British Airways operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft.It operates a single-aisle fleet of Airbus A320 family aircraft.It also operates a twin-aisle fleet of Airbus A350, Airbus A380, Boeing 777, and Boeing 787 aircraft.
IAG's cargo division, IAG Cargo, handles cargo operations using capacity on British Airways' passenger aircraft.IAG reached an agreement with Qatar Airways in 2014 to operate flights for IAG Cargo using Boeing 777F aircraft owned by Qatar Airways Cargo.[9]
Order history
Except for the Boeing 707 and early Boeing 747 variants from BOAC, British Airways inherited a mainly UK-built fleet of aircraft when it was formed in 1974.The airline introduced the Boeing 737 and Boeing 757 into the fleet in the 1980s, followed by the Boeing 747-400, Boeing 767 and Boeing 777 in the 1990s.BA was the largest Boeing 747-400 operator, with 57 in its fleet.[11][12] Before the introduction of the 787, when Boeing built an aircraft for British Airways, it was allocated the customer code 36, which appeared in their aircraft designation as a suffix, such as 777-236.[13]
In 1991, British Airways placed its first order for Boeing 777-200 aircraft, ordering another four for fleet expansion in 2007 at a cost of around US$800 million.[14] BA's first 777s were fitted with
British Airways World Cargo was the airline's freight division before its merger with Iberia Cargo to form IAG Cargo.
Aircraft types used by the division between 1974 and 1983 were Vickers 953C, Boeing 707-300C and Boeing 747-200F.
The Boeing 747-400F was operated from the 1990s to 2001 through Atlas Air and from 2002 to early 2012 by Global Supply Systems; of these, only one of Atlas Air's aircraft wore BA livery, the others flew in Atlas and Global Supply's own colours.
From 2012 until Global Supply System's contract terminated in 2014, three Boeing 747-8F aircraft were flown for British Airways World Cargo.[10]
Gallery
General Electric GE90
engines.
Still, BA switched to Rolls-Royce Trent 800s for subsequent aircraft.[15][16]
Later in 2007, British Airways announced their order of 36 new long-haul aircraft, including 12 Airbus A380s and 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners.[17]Rolls-Royce Trent engines were again selected for both orders with Trent 900s powering the A380s and Trent 1000s powering the 787s. The Boeing 787s were scheduled to replace 14 of BA's Boeing 767s, while the Airbus A380s were planned to replace 20 of BA's Boeing 747-400s.
On 1 August 2008, British Airways announced orders for 6 Boeing 777-300ERs and options for four more as an interim measure to cover for delays over the deliveries of their 787s. Of the six that have been ordered, four will be leased and BA will fully acquire two.[18]
On 22 April 2013, British Airways parent International Airlines Group (IAG) confirmed that it had signed a memorandum of understanding to order 18 Airbus A350-1000 XWB aircraft for BA, with an option for a further 18.The aircraft would replace some of the airline's fleet of Boeing 747-400s.[19] Options for 18 Boeing 787 aircraft, part of the original contract signed in 2007 providing a total of 28 options, have been converted into firm orders for delivery between 2017 and 2021, leaving only 10 options left to be firmed.[20]
On 26 June 2013, British Airways took delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The aircraft began operations in Toronto on 1 September 2013 and began service to Newark on 1 October 2013.[21] BA's first A380 was delivered on 4 July 2013.[22] It began regular services to Los Angeles on 24 September 2013, followed by Hong Kong on 22 October 2013.[23]
On 28 February 2019, IAG ordered up to 42 Boeing 777-9 aircraft for British Airways, 18 firm orders with 24 options, valued at up to $18.6 billion (~$ in ), to replace BA's 747-400s.[7]
At the 2019 Paris Air Show, IAG signed a letter of intent to purchase 200 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, despite the type still being grounded worldwide at the time.[24][25]
In July 2019, the British carrier took delivery of its first Airbus A350-1000 XWB aircraft, fitted without First, but with more of the new Club Suites.[26]
On 16 July 2020, British Airways announced it was immediately retiring their remaining Airbus A318-100 and Boeing 747-400 aircraft, the last of the latter having flown the previous month.BA had originally intended to phase out the last remaining 747 aircraft by 2024, but pushed the plans behind, in part due to the downturn in air travel following COVID-19 pandemic, and to focus on replacing the 747 with the more fuel-efficient Airbus A350, Airbus A380 and Boeing 787.[27]
On 27 October 2022, IAG ordered an additional 37 Airbus A320neo aircraft (in addition to an earlier order), taking the total order to 59.[28] The aircraft (a mix of A320neo and A321neo) will support British Airways' ongoing replacement of its remaining legacy A320ceo fleet delivered from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, including the eventual retirement of all A319 aircraft, as well as A320ceo family aircraft that were inherited as part of the 2012 takeover of British Midland International.
On 28 July 2023, IAG converted six of the ten remaining options for the Boeing 787 into firm orders for the 787-10 and added six more options for the variant to be allocated to British Airways, and converted one option for the Airbus A350-900 into a firm order to be allocated to Iberia.[29]
On 9 May 2025, IAG ordered up to 76 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing, out of which 32 firm orders and 10 options for the Boeing 787-10 will be allocated to British Airways, and 21 firm orders and 13 options for the Airbus A330-900 will be allocated to Aer Lingus, Iberia and LEVEL.It also revealed the firming of options for 18 additional aircraft, including six Airbus A350-1000 aircraft and six Boeing 777-9 aircraft for British Airways, and six Airbus A350-900 aircraft for Iberia.[30]
