2.
Flag carrier of the United Kingdom and its biggest airline with respect to
fleet size, international flights, and international destinations, but the
second-biggest when measured by passengers, behind easyJet.
Headquartered in Waterside by its primary hub at London Heathrow
Airport.
The British government founded a British Airways board in 1972 to
supervise the two nationalised airline companies, British Overseas
Airways Corporation and British European Airways, and two smaller
regional airlines, Cambrian Airways (from Cardiff) and Northeast
Airlines (from Newcastle upon Tyne); all four corporations merged to
found British Airways on 31 March 1974.
As part of a wider privatisation plan by the Conservative government,
British Airways was privatised in February 1987, after nearly 13 years as
a state corporation.
Member of the Oneworld airline alliance and, with American Airlines,
Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and the now defunct Canadian Airlines, one of its
five founding members; that alliance has since become the third-biggest
airline alliance, after SkyTeam and Star Alliance.
Bought Iberia on 21 January 2011, which created the International
Airlines Group (IAG), the third-biggest airline group in the world in
relation to yearly income and the second-biggest in Europe; IAG is listed
on the London Stock Exchange in the FTSE 100 Index.
Long-time Boeing buyer; ordered 59 Airbus A320 family aircraft in
August 1998; also bought 12 Airbus A380s and 24 Boeing 787
Dreamliners, which marked the beginning of its long-haul fleet
replacement.
The Boeing 747-400 is the focus of the airline’s long-haul fleet;
with 55 examples in the fleet, British Airways operates more 747400s than any other airline.
5.
British Airways serves more than 160 destinations, six of them
domestic; along with Air France, Delta Air Lines, Emirates,
Etihad Airways, Korean Air, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Singapore
Airlines, South African Airways, and United Airlines, it is one of
the only airlines to operate flights to all six populated continents.
6.
British Airways has codeshare agreements
and/or partnerships with these airlines:
Aer Lingus
Air Berlin
American Airlines
Bangkok Airways
Cathay Pacific
Finnair
Flybe
Iberia
Japan Airlines
JetBlue
LAN Airlines
Loganair
Malaysia Airlines
Meridiana Fly
Qantas
Qatar Airways
Royal Jordanian
S7 Airlines
WestJet
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YouTube links:
British Airways Advert 2011: To Fly. To Serve (HD):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XozHLoqwp_4
British Airways Advert 2013: Today. Tomorrow.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1M0pbxNUF8
British Airways safety video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sM7raddY6E