Category: BA100

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This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

If there’s one region of the world that illustrates both the progress of aviation in the past 100 years and the changing dynamics and balance of power, it’s Australia.

The Kangaroo Route

Imperial Airways and Qantas Airways first began to co-operate on UK – Australia services in 1934.

On 8 December 1934, the first UK to Australia mail service began operated by Imperial Airways (from Croydon to Karachi), Indian Trans-Continental (Karachi to Singapore) and Qantas Empire Airways (Singapore to Brisbane).

The event was marked by a special ceremony at Croydon presided over by Lord Londonderry, Secretary of State for Air. Included in the two tons of letters were three addressed by the King, the Queen, and the Prince of Wales to the Duke of Gloucester at Auckland.

The next year, on 13 April 1935, the first passenger service operated from London to Brisbane by Imperial Airways and Qantas Empire Airways. It initially operated weekly and the trip took 12 and a half days. It would become officially known as the Kangaroo Route.

The Flying Boats

On 26 June 1938, Imperial Airways introduced flying boat services from Southampton to Australia.

Passengers would depart from the Imperial Airways Terminal in Victoria to catch a train to Southampton.

Imperial Airways’ had a fleet of 28 flying boats. Weighing 18 tonnes, these could accommodate up to 24 passengers and 5 crew. These were dubbed “veritable flying hotels” promising restaurant meals in spacious saloons with a promenade deck and separate smoking cabin. 

Passengers would sit in “the most luxurious chair in the world” which could move from an upright to reclined position at the touch of a lever.

BOAC Post Second World War

BOAC services to Australia were terminated during the Second World War.

After the war time restrictions on flying were lifted, BOAC and Qantas began a flying boat service from Southampton to Australia, with the trip taking 5 and a half days. The flying boats were withdrawn from BOAC in 1949.

London airport, now Heathrow, opened to passenger flights on 31 May 1946. The first passenger flight to arrive at the airport a BOAC flight service from Sydney. The Lancaster aircraft took 63 and 1/4 hours to fly from Sydney, landing 2 hours ahead of schedule. BOAC’s three times weekly “express” service to Sydney was the first route the airline transferred to London airport, having previously operated from Hurn (also known as Bournemouth International) airport.

In 1947, Qantas began flying to London in its own right with the Lockheed Constellation aircraft.

Throughout the 1950s, a number of new aircraft types were introduced on the route.

On 9 May 1955, BOAC introduced a tourist class service from Heathrow with Lockheed Constellation aircraft.

In March 1957, BOAC introduced Bristol Britannia aircraft which cut the journey time by 30 hours.

Joint BOAC/Qantas De Havilland Comet 4 services to Sydney would follow on 1 November 1959, operating five times weekly.

It was in this year that BOAC and Qantas celebrated 25 years of partnership on this route.

The Jet Age: London To Sydney In 33 Hours

The biggest advances came in the 1960s with the arrival of the VC10 and Boeing 707 aircraft.

Qantas began operating Boeing 707 jets from London via San Francisco in 1959.

In 1967, BOAC introduced its own Pacific route to Australia via New York, San Francisco, Honolulu, and Fiji. The trip took 33 hours.

The inaugural flight was filmed, and a video and transcript is below:

Continue reading “BA100: 61. British Airways & Australia”

London Air Travel » British Airways » BA100 » Page 7

This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

In 1962, British European Airways took delivery first Hawker Siddeley Trident aircraft.

The three-engined aircraft was developed in response to a demand from BEA for a jet engined aircraft capable of carrying more than 100 passengers on short & medium-haul routes.

The first passenger flight, operated with aircraft G-ARPG, took place on 11 March 1964 when it replaced a Comet 4B aircraft on the London – Copenhagen route. It then entered a regular scheduled service on 1 April 1964 from London to Zurich and Nice.

A chief requirement when ordering the Trident aircraft was the ability to land in poor visibility.

In June 1965, a BEA Trident aircraft operating flight BE343 completed the world’s first fully automatic landing of a commercial passenger aircraft on arrival at Heathrow from Paris Le Bourget. A year later, a Trident aircraft completed its first automatic landing in fog at Heathrow.

The aircraft were not without their short-comings, particularly regarding noise and range. However, partly due to political pressure – aircraft orders were at the time subject to Government approval – BEA continued to order further Trident model aircraft, taking delivery of the Trident Two and Trident Three. This took the BEA fleet up to 70 aircraft.

