British Airways Logo

Missing image
Ba.b747.750pix.jpg
British Airways Boeing 747
Missing image
Ba.concorde.g-boac.719pix.jpg
British Airways Concorde, since retired
Missing image
Ba.a319-131.g-eupo.750pix.jpg
British Airways Airbus A319
Missing image
Ba.b737-436.g-docp.800pix.jpg
British Airways Boeing 737-400
Missing image
Ba.b767-300.g-bzhb.800pix.jpg
British Airways Boeing 767
Missing image
Ba.b757-200.g-cpen.750pix.jpg
British Airways Boeing 757

This article deals with the modern airline British Airways. For the 1930s airline of similar name see British Airways Ltd.

British Airways is the largest airline of the United Kingdom, and the largest in Europe. It is also one of the largest airlines in the world, with the greatest number of flights from Europe to North America.

Table of contents
1 History
2 Current Operations
3 Aircraft Fleet

3.1 Main fleet
3.2 Regional Fleet & Subsidiaries

4 Destinations

4.1 Africa
4.2 Asia

4.2.1 East Asia
4.2.2 South Asia
4.2.3 Southeast Asia
4.2.4 Southwest Asia

4.3 Europe
4.4 North America

4.4.1 United States, Canada, and Mexico
4.4.2 Bermuda and the Caribbean

4.5 Oceania
4.6 South America

5 Other facts of interest
6 IATA Code
7 ICAO Code
8 External links
[edit]

History

British Airways was formed in 1973 from the merger of the state owned British Overseas Airways Corporation and British European Airways (BEA). During the fiscal year ending 2002, BA carried 40 million passengers on revenues exceeding GBP 8 billion. The flag carrier was privatised and floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1987 by the Conservative government of Mrs. Thatcher.

[edit]

Current Operations

British Airways is based at London Heathrow Airport in London, England. It also has a commanding presence at Gatwick. BA has succeeded in dominating Heathrow to the point that the airport is commonly referred to as Fortress Heathrow within both the airline and its competitors.

As an incumbent airline, BA had grandfather rights to around 36% of takeoff and landing slots at Heathrow, many of which are used for the lucrative trans-Atlantic market. Some competitors, such as Virgin Atlantic, bmi British Midland and United Airlines, assert that this stifles competition and some political think tanks recommend an auction of slots. In recent years British Airways has been buying slots from other airlines including United Airlines, SN Brussels and Swiss International Air Lines, and now owns about 40% of slots at Heathrow.

Some British Airways services are operated by various subsidiaries and franchisees including British Airways Citiexpress, British Mediterranean Airways, Sun-Air (Denmark) and Loganair.

British Airways owns just under 20% of Qantas, and are very closely aligned on the Kangaroo routes (such as sharing revenue). In 1998, BA established Go, a low-cost susbsidiary intended to compete in the rapidly emerging "no-frills" segment. After four years of successful operations, the airline was sold off and merged with easyJet.

British Airways is pioneering the use of "flat beds" in the premium cabins on their long-haul routes and have the most flat beds of any airline on their aircraft.

British Airways is a founding member of the oneworld airline alliance.

[edit]

Aircraft Fleet

Up until recently for its main fleet, BA has traditionally been a Boeing customer. This has been always been a subject of controversy, as many feel that as a British carrier, BA should support the British manufacturing industry and buy Airbus jets. The company has defended its decision by arguing that with the exception of the 777 fleet, it has always equipped its Boeing aircraft with British made Rolls-Royce engines. This goes back to the 1960s, when BOAC were replacing its accident-prone Comet aircraft with Boeing 707s - a condition was placed on the company that it used Rolls-Royce power for the new jets.

However, it has operated non-Boeing planes in the past mainly as a result of takeovers and joint agreements with other airlines. One example of this were those planes acquired through the buyout of British Caledonian Airways in the 1980s, and successfully operated both the Douglas DC-10 and Airbus A320 for a number of years. The latter was significant, as BA's successful operations with the ex-BCAL A320s led to it placing a huge order for the type (and its smaller brother the A319) to replace its own ageing fleet of Boeing 737s. BA is also rumoured to be in secret talks with Boeing over its proposed 747-Advanced (which will compete with the Airbus A380), despite public announcements that it plans to reduce the size of its 747 fleet in favour of the 777.

British Airways was an operator of the famous Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde supersonic airliner. BA had a daily Concorde service between London and New York. Throughout its life, the Concorde was very much an expensive flight-of-fancy, and could only be operated profitably by flying first-class passengers at exorbitant ticket prices affordable only by the rich. With the Paris Crash in 2000, followed by the 9/11 terrorist attacks the following year, coupled to escalating maintenance costs, the writing was on the wall for Concorde. It was announced (on April 10, 2003) that, after October 24, 2003, they would cease scheduled services with Concorde, due to depressed passenger numbers. The last day of its Saturday-only London Heathrow to Barbados Concorde flight was on August 30, 2003.

