British Airways

Overview

British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. The airline is the second largest UK based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers carried, behind easyJet. In 2011 BA merged with Iberia, creating the International Airlines Group (IAG). IAG is the world's third-largest airline group in terms of annual revenue and the second-largest in Europe. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the FTSE 100 Index. British Airways is the first passenger airline to have generated more than US$1 billion on a single air route in a year (JFK-Heathrow route). 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 and British European Airways, and two regional airlines, Cambrian Airways and Northeast Airlines. In 1974, all four companies were merged to form British Airways. It marked 2019 as its centenary. After almost 13 years as a state company, BA was privatised in 1987 as part of a wider privatisation plan by the government. The carrier expanded with the acquisition of British Caledonian in 1987, Dan-Air in 1992, and British Midland International in 2012. 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.