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British Airways fleet

Aircraft operated by British Airways From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the mainline British Airways fleet, including the historical fleets of British Airways. For information about the fleet of British Airways CityFlyer operations, see BA CityFlyer. For information about the fleet of British Airways EuroFlyer operations, see BA EuroFlyer.

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.

Current fleet

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Passenger fleet

As of April 2025, British Airways operates the following mainline aircraft:[1][2][3]

More information Aircraft, In service ...
British Airways fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers[4] Notes
F J W Y Total
Airbus A319-100 26 — — — 40 83 123 One aircraft, G-EUPJ, is painted in a retro BEA livery.
This was to celebrate the centenary of British Airways and still remains painted to this day.
Airbus A320-200 51 — — — 48 108 156 3 aircraft (G-EUYP/R/S) painted in Oneworld livery.[5]
Airbus A320neo 30 7[6] — — 48 108 156 IAG ordered a further 27 A320neos which have not yet been allocated to a specific airline within the IAG group.[7]
Airbus A321neo 15 7[6] — — 56 136 192 IAG ordered a further 23 A321neos which have not yet been allocated to a specific airline within the IAG group.[7]
Airbus A350-1000 18 — — 56 56 219 331 Delivered with Club Suites.
Order with 18 options.
Airbus A380-800 12 — 14 97 55 309 475 Older Club World seats.
To be retrofitted with all-new seating classes by late 2026.[8]
Boeing 777-200ER 43 — 8 49 40 138 235 Heathrow configuration with new interior configuration with Club Suites.[9]
G-YMML painted in GREAT Festival of Creativity livery.
3 aircraft (G-YMMR/T/U) painted in Oneworld livery.[citation needed]
— 48 184 272
14 134 236 Launch customer.
Gatwick configuration with older Club World seats.[citation needed]
— 32 52 252 336
48 332
Boeing 777-300ER 16 — 8 76 40 132 256 All with Club Suites (12 retrofitted, 4 factory-fresh).
Boeing 777-9 — 18[10] 8 65 46 206 325 Order with 24 options.
Boeing 787-8 12 — — 31 37 136 204 Retrofitted Club Suites.
35 25 154 214 Older Club World seats.
Boeing 787-9 18 — 8 42 39 127 216 Older Club World seats.
Boeing 787-10 11 7[11] 8 48 35 165 256 Delivered with Club Suites.
Order with 6 options.
Total 252 39
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Cargo fleet

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.[12][needs update]

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,[13] Boeing 707-300C[14] and Boeing 747-200F.[15] 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,[16] 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.[17]

Order history

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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.[18][19] 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.[20]

In 1991, British Airways placed its first order for 777-200 aircraft, ordering another four for fleet expansion in 2007 at a cost of around US$800 million.[21] BA's first 777s were fitted with General Electric GE90 engines. Still, BA switched to Rolls-Royce Trent 800s for subsequent aircraft.[22][23]

Later in 2007, BA announced their order of 36 new long-haul aircraft, including 12 Airbus A380s and 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners.[24] 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 British Airways' Boeing 767 fleet, while the Airbus A380s were planned to replace 20 of BA's Boeing 747-400s.

On 1 August 2008, BA announced orders for 6 Boeing 777-300ERs and options for 4 more as an interim measure to cover for delays over the deliveries of their 787s. Of the 6 that have been ordered, 4 will be leased and British Airways will fully acquire 2.[25]

On 22 April 2013, IAG confirmed that it had signed a memorandum of understanding to order 18 Airbus A350-1000 XWB aircraft for British Airways, with an option for a further 18. The aircraft would replace some of the airline's fleet of Boeing 747-400s.[26] Options for 18 Boeing 787 aircraft, part of the original contract signed in 2007, have been converted into firm orders for delivery between 2017 and 2021.[27]

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.[28] BA's first A380 was delivered on 4 July 2013.[29] It began regular services to Los Angeles on 24 September 2013, followed by Hong Kong on 22 October 2013.[30]

On February 28, 2019, British Airways parent International Airlines Group ordered up to 42 777-9 aircraft, 18 firm orders with 24 options, valued at up to $18.6 billion (~$21.9 billion in 2023), to replace its 747-400s.[31]

At the 2019 Paris Air Show, British Airways owner IAG signed a letter of intent to purchase 200 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, despite the type still being grounded worldwide.[32][33]

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.[34]

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. British Airways 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.[35][36]

