"charity Flying Start the charity partnership between British Airways and Comic Relief. In May 2017, BA's entire fleet was grounded for two days, due to a failure of their IT system, which the company believed to be caused by too many cutbacks in the company. History of British Airways British Airways (BA), the United Kingdom's national airline, was formed in 1974 with the merger of the two largest UK airlines, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA), and including also two smaller regional airlines, Cambrian Airways and Northeast Airlines. The merger was the completion of a consolidation"
"were willing to pay extra for higher service levels. In September 2005, new CEO Willie Walsh announced dramatic changes to the management of British Airways, with the aim of saving by 2008, the cost of the airline's move to its new hub at Heathrow's Terminal 5. Walsh presided over the sale of BA Connect to Flybe, stating ""Despite the best efforts of the entire team at BA Connect, we do not see any prospect of profitability in its current form."" BA retained a 15% stake in Flybe following the sale. In June 2006, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and"
"the new airline later in 2002. On 1 February 2006 the airline was renamed BA Connect Limited operating as BA Connect and operations moved to a low-cost carrier model, with food sold via a 'buy on board' programme (except for flights to London City Airport). However, allocated seating and a baggage valet service were still available, while lounge access, tier points and BA Miles remained unaffected for those in the Executive Club. Operationally the new service came into effect on 26 March 2006. BA Connect handled most of British Airways' domestic and European services that do not serve London Heathrow"
"11 September attacks in 2001, and BA sold its stake in Qantas in September 2004. In 2005 Willie Walsh, managing director of Aer Lingus and a former pilot, became the chief executive officer of British Airways. BA unveiled its new subsidiary OpenSkies in January 2008, taking advantage of the liberalisation of transatlantic traffic rights between Europe and the United States. OpenSkies flies non-stop from Paris to New York's JFK and Newark airports. On July 2008 British Airways announced a merger plan with Iberia, another flag carrier airline in the Oneworld alliance, wherein each airline would retain its original brand. The"
"BA had previously operated a significant hub at Manchester Airport. Manchester to New York (JFK) services were withdrawn; later all international services outside London ceased when the subsidiary BA Connect was sold. Passengers wishing to travel internationally with BA either to or from regional UK destinations must now transfer in London. Heathrow Airport is dominated by British Airways, which owns 40% of the slots available at the airport. The majority of BA services operate from Terminal 5, with the exception of some short-haul and mid-haul flights at Terminal 1 arising from the purchase of BMI and some short-haul flights at"
"BA CityFlyer BA CityFlyer is a wholly owned subsidiary airline of British Airways with its head office in the Didsbury area of Manchester, England. It operates a network of domestic and European services from its main bases at London City Airport and Edinburgh Airport as well as other minor UK bases. All services operate with BA's full colours, titles and flight numbers. BA Cityflyer Limited holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, meaning that it is permitted to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats. British Airways' sale of BA Connect"
"in 1998, when it took over British Airways Regional services from Aberdeen to Birmingham and Manchester. They also introduced routes from Manchester to Edinburgh and Glasgow. In 1999 routes were introduced from Newcastle to Belfast and Copenhagen, and from Aberdeen to Oslo. On 28 March 2002 the airline was merged with British Regional Airlines and was renamed British Airways Citiexpress Limited operating as British Airways Citiexpress. British Airways Citiexpress pioneered and attained CAA Approval for the self-service boarding pass enabling passengers to print their own boarding passes at home. On 1 February 2006 the airline was renamed BA Connect Limited"
"a contract from the Irish Government to operate a daily return service from Knock, County Mayo to Dublin. This public service obligation (PSO) route operated for a period of three years as British Airways, with effect from 22 July 2005. The operation ceased in July 2008, the contract having been lost to Aer Arann. The airline also bought routes from Citiexpress in March 2004. It flew BA's British Aerospace ATPs on these routes until May 2005, when further Saab 340 aircraft were purchased to replace them. Until October 2008 Loganair was a British Airways franchisee, operating flights sold through BA"
