تاریخچه
آغاز به کار بریتیش ایرویز با اولین روزهای هوانوردی غیرنظامی در ماه‌های نخست پس از پایان جنگ جهانی اول هم‌زمان شده‌است. در روز ۱۹ اوت سال ۱۹۱۹ میلادی شرکت ایرکرافت ترانسپورت اند تراول ((Aircraft Transport and Travel(ATA) اولین پرواز منظم روزانه مسافری جهان را در مسیر لندن-پاریس انجام داد. در ۳۱ مارس سال ۱۹۲۴ چهار شرکت هواپیمایی انگلستان با یکدیگر ادغام شدند و شرکت امپریال ایرویز را تأسیس نمودند. این شرکت بعدها پروازهای خود را به استرالیا و آفریقا گسترش داد.
در سال ۱۹۳۵ تعدادی از شرکت‌های هوایی خصوصی و کوچک انگلیسی در هم ادغام شدند و شرکت هواپیمایی خصوصی بریتیش ایرویز (با مسئولیت محدود) ((British Airways(Ltd)را شکل دادند. این شرکت تازه به رقییبی تمام عیار برای شرکت دولتی امپربال ایرویز تبدیل شد تا اینکه در سال ۱۹۳۹ با تلاش دولت بریتانیا این دو شرکت در هم ادغام شده و شرکت هوایی ملی بریتیش اورسیز ایرویز ((British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) شکل گرفت.
پیش از آغاز جنگ جهانی دوم این شرکت پروازهای مختلفی را با هواپیماهای پهن پیکر انجام می‌داد، البته به جز در مسیرهای منتهی به آمریکای جنوبی و اروپا. چرا که در آن روزها انجام پروازهای اروپایی به شرکت بریتیش یوروپین ایرویز ((British European Airways (BEA) و پروازهای آمریکای جنوبی به شرکت بریتیش ساوث امریکن ایرویز (British South American Airways) واگذار شده بود. که شرکت اخیر در سال ۱۹۴۹ مجدداً به شرکت مادر بریتیش اورسیز پیوست.
English
British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom which is based and headquartered in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways operates a second hub at Gatwick Airport and a third hub, served through its fully owned subsidiary, BA CityFlyer, at London City Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations. BA's UK passengers originating at non-London airports must connect via London after British Airways discontinued all direct overseas flights from UK airports outside London following the sale of BA Connect to British regional carrier Flybe in 2007.
The British Airways Board was established in 1971 to control the two nationalised airline corporations, BOAC and BEA, and two much smaller regional airlines, Cambrian Airways from Cardiff and Northeast Airlines from Newcastle upon Tyne. On 31 March 1974 all four companies were dissolved to form British Airways (BA). After almost 13 years as a nationalised company, British Airways was privatised in February 1987 as part of the privatisation plan by the Conservative Government of the time. The carrier soon expanded with the acquisition of British Caledonian (BCAL) in 1987 and Gatwick-based carrier Dan-Air in 1992.A longtime Boeing customer, British Airways placed a major order for Airbus aircraft in August 1998 with the purchase of 59 Airbus A320 family aircraft. In 2007, the carrier placed its next major order, marking the start of its long-haul fleet replacement, ordering 12 Airbus A380s and 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The centrepiece of the airline's long-haul fleet is the Boeing 747-400; with 57 examples in service, British Airways is the largest operator of the type in the world.
British Airways is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance, along with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and the now defunct Canadian Airlines. The alliance has since grown to become the third largest airline alliance after SkyTeam and Star Alliance. British Airways' parent company, International Airlines Group, is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
On 12 November 2009, British Airways confirmed that it had reached a preliminary agreement to merge with Iberia. The merger between the two carriers will create the world's third-largest airline in terms of annual revenue and the second largest airline group in Europe. The merger was confirmed on 8 April 2010, and it was expected to be completed by the end of the same year. On 14 July 2010, the European Commission gave the two carriers permission to merge and also agreed to allow American Airlines to co-operate with the merged entity on transatlantic routes to the United States of America. The British Airways merger with Iberia was finally completed on 21 January 2011, formally creating the International Airlines Group, IAG.
