Flying the Southern Cross Route

International Terminal

Aviation Museum & Library, Departures – Level 3

Jan 08, 2022 - Apr 02, 2023

Flying the Southern Cross Route
Seventy-Five years of Australian Commercial Air Service to North America

Following the historic first flight from North America to Australia by Charles Kingsford Smith and crew in 1928, the transpacific “Southern Cross” route— named after the aircraft they flew, the Fokker F.VIIb/3m Southern Cross—received worldwide fame. After World War II, BCPA (British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines) and ANA (Australian National Airways) commenced commercial air services on their branded “Southern Cross Route” between Australia and San Francisco via Fiji and Hawai’i. When Qantas Empire Airways acquired BCPA in 1954, the airline assumed operations of the route. Since then, Qantas has continuously offered premier air service between the two continents on the most advanced airliners of the day. Through a diverse collection of airliner models, promotional items, meal service wares, cabin crew uniforms, and photographs, Flying the Southern Cross Route presents a legacy of Australian air service on this long celebrated route that connects two diverse regions and both hemispheres.

Learn more! Download the Flying the Southern Cross Route education program here

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Qantas Empire Airways advertisement 1950s
paper, ink
Collection of SFO Museum
Gift of Qantas Airways Limited
1999.045.002
R2020.2501.012

BCPA (British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines) stewardess Daughne Kelpe on the stairs next to a BCPA Douglas DC-4 late 1940s

BCPA (British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines) coaster and ashtray c. 1950

Qantas Empire Airways Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation at San Francisco International Airport c. 1955

Qantas Empire Airways Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation model aircraft 1950s

Qantas Airways Boeing 707 model aircraft c. 2006

Qantas Airways flight hostess dress 1974

Qantas Airways male service director uniform 1974

Qantas Airways “Alice Springs” first-class meal service set 1970s

Qantas Airways female flight attendant uniform 1986

Qantas Airways first class meal service set 1990s

Qantas Airways female flight attendant dress and name tag 2003

Qantas Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner model aircraft c. 2019

Gallery Map

Flying the Southern Cross Route

International Terminal

Flying the Southern Cross Route Seventy-Five years of Australian Commercial Air Service to North America

Flying the Southern Cross Route
Seventy-Five years of Australian Commercial Air Service to North America