British Airways

British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England. The airline is the second-largest UK based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers carried, behind easyJet. The airline has its flights to more than 150 locations across the globe and it is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance, along with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and the now-defunct Canadian Airlines. The alliance has since grown to become the third-largest, after SkyTeam and Star Alliance. The company has almost 300 aircraft in its fleet, including Boeing and Airbus planes.

The company slogan is “To Fly. To Serve".

In January 2011 BA merged with Iberia, creating the International Airlines Group (IAG), a holding company registered in Madrid, Spain. IAG is the world's third-largest airline group in terms of annual revenue and the second-largest in Europe.

BA was created in 1974 after a British Airways Board was established by the British government to manage the two nationalised airline corporations, British Overseas Airways Corporation and British European Airways, and two regional airlines, Cambrian Airways and Northeast Airlines. On 31 March 1974, all four companies were merged to form British Airways. However, British Airways can trace its origins back to the birth of civil aviation, the pioneering days following World War I. In the 100 years that have passed since the world's first schedule air service on 25 August 1919, air travel has changed beyond all recognition.

On 25 August 1919 Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited (AT&T), a forerunner company of today’s British Airways, launched the world’s first daily international scheduled air service, between London and Paris. That first flight, which took off from Hounslow Heath, close to today’s Heathrow Airport, carried a single passenger and cargo that included newspapers, Devonshire cream, jam and grouse. After almost 13 years as a state company, BA was privatised in February 1987 as part of a wider privatisation plan by the Conservative government. The carrier expanded with the acquisition of British Caledonian in 1987, Dan-Air in 1992, and British Midland International in 2012. Its pre-eminence highlights the reach of the country's influence as many of its destinations in several regions were historically part of the British Empire.

Customers have voted British Airways staff as the best in Europe at the Skytrax 2019 World Airline Awards. British Airways is Certified as a 4-Star Airline for the quality of its airport and onboard product and staff service.