via Moscow route)-Time 1970

-Japan Air Lines (Expo 70 promotion) Time 1970

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Few days ago,while browsing some older magazines (Reader's Digest & Time), I've stumbled upon some airline adverts.

 

Here are the examples (Will try to scan and upload them if possible)

 

-Lufthansa (photo of B747-200 tail,rego D-ABYM.The advert says: 'Honey,Don't worry.You're onboard Lufthansa.') Time 1970,with Gunther Grass as the main cover.

-PIA-Reader's Digest

-Royal Brunei-Reader's Digest

-Air France ( Launching of Paris-Tokyo via Moscow route)-Time 1970

-Japan Air Lines (Expo 70 promotion) Time 1970

 

Thanks! Tamizi... Definitely looking forward to those 1970s adverts!

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Here are four print advertisments from Cathay Pacific Airways dating back to 1979 when the Lockheed Super TriStar (as CX branded them) was still new and considered the most advanced airliner. In these advertisments, Cathay extolled the international make-up of their cabin crew.

 

mw-CathayPacific-01-Sep1979.jpg

 

mw-CathayPacific-02.jpg

 

mw-CathayPacific-03-Oct1979.jpg

 

mw-CathayPacific-04.jpg

 

In this March 1975 advertisment, CX wanted you to believe that they knew the Orient better.

mw-CathayPacific-05-Mar1975.jpg

 

And here's two older advertisments - from a time when black/white still rules. This is a July 1959 advertisment.

mw-CathayPacific-06-Jul1959.jpg

 

And this one hails from 1962.

mw-CathayPacific-07-1962.jpg

 

If this thread is kept alive, I will soon scan all of what I have from MAS . . . with much more to follow including Pan Am, Northwest Orient, Japan Airlines, Air Siam . . . those of airlines showing off their B747s (when these were new) and DC-10s.

 

KC Sim

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Airline ads of today are extremely boring in comparison to these. Nice job.

 

Well, a lot of people said flying isn't what it used to be anymore. All the Low-Cost frenzy sucked the glamour out of flying. But I'm not complaining.

 

And Cathay were quite proud of their British & Australian pilots, aren't they?

Edited by Mohd Suhaimi Fariz

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Well, a lot of people said flying isn't what it used to be anymore. All the Low-Cost frenzy sucked the glamour out of flying. But I'm not complaining.

 

And Cathay were quite proud of their British & Australian pilots, aren't they?

Ah cha cha cha cha... Let me stop you there. The Romance of Travel lives on over here where I am... :p

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Well, a lot of people said flying isn't what it used to be anymore. All the Low-Cost frenzy sucked the glamour out of flying. But I'm not complaining.

 

And Cathay were quite proud of their British & Australian pilots, aren't they?

CX were also proud of their 100% Rolls Royce engine fleet back then before the arrival of the A340s.

 

CX was worried that their "whitemen" business image and model would not cut into the Asian market after the 1997 handover, so they had decided to Asian-nise their airline by hiring Chinese pilots. CX even allowed Air China to purchase a certain amount of their share, probably a gesture to ensure that the Chinese government are happy for them to remain in HK.

 

I think CX has a few Chinese co-pilots, but the most of the Captains are still Caucasians, if my source is correct.

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I personally do not believe the romance of flying (or perhaps more accurately - the joy of flying) is diminished. What has really changed is the passengers' attitude towards flying.

 

In the past (in the 80s), air travel was less affordable and consequently was enjoyed by a tiny segment of the population. People plan well ahead and dress up for the flight. While the choice of inflight food was clearly broader and of better quality, inflight entertainment was limited and the seat was far inferior.

 

Today, even before the advent of LCCs, air travel is already enjoyed by a much larger segment of the population. For many, it (along with the need for overseas holidays) is a necessity. LCCs have further commoditised air travel . . . and a survey of passengers at the check-in counters will indicate clearly how casually dressed people are, even for longhaul travel. Inflight entertainment today offers more options than one have time for . . . and the seat has been improved beyond imagination (especially in premium class, but not exclusive as some airlines' economy class seats too are quite remarkable compared to the 80s).

 

Airline marketing (through print advertising) has kept pace with this change . . . when travel was less affordable and still quite a novelty, there was room to market it creatively with a huge dose of romance. Today, it is so common for so many that it leaves little room for marketers to spin too much of romance into it.

 

Even at Singapore Airlines - which dared to tout the romance of travel, the marketers had to travel back to an era (perhaps the 50s and 60s when print advertising was more creatively rendered) that more adequately suggests romance. These four scans (out of a complete set of five) are what I am referring to. I love these ads - which came out around 2005 and managed to obtain a set of five postcards (but only managed two posters).

 

mw-SIA-Postcard-01-SouthEastAsia.jpg

 

mw-SIA-Postcard-03-Europe.jpg

 

mw-SIA-Postcard-04-India.jpg

 

mw-SIA-Postcard-05-China.jpg

 

KC Sim

 

 

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Hey KC, thanks so much for those CX ads. I don't think I have seen any of those that you scanned here, certainly very rare!