"2 years of operations, the airline had filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations. From 2002, BA strongly marketed the full-service nature of its remaining domestic flights by the use of principal airports, and provision of complimentary food and drink. This came as a response to low-cost operators' aggressive pricing, even though its main full-service UK rival bmi later also abandoned some ""frills"" on its domestic network. In June 2003, the German subsidiary, Deutsche BA, was sold to investment group Intro Verwaltungsgesellschaft. On 8 September 2004, British Airways announced that it was to sell its 18.5% stake in Qantas, but would"
"Citiexpress was renamed BA Connect. CityFlyer Express CityFlyer Express was a short-haul regional airline with its head office in the Iain Stewart Centre next to London Gatwick Airport in England. In 1993 it became the first British Airways (BA) franchisee operating as ""British Airways Express"". CityFlyer's ownership passed to BA in 1999 when that company bought out the original promoters as well as 3i, the airline's main shareholder at the time. Initially, CityFlyer continued to operate as a separate unit, but it was eventually absorbed into British Airways' mainline short haul operation at Gatwick in 2001, the result of a"
"British Airways () for price-fixing. Although BA said fuel surcharges were ""a legitimate way of recovering costs"", in May 2007 it had put aside for legal fees and fines. In July 2009 Steve Ridgway, the CEO of Virgin Atlantic, admitted he knew about the illegal price-fixing at his airline and did nothing to stop it. In January 2008, BA unveiled its new subsidiary OpenSkies which took advantage of the liberalisation of transatlantic traffic rights, flying non-stop between major European cities and the United States. Operations between Paris and New York began with a single in June 2008. On 2 July"
"their franchise agreement with GB Airways a business subsequently sold to Easyjet. In October 2008 the daily New York–JFK service was also terminated and in March 2013, the frequent service to London–Gatwick was terminated as well. This leaves a BA Shuttle serving London Heathrow. American Airlines operations remain in Terminal 3 with daily flights to Philadelphia, but has terminated services to New York, Chicago, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Since taking over BA Connect's select routes, Flybe has gone on to add several more destinations. In 2012, Flybe introduced the ""mini hub"" concept co-ordinating the arrival and departure times of various"
"Go (airline) Go Fly (styled and trading as Go) was the name of a British low-cost airline, founded by British Airways (BA) in 1998. It operated flights between London Stansted Airport and destinations in Europe. The airline was purchased from BA in a management buy out backed by the private equity firm 3i in 2001. In May 2002, it was bought by its rival EasyJet, and was merged into the airline's operations by 2005. Its head office was in the Enterprise House in London Stansted Airport in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex. Bob Ayling, CEO of British Airways, approached EasyJet founder, Stelios"
"commented that it ""was not our finest hour ... the buck stops with me"". Two directors left BA in April 2008 over the troubled transition to Terminal 5. Walsh also declined his annual bonus over Terminal 5, despite record profits overall. By October 2008 Terminal 5 operations has settled and further long-haul flights were transferred over. On 30 July 2008, British Airways and Iberia Airlines announced a merger plan that would result in the two airlines joining forces in an all-stock transaction. The two airlines would retain their separate brands similar to KLM and Air France in their merger agreement."
"Damascus in Syria and Amman in Jordan were added to the network the following year, and the airline began flying a fortnightly charter service to Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan. In March 1997 the airline reached an agreement with British Airways, with BA withdrawing its competing services to Beirut, Damascus and Amman, leaving British Mediterranean as the sole operator on a BA franchise basis. Under this agreement the airline traded as British Airways, with all flights operated under BA flight codes (the range BA6500-6669 were allocated to BMED flights). All BMED aircraft were presented in full British Airways livery, appointed with"
"Airways (BEA). Maersk took over the former BEA operations, while its co-owner, British Airways, took over the ex-Brymon operations. Maersk Air UK commenced operations with BAC One-Eleven and Jetstream 31 aircraft. These were later replaced with Boeing 737-500s and a Jetstream 41. From 1999 these were again replaced with Bombardier CRJ200 and CRJ700s. The airline was sold through a management buyout to become Duo Airways. Birmingham Executive Airways, later Birmingham European Airways, was established in 1983. Based at Birmingham Airport, it operated a fleet of three Jetstream 31s, three Gulfstream Is and five BAC One-Elevens. The airline was designated carrier"