Continue reading “BA100: 62. Trident Over Europe”

London Air Travel » British Airways » BA100 » Page 7

This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

If you were to identify one phase in BA’s history when the airline was at its most confident and ambitious, it’s probably around 1989.

The airline was in no doubt that it had the potential, through its own operations, franchises and interests in other airlines, to become a major player in global aviation. Speaking in 1989, former CEO Colin Marshall set out BA’s ambition: “There has never been a global airline, in the truest sense.”

As you can see from this global advertising campaign from 1989 that also ran in the early 1990s, BA was not shy in blowing its own trumpet in all cabins.

“Fine wines. Premium brands at the bar. Feature films. And possibly the most gracious, attentive service on Earth – now available at 35,000 feet. Economy class in a class of its own ..compliments of British Airways.”

“When it comes to awards, British Airways has won more than its fair share: over 130 top honours in the past five years alone. And every one can be attributed to superior service. Whether it’s complimentary cocktails in Economy Class, fine dining on Royal Doulton china in Club Class, or the time-saving advantages of Concorde – no airline is more dedicated to the concept of service. British Airways meets the most exacting standards. Because far more important than winning awards, is winning you over.”

Continue reading “BA100: 63. 1989, “The Imperial Phase””

London Air Travel » British Airways » BA100 » Page 7

This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

For much of its 30+ year history London City airport was one of London’s best kept secrets.

Passengers at London Heathrow would have to grapple with poorly maintained and ageing terminals with little resilience to operational disruption. They were caught between airlines and the airport, whose relationship could at best be described as dysfunctional. Those in the know, however, headed east to the Royal Docks and London City airport.

Here’s some early footage of the airport in 1988 from Thames TV:

BA’s start there was fairly inauspicious. It’s CityJet that can take credit for building the airport’s presence. The first BA liveried flight from London City launched on 5 November 1999 when BA’s franchise partner British Regional Airlines began a three times daily service to Sheffield.

The first BA operated route launched in April 2003 to Glasgow, operated by a subsidiary British Airways CitiExpress, using a 110 seat RJ100 jet aircraft. Paris and Frankfurt would soon follow.

The real turning point came after BA had jettisoned what was left of its regional operations (earning itself the moniker “London Airways”) and turned its attention properly to London City.

What is now BA CityFlyer took delivery of its first Embraer aircraft in 2009, replacing much less efficient Avro jets.  BA now has a fleet of 6 Embraer E-170 and 18 Embraer E-190 aircraft based at London City. 2009 was also the year BA launched what remains the only transatlantic route from London City, to New York JFK.

BA has over time built a respectable portfolio of short-haul routes. These are primarily business routes such as Edinburgh and Zurich, but also leisure routes such as Ibiza, Mykonos and Skiathos. Not all have been successful. Some have been suspended such as Copenhagen, Hamburg, Stockholm and, inexplicably, Madrid.

Continue reading “BA100: 64. London City Airport”

London Air Travel » British Airways » BA100 » Page 7

This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

“Look Up” was a campaign developed by the interactive agency OgilvyOne for British Airways in 2013.

Interactive billboards in Chiswick and Piccadilly Circus would respond as a BA aircraft flew over it. OgilvyOne had installed antennae on nearby buildings which could identify overflying aircraft. Using custom-made software it would identify which of those aircraft were operated by BA.

A child would then point to the aircraft in the sky and the billboard would display its actual flight number and origin, highlighting the breadth of destinations served by BA.

As well as generating a significant number of visits to the BA website and impressions on social media, the campaign won multiple industry awards.

Continue reading “BA100: 65. “The Magic Of Flying””

London Air Travel » British Airways » BA100 » Page 7

This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

The deregulation of the aviation market in Europe in the 1990s saw a rise in a number of low cost airlines.

easyJet was founded by Stelios Haji-Ioannou in 1995.  Ryanair reinvented itself as a low cost airline.  Even Sir Richard Branson got in on the act acquiring EuroBelgian airlines and rebranding it as Virgin Express.

BA, under the leadership of Bob Ayling, decided to join the party.  It appointed the highly regarded Barbara Cassini, who had previously held management positions at BA at Gatwick and in North America, to set up a new low cost airline.

Pretty much everyone, inside and outside BA, was against the project from the outset.  

BA senior managers feared that it would cannibalise revenue from existing BA operated services.  There had already been industrial relations tensions in BA due to cost cutting initiatives and it was feared that unions would regard the airline as a trojan horse and provoke further conflict.

However, when board approval finally came, the name for the airline was chosen as “Go” and its first base was London Stansted.

