Pan Am’s $60,000 Experience of Historic Trans-Atlantic Routes Onboard a Private Boeing 757

Pan Am, one of the most legendary airlines in aviation history, is taking to the sky once more to recreate two of its iconic transatlantic routes in an epic 12-day trip.

The journey, accommodating up to 50 passengers, will depart from New York City on June 27, 2025, in less than a year. The 12-day trip will include Bermuda, Lisbon, Marseille, London, and Foynes (Ireland) stops. 

The first part of the trip will recreate the iconic Pan Am southern transatlantic route from New York to Marseille, while the return from London to New York will honor Pan Am’s northern transatlantic crossing.

Exciting for aviation enthusiasts, the trip will be operated by a chartered Boeing 757-200 aircraft with a 2-2, all-business class configuration. The aircraft will adopt an exclusive Pan Am livery to celebrate the occasion.

Guests on this once-in-a-lifetime experience will be treated to luxury accommodations at each destination, including the Waldof-Astoria in New York, the Four Seasons in Lisbon, and Dromoland Castle in Foynes. 

Tickets for Pan Am’s 12-day trip start at $59,950 per person at double occupancy or $65,500 for solo travelers.

Commenting on the historic journey, Craig Carter, CEO of Pan American World Airways and owner of Pan Am brands, said: “Since 1927, Pan Am has left an indelible mark on the world. 

From humble beginnings as the first commercial carrier for the US Air Mail, Pan Am’s founder, Juan T Trippe, created a vast aviation empire across the globe, bringing the world closer together one flight at a time. 

This journey, tracing the original Pan Am Southern Transatlantic Route between New York and Marseilles and the Northern Transatlantic route between London and New York, has been painstakingly designed to honor the unmatched legacy of Pan Am most respectfully.”

History of Pan Am’s Trans-Atlantic Crossings

As suggested by the revival of two historic transatlantic crossings, Pan Am was vital in pioneering the modern jet age. 1937 Pan Am began flying between New York and Bermuda using an S-42B, a flying boat built by Sikorsky Aircraft. 

Later that year, Pan Am began surveying possible routes across the vast Atlantic Ocean. Pan Am Captain Harold Gray flew the Pan American Clipper III between New York and Foynes, Shediac, and Botwood. Later survey flights charted the southern Atlantic crossing between New York and Marseille via Bermuda and Lisbon. 

Pan Am’s first official transatlantic crossing was a mail service that flew the southern route across the Atlantic. On May 20, 1939, a B-314 Yankee Clipper departed New York and, after 27 hours, landed in Lisbon before continuing to Marseille the next day. 

A month later, on June 24, 1939, the Yankee Clipper also flew a mail flight via the northern route from New York to England with stops including Foynes.

Passengers were soon able to purchase tickets on these flights in June 1939, selling for around $375 for a one-way ticket or $675 for a round-trip ticket, equivalent to $12,000 today. These commercial operations regularly transported 15 to 25 passengers each way, along with other cargo like mail.  

As Linda Freire, Chair of the Pan Am Museum Foundation and a former Pan Am flight attendant, said, “The notion that a commemorative Pan Am flight will celebrate all we stood for is a testament to the brand's strength and what the airline and its people stood for. 

Pan Am’s legacy in world history and the airline’s pioneering achievements in aviation live on. I can’t wait to see the aircraft with Pan Am livery taking off from JFK.”

Pan Am’s 2025 recreation of two of its most iconic transatlantic crossings allows us to remember the tremendous impact Pan Am had on aviation. While the carrier last flew in 2004, its legacy continues to live on today ten years later.