British Airways fleet

British Airways operates a mix of Airbus narrow and wide-body aircraft. It also operates Boeing 777 and 787 wide-body aircraft.

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.

Current fleet

As of July 2020, the British Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft:[1][2]

One of the latest additions to British Airways' fleet is the Airbus A350-1000, which they took delivery of in August 2019.
A British Airways Boeing 787-8, which is used on long-haul flights to destinations like Osaka, Durban, New Delhi and Islamabad
British Airways fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers[2][3] Introduced[4] Notes
F C T+ T Total
Airbus A319-100 35 — — — — 143 143 1999 20 older aircraft to be retired by 2023
144 144
Airbus A320-200 67 — — — — 168 168 1989
177 177
Airbus A320neo 12 10[5] — — — 180 180 2018
Airbus A321-200 18 — — 23 — 131 154 2004
— — — 199 199
Airbus A321neo 10 3[5] — — — 220 220 2018
Airbus A350-1000 6 12[5] — 56 56 219 331 2019 Order includes 18 options.
Airbus A380-800 12 — 14 97 55 303 469 2013
Boeing 777-200ER 43 — 14 48 40 124 226 1997 Configurations to be phased out by the end of 2021.[6]
12 48 32 127 219
— 48 24 203 275
8 49 40 138 235 Configurations operating from Heathrow with new Club Suite.
First 3-class aircraft expected in Q2 2020.
— 48 40 184 272
14 48 40 134 236 Configurations operating from Gatwick with previous generation Club World seat.
— 32 52 252 336
— 32 48 252 332
Boeing 777-300ER 12 4[7] 14 56 44 185 299 2010 Current configuration expected to be phased out by Q4 2021.
8 76 40 130 254 Configuration with new Club Suite expected to enter service Q3 2020.
Boeing 777-9 — 18[8] 8 65 46 206 325 — Order includes 24 options.
First 8 aircraft to be delivered in 2022.[9]
Boeing 787-8 12 — — 35 25 154 214 2013
Boeing 787-9 18 — 8 42 39 127 216 2015
Boeing 787-10 2 10[10] 8 48 35 165 256 2020 Eight aircraft to arrive throughout 2020.[11]
Total 247 57

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 of Qatar Airways Cargo.[12]

British Airways World Cargo was the airline's freight division prior to 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] while the Boeing 747-400F was operated from the 1990s to 2001 through Atlas Air and 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 the termination of Global Supply System's contract in 2014, three Boeing 747-8F aircraft were flown for British Airways World Cargo.[17]

Order history

Except 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 operator of Boeing 747-400s, with 57 in its fleet.[18][19] Prior to 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, but BA switched to Rolls-Royce Trent 800s for subsequent aircraft.[22][23]

Later in 2007, BA announced their order of thirty-six new long-haul aircraft, including twelve Airbus A380s and twenty-four 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 will replace 14 of British Airways' Boeing 767 fleet, while the Airbus A380s will replace 20 of BA's Boeing 747-400s and will most likely be used to increase capacity on key routes from Heathrow Airport.

On 1 August 2008, BA announced orders for six Boeing 777-300ERs and options for four more as an interim measure to cover for delays over the deliveries of their 787-8/9s. Of the six that have been ordered, four will be leased and two will be fully acquired by British Airways.[25]

On 22 April 2013, IAG confirmed that it had signed a memorandum of understanding to order 18 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 to 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]

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.[31][32]

In July 2019, the British carrier took delivery of its first Airbus A350-1000 XWB aircraft.[33]

On 16 July 2020, British Airways announced it was immediately retiring the remaining 747-400 aircraft in its fleet (currently stored). British Airways had originally intended to phase out the last 747s by 2024, but brought the plans forward 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 and Boeing 787.[34]

Former fleet
A BA Super VC10 in 1975.
A Concorde (registered as G-BOAD), which set the passenger airliner world speed record, on display in December 2005.
A Boeing 757-200 at Heathrow Airport in 2007.
Aircraft Total[35] Introduced Retired Notes Refs
Airbus A318-100 2 2009 2020 [36]
Airbus A320-100 5 1988 2007 [37]
BAC One-Eleven 400 7 1974 1988 [lower-alpha 1]
BAC One-Eleven 500 35 1974 1993 [lower-alpha 2]
BAe 146–200 3 1989 1990
BAe 146-300 1 1992 1994
BAe ATP 15 1989 1994
Boeing 707-300 12 1974 1984 [lower-alpha 3][lower-alpha 4]
Boeing 707-400 10 1974 1981 [lower-alpha 4]
Boeing 737-200 50 1977 2001
Boeing 737-300 22 1988 2009
Boeing 737-400 39 1997 2015
Boeing 737-500 12 1996 2009
Boeing 747-100 19 1974 1999 [lower-alpha 4]
Boeing 747-200 26 1977 2002
Boeing 747-400 57 1989 2020 [34]
Boeing 757-200 61 1983 2010 [38][39]
Boeing 767-300ER 29 1990 2018 [40]
Boeing 777-200 5 1995 2020 [41]
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde 8 1976 2003 [42]
Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C/E 25 1974 1983 [lower-alpha 2]
Hawker Siddeley Trident 2E 16 1974 1985 [lower-alpha 2]
Hawker Siddeley Trident 3B 26 1974 1985 [lower-alpha 2]
Hawker Siddeley HS 748 13 1975 1989
Lockheed L-1011-1 TriStar 10 1975 1983
Lockheed L-1011-200 TriStar 8 1980 1991
Lockheed L-1011-500 TriStar 8 1979 1983
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 8 1988 1999
Vickers VC10 9 1974 1976 [lower-alpha 4]
Vickers Super-VC10 15 1974 1981 [lower-alpha 4]
Vickers Vanguard 13 1974 1979 [lower-alpha 2]
Vickers Viscount-700 2 1974 1976 [lower-alpha 2]
Vickers Viscount-800 35 1974 1982 [lower-alpha 2]

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

References
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  3. "Seat maps". britishairways.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
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