User talk:Mike Cline/Articles Under Contemplation/Airmail Stamp

An Airmail stamp is a postage stamp issued by a postal administration typically denominated to pay postage for a special class of postal service called Airmail. Airmail stamps are also known as Air Post stamps. Airmail stamps are typically distinct from regular postage stamps by the inclusion of some wording indicating Airmail. Common wording found on airmail stamps to distinguish them from other postage stamps includes:

• Air Mail
• Par Avion
• Arienne
• Luftpost
• Luchtpost
• Flugpost
• Correo Aereo

Some postal authorities have overprinted and/or surcharged regular definitive or commemorative stamps with some image or wording that designated them as airmail stamps. Within most postal systems, airmail stamps could be used to pay regular postage as well and regular postage issues could be used to pay airmail rates.

Aerophilately is the branch of philately that specializes in the study of airmail to include official, semi-official and un-official airmail stamps. Semi-offiical and un-official airmail stamps were generally issued to frank mail to be carried on an experimental or demonstration flight and not for regular airmail routes. Some philatelic publications have considered regular postage stamps that were denominated to pay a normal airmail rate and depicted an airplane or air transport theme as airmail stamps.

The earliest known issue of official airmail stamps was the 1918 U.S.