Pan Am is back with luxury New York to London flights – but there will be just 50 business class seats

Pan Am, one of the most iconic airline brands of the 20th century, is set to make a return to the North Atlantic flying from New York to London.

But unlike the trailblazing first Boeing 747 link between the two cities in 1970, this trip will a private jet kitted out for just 50 people. It will make multiple stops, with overnight hotel stays. The fare for the 12-day adventure is $59,950 (£46,200) based on two sharing – or 10 per cent more for solo travellers.

The journey, called the “2025 Tracing the Transatlantic Voyage”, departs on 27 June 2025 and returns on 8 July.

It will be using a Boeing 757 that is over 20 years old, with 50 seats rather than the maximum configuration of around 200 people.

The outbound route emulates some of the original flying boat routes, with stops in Bermuda, Lisbon and Marseille en route to London.

On the westbound return, a stop will be made at Foynes in Ireland – a former flying boat base on the southern side of the Shannon Estuary, about 10 miles from Shannon airport on the other side of the water.

In New York, participants will stay in the Waldorf Astoria, and in London at the Savoy.

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The trip is being put together by the Oregon-based group travel specialist Criterion Travel for the owner of the Pan Am brand, Craig Carter.

Mr Carter, who is chief executive of Pan American World Airways – now a brand-licensing company – will be on board.

He said on Instagram: “Relaunching Pan Am requires a careful balance of honoring its storied past while innovating for the future, so that it resonates with both our longtime fans and new customers.”

The Pan Am boss vows it will be “the first of many exclusive themed flights back into the luxury travel space”.

Pan American World Airways was launched in 1927 with a single link between Key West in Florida and Havana, Cuba.

The visionary co-founder, Juan Trippe, oversaw its expansion to become effectively the US national airline, with a globe-girdling network of, initially, flying boats, which were gradually replaced by conventional propellor aircraft and, in time, the jet airliner.

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For decades under Trippe’s leadership, Pan Am enjoyed huge success – being the first airline with a round-the-world route and the launch customer for the 747 Jumbo jet.

Pan Am also became the leading German domestic airline, connecting West Berlin with West Germany at a time when Lufthansa was not permitted to operate the route. It even had a sub-fleet of Boeing 727 planes based at Heathrow for serving destinations in Continental Europe.

But competition from budget airlines weakened Pan Am. In 1988, a London-New York jet was blown up over Lockerbie in Scotland, killing 270 people and further damaging the airline’s reputation. The downturn in air travel caused by the first Gulf War hit fare revenue.

In a bid to survive, Pan Am sold off the family silver: the lucrative shuttle operation connecting New York with Washington DC and Boston, its flagship “Worldport” terminal at Kennedy airport and the prized routes to Heathrow. But by the end of 1991, all operations had ceased.