All of BA’s low cost competitors argued that the airline was simply using Go to undercut rivals and drive them out of business. easyJet tried to obtain a court injunction to stop BA from acting as a guarantor to leases of Boeing 737 aircraft.  It also ran a public advertising campaign “Stop BA. Stop Go.” and “Fly the Real Thing. GO Easyjet.” against the airline.

When it launched its inaugural flight from London Stansted to Rome in May 1998 the rivalry between Go and easyJet did not dissipate.  easyJet, including Stelios Haji-Ioannou, had block booked ten seats on the inaugural flight and turned up in orange boiler suits, providing a valuable photo opportunity for both airlines.

However, the airline was well received by passengers winning plaudits for its friendly customer service as well as all important details such as coffee offered from a cafetiere and its “one line” travel guides in its in-flight magazine.

In many ways BA got a lot right with Go.

It was not the only legacy airline to set up as a low cost airline.  KLM set-up Buzz. Delta launched Song and United launched TED. All were ultimately unsuccessful. Whether by accident or design, Go was given a blank sheet of paper by BA and left to get on with it.  

It had its own systems and was completely free of restrictive practices that BA has since spent decades trying to rid itself of. Whilst BA had a strong reputation for customer service, it was not known for flexibility – a legacy from its nationalised era. Go had an “all hands on deck” start-up culture.

In spite of claims by competitors, the only connection with BA was that as Go’s shareholder, it supervised its compliance with safety procedures and its strap line was “The low cost airline from British Airways” – which instilled confidence amongst passengers who were wary about flying on low cost airlines.

Go did many things that low cost airlines at the time didn’t.  It offered allocated seating, one of the biggest barriers to using low cost airlines at the time.

Go’s branding was smart, clean, uncluttered and had pan-European appeal.  easyJet’s image at the time was cheap and cheerful.  Stelios even used to voice his own radio adverts. Low cost airlines have of course since smartened up their image and smoothed the edges of some of the sharper aspects of their customer service.

In spite of everything the airline had going for it following the departure of Bob Ayling and the appointment of Rod Eddington as CEO the decision was made to sell Go. BA did initially hold talks with easyJet but it was sold to 3i in June 2001. Some years later 3i would sell the airline on to easyJet for a very substantial premium.

Continue reading “BA100: 66. An Airline Adventure, Go”

London Air Travel » British Airways » BA100 » Page 7

This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

What do you when you are the official airline of Team GB and Paralympics GB, the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games are taking place in your home city, where to its residents your whole raison d’être is to fly them elsewhere?

Well, tell your passengers not to fly. That’s what BA did ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

In a series of print adverts and a TV advertising campaign, BA simply told people not to fly, stay at home, and support the home team.

Continue reading “BA100: 67. “Don’t Fly.””

London Air Travel » British Airways » BA100 » Page 7

This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

Opened in 1970, what is now known as New York JFK Terminal 7 is the only terminal at JFK airport to be owned and operated by an international airline.

Designed by the British architectural practice GMW Architects and initially known as BOAC Terminal, the terminal was first shared between BA’s immediate predecessor BOAC and Air Canada.

The terminal opened at a time of rapid expansion in international travel with the arrival of the Boeing 747 aircraft. BOAC completed its inaugural Boeing 747 flight from London to New York in April 1971.

The design of the terminal, with its relatively low key presence and sharp lines, is largely driven by practical considerations, notably the need for a clear sign of sight for the JFK Air Traffic Control tower. It was also designed to be capable of withstanding helicopters landing on its roof. However, it was never used for this purpose.

The terminal was officially opened by HRH Princess Alexandra on 24 September 1970.

Continue reading “BA100: 68. New York JFK Terminal 7”

London Air Travel » British Airways » BA100 » Page 7

This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

BA aircraft have featured in many TV programmes and films, both fictional and factual.

The airline is obviously very selective about who its works with. Any scenes featuring its aircraft in distress are absolutely out of the question.

BA has worked with the James Bond franchise on a few occasions, including “Moonraker”, “Goldeneye” and “Die Another Day” starring Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in 2002.

Here you can see behind the scenes footage from “Die Another Day” of a scene featuring Bond flying from Cuba to London, filmed in a BA First Class cabin on a Boeing 747 at London Heathrow.

Like any discerning passenger, Bond of course knows there’s simply no better way to spend a BA flight than browsing a copy of High Life magazine.

Lee Tamahori, Director, Die Another Day: British Airways we knew flew from Cuba to London and then especially coming from Cuba we went to BA and, to our surprise, they went along with it. They even thought it was a great idea. I couldn’t believe it.

