First flight cover

Registered first flight cover Imperial Airways Empire Airmail service from Zanzibar to Kenya on 1 July 1927 with stamp cancelled by cachet/postmark that includes the phrase "First Flight Cover"

In aerophilately, a branch of philately, a first flight cover, also known by the acronym FFC, is mail that has been carried on an inaugural flight of an airline, route, or aircraft,[1] normally postmarked with the date of the flight[2] often of the arrival destination proving it was actually carried on the aircraft[3] and may have a special flight cachet[4]: 184  and/or an arrival postmark. Because many first flight covers are essentially made as collectables they can be considered philatelic mail though others consider them to be postal history.[5]

  1. ^ "Glossary of Aerophilatelic Covers". American Air Mail Society. 2013. Archived from the original on 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
  2. ^ "Glossary of Postal Terms: Publication 32" (pdf). United States Postal Service. July 2013. p. 85. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
  3. ^ Carlton, R. Scott (1997). The International Encyclopædic Dictionary of Philately. Iola, WI: Krause Publications. p. 88. ISBN 0-87341-448-9.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference hornung was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Finch, John. "Different Types Of Collecting Philatelic Covers". About.com. Archived from the original on 2015-03-31. Retrieved 2015-04-24.