History
Main article: History of British Airways
In 1967 the government established a committee of inquiry into Civil Aviation under Sir Ronald Edwards. The Edwards Committee reported in 1969 with one of the recommendations being the formation of a National Air Holding Board to control finances and polices of the two government-controlled airlines, the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways Corporation (BEA).[2] The recommendation was enacted in 1971 with the passing of the Civil Aviation Act 1971 which formed a British Airways Board to control all the activities of the two airlines.[3]British Airways (BA) was created in 1974, when BOAC and BEA managements were combined under the newly formed British Airways Board.[4] Following two years of fierce competition with British Caledonian, the second-largest airline in Britain at the time, the Government changed its aviation policy in 1976 so the carriers were no longer permitted to compete on long-haul routes.[5]
British Airways was one of only two airlines, the other being Air France, to operate the supersonic airliner Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde, inaugurating the world's first supersonic passenger service in January 1976 from London Heathrow to Bahrain.[6] Services to the eastern seaboard of the US, which Concorde had been designed for, were inaugurated with a service to Washington Dulles airport on 24 May 1976 and with flights to New York JFK airport starting on 22 September 1977. This was followed by a service to Singapore in cooperation with Singapore Airlines as a continuation of the flight to Bahrain.[4] Concorde operations soon expanded with charter services inaugurated in 1982 and a service to Miami (served as a continuation of the Washington flight) beginning in March 1984.[7] Following the Air France Concorde crash in Paris and the slump in demand for air travel after the 11 September Attacks in New York, the announcement was made on 23 April 2003, that both Air France and British Airways would cease Concorde operations by the end of October 2003, after 27 years of service. The final commercial Concorde flight flew as BA002 from New York JFK to London Heathrow on 24 October 2003.[8]
In 1981, the airline was instructed to prepare for privatisation by the Conservative government leading to the appointment of Sir John King, later Lord King, as Chairman with the goal of bringing the airline back into profitability. King was credited with transforming the loss-making giant into one of the most profitable air carriers in the world, while many other large airlines struggled.[9] The flag carrier was privatised and was floated on the London Stock Exchange in February 1987 by the Conservative government.[10] In July 1987, British Airways effected the controversial takeover of Britain's "second" airline, British Caledonian.[7]
In 1992, British Airways expanded through the acquisition of financially troubled Gatwick-based carrier Dan-Air, giving BA a much larger presence at Gatwick airport. In March 1993, the rapid expansion continued with the formation of British Asia Airways, a subsidiary based in the Taiwan, to operate between London and Taipei. Throughout 1993, British Airways expanded through the purchase of a 25% stake in Australian airline Qantas in March, and the acquisition Brymon Airways in May to form BA Connect.[11]
The formation of Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984 began a tense relationship with BA. In 1993, the intense rivalry between British Airways and Virgin Atlantic culminated with British Airways being sued £610,000 for a "dirty tricks" campaign against Virgin and around £3 million in Virgin's legal costs. British Airways' campaign against Virgin included poaching Virgin Atlantic customers and tampering with private files belonging to Virgin. Following a court case, British Airways was forced to pay Virgin damages and legal costs causing BA management to apologise "unreservedly" for the alleged "dirty tricks" campaign.[12]
Six months after the "dirty tricks" campaign, Lord King stepped down as chairman in 1993 and was replaced by former deputy, Colin Marshall, while Robert Ayling took over as CEO.[11] Benefits under his management included cost savings of £750m and the establishment of Go in 1998.[13] However, one year on, in 1999, British Airways reported an 84 percent drop in profits, its worst for seven years.[14] In March 2000, Robert Ayling was removed from his position and British Airways announced Rod Eddington as his successor. Eddington set about cutting the workforce further, in response to the slump caused by 11 September attacks in 2001.[8] On 8 September 2004, British Airways announced that it was to sell its 18.5 percent stake in Qantas.[15]
In September 1998, British Airways, along with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and the now defunct Canadian Airlines, agreed to form the Oneworld airline alliance in order to better compete with the growing Star Alliance members. Oneworld began operations on 1 February 1999 and has since grown to include 11 carriers with 2 pending and has become one of the largest airline alliances in the world, behind only SkyTeam and Star Alliance[7]In September 2005, new CEO Willie Walsh, former Aer Lingus pilot and then boss, took charge of the company.[16]
