By Ajay Singh Asiaweek Pictures IN THE AIR Listen up, you computer generation whipper snappers. Mind you, air travel has come a long way since the first transpacific flight in 1928. That crossing from San Francisco to Brisbane took 83 hours. No doubt a killer on your knees, but one filled with romance and adventure. Hop on and, unless you're flying first class, you can't wait to get off.
Air travel is taken for granted.
Yet without it, trade, commerce and the all-important tourism industry would be stuck on a 19th century timetable. Instead, Australian lobsters land fresh on Ginza dinner plates and Dutch tulips bloom in Hong Kong street stalls. Foreigners come with tales of different lands, and millions of Asians are able to venture abroad - sometimes to stay. Asian immigration in the jet age has changed societies around the world. And the silver birds show no signs of nesting.