Do you recall one featuring their multi national crew in uniform in the Y cabin of their Lockheed Super Tristars?

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Yes I recall them . . . funnily enough, I tried to take a picture of SIA cabin attendants in the same setup (on the A330 in Toulouse last week). Note that this was even before I read the thread you started! For some reason, the ad you were referring to came to my mind. Only difference, today's cabin attendants don't sport those hair-dos and certainly none of those crescent-shaped black eye-shadow on their eye-lids!

 

Here's how the shot turned out!

 

mw-SIA-A330-Handover-CabinCrew-21.jpg

 

KC Sim

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Yes I recall them . . . funnily enough, I tried to take a picture of SIA cabin attendants in the same setup (on the A330 in Toulouse last week). Note that this was even before I read the thread you started! For some reason, the ad you were referring to came to my mind. Only difference, today's cabin attendants don't sport those hair-dos and certainly none of those crescent-shaped black eye-shadow on their eye-lids!

 

Here's how the shot turned out!

 

KC Sim

 

Hahaha... great shot there KC and I wish I had your job! I couldn't help smiling at the coincidence of the shot you took on the A330...Yes, I believe that CX ad was well remembered by many who have had the chance to see it. In contrast, the colors of today's aircraft cabins are very much muted and 'dull' compared to the cabin of yesteryear. I especially recall TG's DC-10 ads, the bright colored seats. I suppose MH's smarties seats are aimed at helping customers relive the past.

 

The SQ postcards that you posted successfully brought back the look and feel of the 50s. Interestingly, I do not recall SQ ever showing much of their cabins in their print ads in the 70s - even when they introduced their business class. The focus was always on the Singapore Girls... such that I have no idea how SQ's cabins looked like before the 80s (my first view of SQ's cabin interior was only after I joined them in the mid 90s). In any case, the romance of travel remains in my heart. The smell, feel and sights that I encounter on every flight still fills me with the same level excitement that I experienced as a kid. The only difference was in the way I manifested (or hid) my excitement as I grew older.

 

By chance, does anyone have any photos of the interior of Paya Lebar Airport? I was only in lower primary when flights were moved Changi, and have little recollection of how Paya Lebar looks like - except for the black and white mozaic floors and the large mural in the departure hall!

 

Hope I am not asking for too much, but it does appear that MW members possess a treasure trove of photos from that begone era.

 

PS: Btw, the Singapore Girl on the extreme right of KC's picture is the very same girl that used to appear on SQ's website and a number of recent ads.... and it does look like the girls in blue are no longer required to use those awful blue eye shadow!

Edited by S. Huang

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PS: Btw, the Singapore Girl on the extreme right of KC's picture is the very same girl that used to appear on SQ's website and a number of recent ads.... and it does look like the girls in blue are no longer required to use those awful blue eye shadow!

 

Same girl...

 

SQgirlA.jpg

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:) Being a late aviation enthusiast, this only became my recent interest since last year, so sorry S. Huang for not being able to share with you the nostalgic ones from the past. Airlines print adverts are one of the main attractions for me when I open my Newsweeks; I flipped thru the mag to find these first before I began my read.

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And here's two older advertisments - from a time when black/white still rules. This is a July 1959 advertisment.

mw-CathayPacific-06-Jul1959.jpg

KC Sim

 

Imagine that, back then CPA flies to KCH via Labuan....those were the days...

Edited by Kenneth Chong WT

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Managed to dig up some old airline ads which was published in Readers Digest. These were taken from issues between 1967-1969. :)

 

Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA)

MSA-1.jpg

 

MSA-2.jpg

 

MSA-3.jpg

 

Thai Airways International

TG-1.jpg

 

TG-2.jpg

 

Garuda Indonesia

Garuda-1.jpg

 

Garuda-2.jpg

 

 

Philippine Airlines

PAL-1.jpg

 

PAL-2.jpg

 

PAL-3.jpg

 

China Airlines

CAL-1.jpg

 

CAL-2.jpg

 

CAL-3.jpg

 

CAL-4.jpg

 

CAL-5.jpg

Edited by Hoe Jyh

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I'm intrigued with MSA. Why did they split up, other than the fact the Singaporeans want to concentrate on intl. flights while we want to focus on domestic flights. And did the route map put more emphasis on Singapore rather than Malaysia?

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Thanks for the latest upload! It's amazing to see the evolution of airline ads over the decades. In the late 60s, new destinations and state of the art aircraft appear to be the buzz word. It's also interesting to see that Asian airlines haven't changed much, as they are still emphasizing Asian hospitality and service today...

 

I believe the late 70s and early 80s was when airlines started showing the individualism and difference in their cabin interiors...e.g. JAL's beds on their 742 upper decks etc...

 

Looking forward to more scans from the bygone era...

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haha, that second last one is incredibly sexist :D

 

Would probably not see light in this day and age.

Edited by jani

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Imagine that, back then CPA flies to KCH via Labuan....those were the days...

 

 

Labuan in the 50s? what's there in labuan in the 50s..? Even Brunei is still a Jungle :D

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