For more than 100 years, airlines have been charting their networks. Every airline with regular scheduled service has created a map of its routes, connecting two points on a map with a line that darts across countries and continents, crossing time zones and cultural frontiers. These maps are often beautifully designed and illustrated in a myriad of styles. Direction of Travel charts their progress, examines their designs and their makers, and explores the history of the airlines behind them.

We also use these maps as visual jumping-off points to explore the culture of flying. We look at how aviation has transformed the way we move around the planet and the impact it has had on the cities we call home. We examine airports, their role and significance in the past and present, and how routes that once required multiple stops can now be completed in a single journey.

For decades, we have taken flying for granted. Prices have dropped, and more cities are connected than ever before, but there are still gaps in the global network. We also look at the countries and regions that remain unconnected, as well as routes that are no longer served.

However, progress comes at a cost, and we can no longer ignore that aviation contributes between 3% and 5% of global carbon emissions. This raises questions such as whether we should stop flying altogether, how we will fly in the future – less frequently or not at all – or whether we need to find wholly different ways to travel. These are just a few of the many subjects that Direction of Travel aims to explore.