Abby McGowan, Global Advertising Manager, BA: British Airways tends to get involved in selected opportunities so again as I said the prestige of James Bond, but also the association for British Airways with the film. It’s a really good fit with Best of British.

Lee Tamahori: They’ve been enormously supportive ever since we started this exercise and from going into hangars and putting the 110 tonne planes up on jacks, that’s fantastic, so we’ll see how it plays out.

Abby McGowan: Bond’s arch enemy is actually featured on the front cover of High Life, our in flight magazine, so he’ll be reading that on board, but actually what we’re then going to do is to have that version of High Life on our November issue so you’ll actually be able to see the same edition.

Vanessa Orange, Promotions Executive, BA: I think we’ve been working on this for over two months now, so a good 10 weeks, really on the logistics, but it’s been quite a big logistics challenge for us working alongside many different departments we have here. We’ve had to liaise directly with our engineering department, we’re filming in their hangar space today. Also, with aircraft movements to get some of the equipment you’ve seen around the aircraft on the ground. Also with operations to work out whether we can get the 747s in the right livery on the right day back here at Heathrow, in order to coincide with the days we’ve agreed to do the filming on. So, there’s been quite a lot of logistics coordination from many departments really to make today happen. We’ve had to take out some of the seats in First in order to accommodate some of the equipment and camera crew. We’ve changed the lighting. The lighting on board is not really the right type of lighting for the film crew so we’ve changed some of the lighting, and we’re going to film some of the shots from the exterior, when we’re moving back into the hangar.

Abby McGowan: It wouldn’t have been anyone else that we could have possibly have done this for.

Deborah Moore, Actress: I’m playing the air hostess who gives Bond his martini, shaken but not stirred. Except that it shakes because the plane is going through turbulence. I happen to have a Dad who used to play Bond, Mr Moore. Yeah, Roger. It’s nice to because I haven’t seen a lot of people in costume and makeup who were on the ones that were with my father, so I feel really welcome.

Film Crew: “ACTION”

Cabin Crew: “Your drink, Sir.”

James Bond: “Luckily I asked for it shaken.”

Cabin Crew: “Ladies and gentlemen, we will shortly be landing, please return your seats to the upright position.”

This is perhaps not the most famous BA association with the James Bond franchise.

Casino Royale featured Virgin Atlantic aircraft and a cameo from Sir Richard Branson, who was edited out of the version shown on BA’s in-flight entertainment system. This proved to be a PR gift to Virgin as it generated a huge amount of worldwide press coverage.

You can continue reading our 100 part series on the history of British Airways and its predecessor airlines Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA in numerical order, by theme or by decade.

If you would like to receive all future articles published by London Air Travel directly by e-mail, then enter your e-mail address below:

© Copyright London Air Travel 2019

London Air Travel » British Airways » BA100 » Page 7

This article was published in 2019 in a series on the history of British Airways and its predecessors Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA. You can browse all 100 stories in number order, by theme or by decade.

Many have been updated since first published.

The Chatham Dockyard livery was first introduced in June 1997 as part of a now infamous rebranding of BA known as “Project Utopia”.

It takes its name from the Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent. The tail fin bears a red, white and blue interpretation of the Union Flag, the official name of the national flag for the United Kingdom.

Based on the original flag used by Admiral Nelson in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the Chatham Dockyard livery was created for BA by the Admiral’s Original Flag Loft factory in Chatham which had made flags for more than 400 years. The factory has since closed.

Originally, only Concorde was to feature the Chatham Dockyard livery with all other aircraft being painted in up to 50 different tail fins featuring images developed by artists from around the world.

However, all aircraft were to bear a new BA logo and three dimensional speedmarque towards the nose of the aircraft.

Following an adverse public reaction to the World Images tail fins, BA initially decided to paint half of aircraft in the Chatham Dockyard livery, before deciding to withdraw the World Images tail fins altogether.

20 years on, the Chatham Dockyard livery has remained to this day, albeit with slight modifications. All aircraft are painted in bright white rather than pearl white (Concorde always had to be painted bright white for technical reasons) and many aircraft now feature the BA “To Fly. To Serve.” crest.

BA’s new Airbus A350-1000 aircraft also feature the Chatham Dockyard flag on its wing-tips.

You can continue reading our 100 part series on the history of British Airways and its predecessor airlines Imperial Airways, BOAC and BEA in numerical order, by theme or by decade.

If you would like to receive all future articles published by London Air Travel directly by e-mail, then enter your e-mail address below:

© Copyright London Air Travel 2019