The Tupolev Tu-104 (NATO reporting name: Camel) was a twinjet, medium-range, narrow-body turbojet-powered Soviet airliner. It was the second to enter regular service, behind the British de Havilland Comet, and was the only jetliner operating in the world from 1956 to 1958, when the British jetliner was grounded due to safety concerns.
In 1957, Czechoslovak Airlines – ČSA, (now Czech Airlines) became the first airline in the world to fly a route exclusively with jet airliners, using the Tu-104A variant between Prague and Moscow. In civil service, the Tu-104 carried over 90 million passengers with Aeroflot (then the world’s largest airline), and a lesser number with ČSA, while it also was operated by the Soviet Air Force.