Cartographer's Office
Historical Flight Maps & Aeronautical Charts
A high-resolution gallery of British aeronautical cartography. From hand-drawn Imperial Airways route charts to modern airspace plates, each map records how the nation learned to navigate its skies.
Request Map AccessFeatured Map Collections
Our cartographic holdings span more than a century of route planning, airspace design and navigational science. Selected collections are highlighted below.
Imperial Airways Route Charts
Original 1930s Empire route charts, including the All-Red Route to Australia and Mediterranean flying-boat corridors, drawn before radio navigation was widespread.
Approach & Landing Plates
Instrument approach plates for the UK's principal aerodromes, tracing the shift from visual circuits to precision ILS procedures across five decades.
Airspace & Airway Diagrams
Enroute airway charts documenting the growth of controlled airspace over Britain, from post-war corridors to today's terminal control areas.
Archive Catalogue Highlights
A selection of individually catalogued charts available to accredited researchers on request.
Croydon Aerodrome Circuit (1928)
Hand-inked circuit and landmark chart used by Imperial Airways pilots operating the London terminal of the Empire network.
Reference: CART-1928-014
North Atlantic Track Chart (1958)
Organised track system chart from the early jet era, illustrating the transatlantic corridors that connected London with New York.
Reference: CART-1958-233
London Terminal Area (1974)
Terminal control area diagram showing the layered airspace around Heathrow and Gatwick as hub operations intensified.
Reference: CART-1974-091
Map Reproduction Enquiries
Request high-resolution reproductions or provenance details for any chart in the collection.