British Airways today celebrates 80 years of service between the United Kingdom and the United States, marking a landmark anniversary that began with its very first transatlantic route from London to New York.

Eighty years ago today, British Overseas Airways Corporations’ (BOAC) first commercial landplane service arrived in New York’s LaGuardia from London. The flight took nearly 20 hours via Shannon and Gander and was operated by a Lockheed Constellation 049.