On August 5, 1939, Imperial Airways, a British airline, inaugurated its transatlantic route with its first flight. The flight went via Southampton (Great Britain), Foynes (Ireland), Botwood (Newfoundland, Canada), Montreal (Canada) and New York (USA).

A decorative cover was printed to mark this event. In the picture, the US and British flags made no reference to the stopovers in Ireland, Newfoundland and Canada. As this led to protests, the decorative cover was quickly withdrawn and replaced by a more neutral design. This included text referring to the take-off, stop-over and final destination countries.

Withdrawn first flight decorative envelope dated August 3,1939, posted in Montreal (Canada), for the return flight to Great Britain with destination London.

Replacement first flight decorative envelope dated August 4, 1939, posted in London (Great Britain) for the first flight, with destination New York City. Postmark on the reverse, New York (N.Y.), Aug 6, 1939