"(C.I.) and British United (Manx) Airways under the new name of Channel Islands and Manx Air Services (CIMAS) and ""third-level"" charter activities of Morton Air Services, as well as the BUA group's stakes in Bristow Helicopters, Gambia Airways, Sierra Leone Airways and Uganda Aviation Services. Air Holdings, the old parent company of the unreconstructed BUA group, became a separate holding company for British Air Ferries (BAF) and Aviation Traders, Freddie Laker's old company. It also assumed ownership of Air Ferry, Airwork Services, the BUA group's tour operators and the new L-1011 franchise for sales outside the US. B&C reportedly paid"
"airline called OpenSkies (previously known as “Project Lauren”). The airline started operations in June 2008, and flew directly from Paris—Orly to Newark. However it ceased operations on 2 September 2018 when it was replaced with Level flights on that route. British Airways Limited was established in 2012 to take over the operation of the premium service between London City Airport and New York-JFK. BA began the service in September 2009, using two Airbus A318s fitted with 32 lie-flat beds in an all business class cabin. Flights operate under the numbers previously reserved for Concorde: BA001 — BA004. The flights returned"
"2015, Qatar Airways purchased a 10% stake in International Airlines Group, the parent of British Airways and Iberia, for €1.2 billion (US$1.26 billion). BEA Helicopters was renamed British Airways Helicopters in 1974 and operated passenger and offshore oil support services until it was sold in 1986. Other former subsidiaries include the German airline Deutsche BA from 1997 until 2003 and the French airline Air Liberté from 1997 to 2001. British Airways also owned Airways Aero Association, the operator of the British Airways flying club based at Wycombe Air Park in High Wycombe, until it was sold to Surinder Arora in"
"747-400 and the Boeing 777, aimed to phase out the remaining Lockheed L-1011 TriStars and McDonnell. Six of the disposed TriStars ended up seeing service as aerial refuelling tankers in the Royal Air Force. Another acquisition was BA's first purchase from Airbus of A320 aircraft. In 1995, British Airways signed a franchise agreement with GB Airways, the airline at the time had been operating flights to holiday destinations for a number of years from Gatwick. The agreement was set to last until 2010 and the airline would operate all aircraft under the British Airways brand. By the time that GB"
"which both airlines bought new shares worth £6 million. Meanwhile, BA developed a plan to establish a series of regional airlines modeled after the United States. In addition to Brymon and Maersk Air UK, the franchising was adapted for BA CityFlyer. At the time of commencing operations in July 1993, Maersk Air UK operated a fleet of five BAC One-Elevens and three Jetstream 31s out of Birmingham Airport. Routes were flown to Amsterdam, Belfast, Copenhagen, Cork, Dublin, Glasgow, Milan, Newcastle and Stuttgart. As of 1994 it had 185 employees. The airline carried out a major overhaul of its fleet in"
"as an independent airline. The key trends for BMI over its later years are shown below (figures as at year ending 31 December, and include Bmibaby): Financial data was reported in pounds sterling, and then in euros, because BMI was fully consolidated into the Lufthansa group of airlines on 1 July 2009. By October 2012, BMI had codeshare agreements with the following airlines: Following the sale of bmi to IAG, the airline's fleet began to be transferred to BA. All aircraft were transferred and repainted in the BA livery, excluding two Airbus A330s which were returned to the lessors. At"
"losses, the airline was bought by BMI for £30 million in February 2007. The acquisition marked a change in strategy for BMI by focusing on more medium to long-haul routes. BMED's route network complemented BMI's existing routes. The British Airways franchise ended on 27 October 2007, when the airline was fully absorbed into BMI branding. Aircraft were gradually repainted in the BMI livery, and flights received BMI's flight codes. As part of the acquisition, BMI sold BMED's Heathrow slots to British Airways for £30 million, to be transferred in late 2008. BMED served the following on behalf of British Airways,"
"on 16 October 2014 to sell Glasgow, Southampton and Aberdeen airports to AGS Airports, a consortium of Ferrovial and Macquarie Group for £1 billion, to focus solely on Heathrow. As BAA, the company was adamant that its name did not officially stand for anything. It was still widely (albeit erroneously) referred to as the ""British Airports Authority"" by both the media and the public – even though the Authority was dissolved following the 1986 privatisation. The company's former logo, composed of three green triangles, was created by John Lloyd and Jim Northover of the design consultancy, Lloyd Northover, at the"
"British Airways Ltd (2012–15) British Airways Limited (BA) was a British airline created in 2012 by British Airways to operate the executive service between London City Airport and New York under the brand name Club World London City. The Club World London City services returned to being operated directly by British Airways PLC in 2015 although no changes were made to the aircraft, crews or product offered. The airline operated a twice daily service on weekdays between London City Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport with one daily service operating at weekends. Due to the short runway at London"