The regional fleet is much more varied, and some of these aircraft are shared with BA's partner subsidiaries.


[edit]

Main fleet

  • Boeing 747-400
  • Boeing 777
  • Boeing 767
  • Boeing 757
  • Boeing 737
  • Airbus A319/A320
[edit]

Regional Fleet & Subsidiaries

[edit]

Destinations

British Airways flies to destinations in Europe, North America, South America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australia.

The list does not include cities only served by British Airways Citiexpress, GB Airways, British Mediterranean Airways, or other affiliated regional carriers.

[edit]

Africa

  • Egypt
    • Cairo (Cairo International Airport)
  • Ghana
    • Accra (Kotoka International Airport)
  • Kenya
    • Nairobi (Jomo Kenyatta International Airport)
  • Nigeria
    • Abuja
    • Lagos
  • Libya
  • South Africa
    • Cape Town (Cape Town International Airport)
    • Johannesburg (Johannesburg International Airport)
  • Tanzania
    • Dar Es Salaam
  • Uganda
    • Entebbe
[edit]

Asia

[edit]

East Asia

[edit]

South Asia

  • India
    • Chennai (Chennai International Airport)
    • Delhi (Indira Gandhi International Airport)
    • Kolkata
    • Mumbai (Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport)
[edit]

Southeast Asia

  • Singapore
    • Singapore (Changi International Airport)
  • Thailand
    • Bangkok (Don Muang International Airport)
[edit]

Southwest Asia

  • Bahrain
    • Manama (Bahrain International Airport)
  • Israel
    • Tel Aviv (Ben Gurion International Airport)
  • Kuwait
    • Kuwait City (Kuwait International Airport)
  • Oman
    • Muscat (Seeb International Airport)
  • Qatar
    • Doha (Doha International Airport)
  • Saudi Arabia
    • Jeddah
    • Riyadh (King Khalid International Airport)
  • United Arab Emirates
    • Abu Dhabi (Abu Dhabi International Airport)
    • Dubai (Dubai International Airport)
[edit]

Europe

[edit]

North America

[edit]

United States, Canada, and Mexico

[edit]

Bermuda and the Caribbean

  • Antigua and Barbuda
    • Antigua
  • Bahamas
    • Nassau
  • Barbados
    • Bridgetown
  • Bermuda
    • Bermuda (Bermuda International Airport)
  • Cayman Islands
    • Grand Cayman (Owen Roberts International Airport)
  • Grenada
    • Grenada
  • Jamaica
    • Kingston (Norman Manley International Airport)
  • Saint Lucia
    • Vieux-Fort (Hewanorra International Airport)
  • Trinidad and Tobago
    • Tobago
[edit]

Oceania

[edit]

South America

  • Argentina
    • Buenos Aires (Ministro Pistarini International Airport)
  • Brazil
    • Rio de Janeiro
    • São Paulo (Guarulhos International Airport)
  • Venezuela
    • Caracas (Maiquetia International Airport)
  • Colombia
    • Bogota (El Dorado International Airport)
[edit]

Other facts of interest

  • British Airways and Air France were the only two Concorde operators.
  • The airline is the largest operator of the Boeing 747-400, with 57 aircraft.
  • British Airways aircraft generally use the Airline call sign "Speedbird" in ATC radio transmissions. On UK Domestic routes some flights use "Shuttle" as their call sign.
  • During the 1990s, British Airways repainted (and re-named) many of their airplanes in colour schemes relating to countries they fly to.
  • British Airways has featured prominently in recent James Bond films, most notably an air-air shot of a BA 747 in Die Another Day.
[edit]

IATA Code

British Airways uses the IATA designator code BA.

[edit]

ICAO Code

British Airways uses the ICAO designator code BAW.

[edit]

External links


Members of the oneworld Alliance Missing image
Oneworld_logo.jpg
Logo: oneworld

Aer Lingus | American Airlines | British Airways | Cathay Pacific | Finnair | Iberia Airlines | Lan | Qantas


List of Aircraft | Aircraft Manufacturers | Aircraft Engines | Aircraft Engine Manufacturers
Airlines | Air Forces | Aircraft Weapons | Missiles | Years in Aviation



Retrieved from "http://www.irelandinformationguide.com/British_Airways"

Advertise your
website with:
Irish Website
Advertising
Can you help us? Are the recent changes correct?
Hosted in Ireland at the Servecentric Dublin Colocation Datacenter
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article of the same name which can be found here