The passenger jet-age dawned with the advent of the de Havilland Comet which first entered service in 1952. The first commercial flight was a BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) service which left London in early May on its way to Johannesburg (with several stops). Eleven months later a service was launched from London to Tokyo, cutting the journey time from 85 hours to 36 hours – again with several stops.

Development had begun in 1946 (BOAC had signed an order for ten aircraft in late 1945) and the aircraft, the first to be pressurised to allow it to operate at altitudes high above most weather systems (its ceiling was about 40,000 feet), was designed with four turbojet engines tucked in close to the wing root – rather than in pods as with most of today's aircraft. The interior was luxurious with a bar, a galley where hot food could be cooked (rather than reheated) and separate toilets for men and women. BOAC's version carried 36 passengers: Air France opted for 44.

A series of accidents, at least three of them with fatalities, caused the fleet to be grounded whilst exhaustive investigations took place. Pilot error in a couple of instances was to blame, though metal fatigue and other design faults were also shown to be causes. Changes were made, with the planes being designated Comet 2, 3 and so on. By 1958 the Comet 4 was in service, greatly improved from its original concept. Holding 80 passengers it also had extra range, allowing to make it across the north Atlantic non-stop, though London-New York flights (battling the strong west-east high altitude winds) had to refuel in Gander, Canada.

A Comet-5 design was proposed with even more improvements, including greater capacity, but political support was not forthcoming and BOAC's order went to the Boeing 707 instead. Despite its use on long-haul flights the Comet was built as a mainly short-haul aircraft and was a great success in that role. It was bought and used over almost thirty years by 24 different airlines. Its last commercial scheduled flights were in 1981.

Whilst the Comet was the first commercial jet aircraft to fly, in the United States both Douglas and Boeing were developing their own jet aircraft. Douglas was in a commanding position in the passenger aircraft industry, having developed the successful DC series of prop-driven aircraft before, during and after the War. The DC-7 was the last of that series prior to the jets. By the mid 1950s, with Comet already in service, Douglas started thinking about a jet airliner, though they were initially lukewarm on the project. The design was for a plane holding 80 passengers, with a range of about 3,500 miles and powered by four jet engines. The DC-8 was born. The prototype first flew in 1955 though it was not until 1959 that it entered service, with both Delta and United Airlines.

The DC8 remained the largest passenger jet in the skies until the Boeing 747 arrived in 1970, but despite its early success Douglas lost ground to Boeing as they resolutely refused to stretch or alter the fuselage to accommodate either extra passengers, or to increase range. Boeing, on the other hand, made four or five variants of its basic 707, giving customers both options. The Boeing 707, originally designated "dash 80" (not to be confused with Bombardier's Dash 8) the 707 was to become the world's first jet aircraft to become a major commercial success.

The first commercial orders came from Pan Am in 1955 when they purchased 20 of the aircraft (plus 25 Douglas DC-8s) and the basic design went on to sell over 1000 aircraft.

Meanwhile, jet aircraft were being developed elsewhere. In France Sud Aviation developed the Caravelle, a twin engine plane that went on to become very successful. It borrowed its nose and cockpit design from the Comet but was the first aircraft to have rear-mounted engines. It first flew in 1955 and entered service in 1959 with both Air France and SAS. It was last used in Europe in about 1996 and until about 2000 in parts of Africa. Sud Aviation went on to merge with several other French companies and ended up as the forerunner of the company that built Concorde and is now Airbus.

In the UK, de Havilland also designed the Trident, which was then built by Hawker-Siddeley after the firms merged in 1960. Its maiden flight was in 1962 and it went into service with BEA in 1964, though only 117 of the type were produced. It was, if anything, too solidly built, being heavier than most similar planes. As its name implied, it was a three-engined jet, all three engines mounted at the rear, allowing for clean wings. It had a distinctive offset nose-wheel, but was the first commercial aircraft to make an automatic landing, in fog, at Heathrow. It was also the first aircraft to have a moving map display in the cockpit, allowing the pilots to see exactly where they were in relation to the ground.

The UK also saw the development of the twin-engined BAC 1-11, another rear-mounted plane. Almost 250 of this type was produced between 1965, when it first went into service with British United Airways (which went on to become British Caledonian and then became part of BA). It was a very sturdily built aircraft but had high noise levels (as did the Caravelle, one of the noisiest aircraft to have flown) and was generally retired at the end of the 1990s.

The BAC 1-11 programme got off to a very bad start when the prototype crashed on a test-flight, killing everyone on board. The problem was a design fault and obviously changes were made before it went into service. Both the Caravelle and the BAC 1-11 had rear airstairs which allowed for exit and entry under the tail.

BAC also produced the VC-10, a four rear-mounted jet capable of long-haul routes. It first went into service with BOAC in 1964 and continued in service until 1979. It was, for its time, an exceptionally quiet aircraft and was a big hit with passengers. It has since been adapted as a refuelling aircraft for the RAF and is still in service.

Meanwhile Douglas, needing a plane for short-haul flights to complement its DC 8 series, came up with a small twin-jet (also rear-mounted engines like the BAC 1-11) and, following their numbering sequence this was christened the DC9. This plane went on to become hugely successful and, in its more modern numbering, lives on in the MD90 series and beyond (though Douglas merged with McDonnell and was then absorbed into Boeing).

In the USA, Boeing and Douglas were continuing their battle, Boeing producing its three-engined 727 which first flew in 1963, coming into service the following year with Eastern Air Lines. It was a huge success, with 1,832 models sold, and offered six-abreast seating and, a huge boost to airlines operating from shorter runways, high-lift devices on the leading edges of the wings, commonly referred to as "droops" or "slats".

The 727 has been retired now from most passenger service though several still fly as freighters. Like most aircraft of its era it carried a flight crew of three, including a flight engineer, a position now redundant as computers play a greater part in in-flight management. The Dutch company Fokker also produced a twin-jet, its F28, capable of holding up to 85 passengers. A good number are still in daily use.

And then came the most successful plane of all time, the Boeing 737. A twin-engine (wing-mounted) jet for short to medium flights the 737 and its derivatives up to and including the 900 series, are the aviation world's workhorse for medium range flights. In all 6,000 of these aircraft have been built or are on order, an amazing number which marks the 737 as the world's most popular airplane. The first commercial flight of the first 737 was back in 1967.