Imperial Airways ordered eight aircraft, all of which had been delivered by 1933. The first service was flown from Croydon Airport to Brussels and then Cologne on 26 September 1932. The prototype G-ABPI left Croydon Airport on 5 January 1933 on a proving flight to Cape Town, South Africa. Three other aircraft joined it in South Africa to fly the service between Cape Town and Kisumu. Demand on the route was such that the Atalanta proved to lack sufficient capacity, thus necessitating its substitution by the de Havilland Hercules.