Aviation posters: Selling the skies

A new collection portrays the changing face of flying. Simon Calder picks his favourites

For the first six or seven decades of powered flight, aviation was the preserve of the brave, the reckless and the rich – and usually glamorous – few. Passengers paid a fortune to fly slowly and dangerously around the world. Yet through the prism of 21st-century aviation, many travellers look fondly back at what is seen as the "golden age of flying". A new collection of British aviation posters shows the way we (or rather they) travelled. These are some of the finest.

'British Aviation Posters: Art, Design and Flight' is published by Lund Humphries in association with British Airways (£35). You can also see some of the original artworks at BA's Speedbird Centre near Heathrow