The first commercial flight of the Caravelle
On this Friday, 1rst May 1959, the Caravelle named « Alsace » of Air France which makes the aeronautical topicality, with the registration:
F-BHRA carrying out in this day its very first voyage: an inaugural flight from France to Turkey.
Indeed, this 1rst of May 1959, the Caravelle « Alsace », took off from Paris, Orly airport, to join the city of Istanbul. A flight with successive stopovers in Milan, Rome but also in Athens and, flown by the pilots Lionel Casse, Pierre Dudal and Pierre Duguet.
As this was the aircraft’s very first flight, before it entered commercial service five days later, a number of personalities took part in the trip, including the President and Director of Air France, Max Hymans and Louis Lesieux .
The Caravelle « Alsace » was back in the media, which had been talking a lot about the Caravelle « Lorraine » at the beginning of 1959 with its inauguration in March, followed by a demonstration flight (gliding) in April.
