British Airways is one of the world’s largest and most prestigious airlines.
It was established on 31 March 1974 following the merger of the two nationalised airline corporations, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA), and the two regional airlines, Cambrian Airways and Northeast Airlines.
In 1987, BA became the first nationalised European flag carrier to be privatised and, later the same year, bought its main rival, British Caledonian.
British Airways is a member of the Oneworld airline alliance which was founded in 1999 with BA as one of its founding members. In 2011 a merger with Iberia was finalised leading to the formation of the International Airlines Group (IAG). The Group has subsequently purchased British Midland Airways, Vueling and Aer Lingus.
G-BNLA at LHR August 1994 (Photo: Tim Rees, distributed under a GFDL 1.2 Licence)
Current Operations
British Airways is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom and one of the World’s leading airlines. It operates a worldwide network of flights using a fleet of over 280 aircraft. BA has two, fully owned, subsidiaries, BA CityFlyer (established in 2007) and BA EuroFlyer (established in 2022).
British Airways Airport Bases
British Airways’ main base and hub is at London Heathrow Airport. It also has a significant presence at London Gatwick Airport and London City Airport, which are the main bases of BA EuroFlyer and BA CityFlyer respectively.
British Airways Destinations
British Airways has a worldwide route network serving more than two hundred destinations in over eighty countries covering 7 continents. BA CityFlyer and BA EuroFlyer add to its network of domestic and European services.
British Airways Aircraft Fleet
The current fleet comprises:
Airbus A319-100 G-DBCH on final approach to London Heathrow. (Nigel Richardson)
- 30x Airbus A319-100
Airbus A320neo G-TTNA. (Colin Cooke, distributed under CC BY-SA 2.0)
- 57x Airbus A320-200
- 20x Airbus A320neo
Airbus A321neo G-NEOU on departure from Manchester Airport. (Nigel Richardson)
- 2x Airbus A321-200
- 12x Airbus A321neo
Airbus A350-1000 G-XWBD on final approach to London Heathrow. (Steve Lunes, distributed under CC BY 2.0)
- 17x Airbus A350-1000
Airbus A380-800 G-XLEF on stand at London Heathrow Terminal 5. (Tony Hisgett, distributed under CC BY 2.0)
- 12x Airbus A380-800
Boeing 777-200 G-YMMB approaching London Heathrow. (Nigel Richardson)
- 43x Boeing 777-200
Boeing 777-300 G-STBA. (Mark Harkin, distributed under CC BY 2.0)
- 16x Boeing 777-300
Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner G-ZBJF. (Anna Zvereva, distributed under CC BY-SA 2.0)
- 12x Boeing 787-8
Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner G-ZBKK approaching London Heathrow. (Mitchul Hope, distributed under CC BY-SA 2.0)
- 18x Boeing 787-9
The largest member of the Boeing787 family, 787-10 G-ZBLB. (Alan Wilson, distributed under CC BY-SA 2.0)
- 7x Boeing 787-10
In addition,
Embraer E190LR G-LCAD. Twenty of the type are operated on domestic and European flights from London City Airport by BA CityFlyer. (MarcelX42, distributed under CC BY-SA 4.0)
BA CityFlyer’s fleet comprises:
- 20x Embraer E190LR
BA EuroFlyer’s fleet comprises:
Airbus A320-200 G-EUYT. (Nigel Richardson)
- 9x Airbus A320-200
- 9x Airbus A321-200
Author