"(It had recorded a loss of £0.5mn in its first year of operation.) From this point onwards, the airline was to post a consistent profit. CityFlyer Express was the UK launch customer for the ATR 42 regional turboprop, acquiring two in 1992. In the same year Aer Lingus abandoned the Gatwick to Dublin service, allowing CityFlyer to step in with a daily service. BA's takeover of Dan-Air also left the Gatwick to Newcastle route vacant for the airline to assume, offering a three-times daily service and requiring a third ATR 42. The addition of Düsseldorf to the network in 1993"
"the case, giving £500,000 to Branson and a further £110,000 to his airline; furthermore, BA was to pay the legal fees of up to . Branson divided the compensation among his staff, the so-called ""BA bonus."" British Airways and Virgin Atlantic continued to be noticeably bitter and active rivals for many years afterwards. During the 1990s, British Airways became the world's most profitable airline under the slogan ""The World's Favourite Airline"". In 1992, it bought the small German domestic airline Delta Air Transport and renamed it Deutsche BA. By the time it was sold in June 2003, Deutsche BA was"
"Branson personally and £3 million legal costs. Lord King stepped down as chairman in 1993 and was replaced by his deputy, Colin Marshall, while Bob Ayling took over as CEO. Virgin filed a separate action in the US that same year regarding BA's domination of the trans-Atlantic routes, but it was thrown out in 1999. In 1992 British Airways expanded through the acquisition of the financially troubled Dan-Air, giving BA a much larger presence at Gatwick airport. British Asia Airways, a subsidiary based in Taiwan, was formed in March 1993 to operate between London and Taipei. That same month BA"
"British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier and the largest airline in the United Kingdom based on fleet size, or the second largest, behind easyJet, when measured by passengers carried. The airline is based in Waterside near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. 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. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the FTSE 100 Index. BA was created"
"full-service, low-fare airline. On 3 November 2006 it was announced that Flybe would buy BA Connect, except for that airline's services out of London City Airport. The takeover was complete in March 2007. The expanded airline's owners were Rosedale Aviation Holdings (69%), Flybe staff (16%) and – as a result of the BA Connect takeover – International Airlines Group (15%). The acquisition increased Flybe's route network in both the UK and continental Europe, making Flybe Europe's largest regional airline. On 14 January 2008 it was announced that Flybe had signed a franchise agreement with Scottish airline Loganair, to commence on"
"purchased a 25% stake in the Australian airline Qantas and, with the acquisition of Brymon Airways in May, formed British Airways Citiexpress (later BA Connect). In September 1998, British Airways, along with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and Canadian Airlines, formed the Oneworld airline alliance. Oneworld began operations on 1 February 1999, and is the third largest airline alliance in the world, behind SkyTeam and Star Alliance. Bob Ayling's leadership led to a cost savings of £750m and the establishment of a budget airline, Go, in 1998. The next year, however, British Airways reported an 84% drop in profits in"
"airline Air Kruise. The same year, BAS Group also took control of Aquila Airways, the last commercial flying boat operator in the United Kingdom. The completion of these acquisitions by mid-1954 resulted in a reorganisation of the British Aviation Services group, with British Aviation Services Ltd (BAS Group) becoming the group's holding company and Britavia one of its operating subsidiaries. By the late 1950s, BAS Group became Britain's largest independent airline operator. Its numerous operating divisions included Britavia's Hermes Division at Blackbushe Airport and Aquila Airways's Flying Boat Division at Hamble near Southampton. The former concentrated on trooping services and"
"time of the privatisation in 1986. The original BAA plc was acquired in 2006 by Airport Development and Investment Limited (ADI), a new company formed by the Ferrovial consortium. In October 2008 ADI changed its name to BAA Limited, and on 15 October 2012, the company announced that it had changed its name to Heathrow Airport Holdings. Colin Matthews, Chief Executive of the company, said that, given the reduction in the number of airports owned by the company, the BAA name was no longer appropriate; after the sale of Stansted, Heathrow Airport would account for 95% of the company's business."