Former fleet

More information Aircraft, Total ...
Aircraft Total[37] Introduced Retired Notes Refs
Airbus A318-100 2 2009 2020 Operated BA1/BA2 and formerly also BA3/BA4 between London–City and New York–JFK [citation needed]
Airbus A320-100 5 1988 2007 Ordered by British Caledonian, which merged into BA in 1988 [38]
Airbus A321-200 13 2001 2024
11 Transferred to BA EuroFlyer
BAC One-Eleven 400 7 1974 1988 [a]
BAC One-Eleven 500 33 1974 1993 [b]
1 G-AVMO is preserved at Scottish National Museum of Flight
1 G-AVMU is preserved at Imperial War Museum Duxford
BAe 146-200 3 1989 1990
BAe 146-300 1 1992 1994
BAe ATP 15 1989 1994
Boeing 707-300 12 1974 1984 [c][d]
Boeing 707-400 9 1974 1981 [d]
1 Nose and forward fuselage of G-APFJ on display at Scottish National Museum of Flight
Boeing 737-200 50 1977 2001
Boeing 737-300 22 1988 2009
Boeing 737-400 39 1991 2015
Boeing 737-500 12 1996 2009
Boeing 747-100 17 1974 1999 [d][39]
1 Nose of G-AWNG display at Hiller Aviation Museum, California (not in BA colours)
1 1990 Written off as flight BA149
Boeing 747-200 27 1977 2002 First 747-200 to be powered with Rolls-Royce RB211-524B engines [39]
1 G-BDXJ preserved at Dunsfold Aerodrome (not in BA colours)
Boeing 747-400 57 1989 2020 First 747-400 to be powered with Rolls-Royce RB211-524G engines
Replaced by Airbus A350-1000, Airbus A380, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 787 Dreamliner		 [39]
1 G-CIVW, wearing the standard Chatham Dockyard livery is preserved at Dunsfold Aerodrome
1 G-BNLY, wearing the Landor livery is preserved at Dunsfold Aerodrome
1 G-CIVB wearing the Negus livery is preserved at Cotswold Airport
1 G-BYGC, wearing the BOAC livery-planned to be preserved at MOD St Athan, however was scrapped in October 2023
Boeing 757-200 61 1983 2010 Launch customer together with Eastern Air Lines
Replaced by Airbus A321		 [40][41]
Boeing 767-300ER 29 1990 2018 Launch customers with Rolls-Royce RB211 engine
Replaced by Airbus A321neo, Boeing 777-200ER and Boeing 787
7 aircraft sold to Qantas Australia
4 aircraft currently operated by Eastern Airlines, LLC		 [42]
Boeing 777-200 5 1995 2020 Launch customer with General Electric GE90 engine
Three of the aircraft (G-ZZZA, G-ZZZB and G-ZZZC) were among the first 777s ever built
They were used for the GE90 certification campaign before being delivered to BA in November 1995
Replaced by Boeing 777-200ER		 [43][44]
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde 7 1976 2003 All aircraft preserved, see Concorde aircraft histories [45]
Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C/E 24 1974 1983 [b]
1 G-ARPO, wearing Northeast Airlines livery is preserved at North East Aircraft Museum
Hawker Siddeley Trident 2E 15 1974 1985 [b]
1 G-AVFB, wearing BEA livery is preserved at Imperial War Museum Duxford
Hawker Siddeley Trident 3B 23 1974 1985 [b]
1 G-AWZK, wearing BEA livery is displayed at Manchester Airport
1 G-AWZM, is preserved at Science Museum
1 Nose of G-AWZP also preserved at Science and Industry Museum, Manchester
Hawker Siddeley HS 748 13 1975 1988
Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar 10 1975 1991 Six converted to L-1011-100
Lockheed L-1011-200 TriStar 8 1980 1991
Lockheed L-1011-500 TriStar 6 1979 1983 Sold to the Royal Air Force
2 1985 1988 Leased from Air Lanka
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 8 1988 1999 Inherited from the merger with British Caledonian
Replaced by Boeing 777-200
Vickers VC10 9 1974 1976 [d]
Vickers Super-VC10 15 1974 1981 [d]
Vickers Vanguard 12 1974 1979 [b]
1 G-APEP is preserved at Brooklands Museum (not in BA colours)
Vickers Viscount-700 2 1974 1976 [b]
Vickers Viscount-800 35 1974 1982 [b]
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Notes

  1. Inherited from British Airways Regional Division
  2. Inherited from BEA
  3. Inherited from British Airtours
  4. Inherited from BOAC

See also

References

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