In January 2008, BA unveiled its new subsidiary OpenSkies which takes advantage of the liberalisation of transatlantic traffic rights between Europe and the United States. OpenSkies flies non-stop from Paris to New York and Washington D.C.[17]
In July 2010, British Airways received permission from the European regulators of aviation, the European Commission, to merge with Spanish carrier, Iberia, and to co-ordinate with American Airlines on fares and scheduling for transatlantic routes. On 20 July 2010, the US Department of Transport approved the deal with American Airlines, finalising their tentative decision made on 13 February 2010.[18] The deal is expected to save British Airways £560 million every year once all the cost-overlaps between the companies have been eliminated.[19] British Airways ceased trading on the London Stock Exchange on 21 January 2011, after nearly 24 years as a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. The move came in preparation for the merger with Iberia, while the merged entity, International Airlines Group, became the name under which British Airways now trades.[20]
On 4 October 2010, British Airways unveiled one of its last Boeing 757s (G-CPET) in a 'retro' livery, to celebrate the retirement of the 757 fleet after 27 years. The aircraft, named 'Stokesay Castle' is wearing an identical livery to that worn by the 757s during their introduction to service, as joint launch customer, in February 1983. The 757s were retired from commercial service on 30 October 2010. However, the Retro-Jet (G-CPET) flew her last passenger flight on Saturday, 6 November as a charity "round routed" trip from LHR to LHR. This flight was open to staff and their families, with all proceeds going to British Airways joint venture with Comic Relief, Flying Start.[21]
[ Merger with Iberia
On 30 July 2008, British Airways and Spanish carrier Iberia, a fellow Oneworld partner, announced a merger plan that would result in the two airlines joining forces in an all-stock transaction while retaining their separate brands, similar to KLM and Air France in their merger agreement.[22] On 12 November 2009, British Airways confirmed that it had reached a preliminary agreement to merge with Iberia.[23] The agreement was confirmed on 8 April 2010, and was expected to be completed by the end of 2010.[24] On 14 July 2010, the European Commission, granted both airlines permission to merge as well as permission to include American Airlines in co-operation on ticket prices and schedules on transatlantic routes for all three airlines.[25] On 20 July 2010, the US Department of Transport approved the deal with American Airlines, finalising their tentative decision made on 13 February 2010.[18] On 6 October 2010, the alliance between British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia formally began operations for the first time.[26] Shareholders from British Airways and Iberia approved the merger on 29 November 2010, allowing the creation of the world's third largest airline by revenue.[27] Both carriers completed their merger on 21 January 2011.[28] The merger between British Airways and Iberia has created the world's third-largest airline in terms of annual revenue and the second largest airline group in Europe.[24]Prior to the merger, British Airways owned a 13.5% stake in Iberia but received ownership of 55% of the combined group, known as “International Airlines Group”, with Iberia's shareholders receiving the remaining 45% of the company.[29] The merged entity operates 419 aircraft, carry over 62 million passengers annually and serve more than 200 destinations.[24] The alliance with American Airlines is expected to deliver a £230 million cost-saving for British Airways on top of the £330 million expected to be saved by the merger with Iberia each year.[19] The operational headquarters of IAG is in London but the corporate headquarters is located in Madrid. Board meetings take place in Madrid since the company is incorporated according to Spanish law as an "anonymous society" (Sociedad Anónima), and the holding company for both carriers will pay taxes in Spain.[30]
In September 2010, Willie Walsh, the CEO of IAG, announced in Mumbai that the newly merged group would look to acquire other airlines, particularly those in emerging markets. He also stated that a shortlist of 12 possible carriers that would potentially be included in the new group has been created. These airlines are widely expected to include LAN Chile, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Aer Lingus, Finnair, Kingfisher Airlines and Japan Airlines among others.[31]
In June 2011, BA's parent company, IAG, announced their interest in purchasing BMI British Midland from their owners, the Lufthansa Group, to gain lucrative slots at London Heathrow Airport.[32]
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