British Airways - the Leading Carrier in Europe

British Airways

The leading carrier in Europe

Papers on British Airways

British Airways is one of the largest airlines in Europe and is the national carrier of UK. The major hubs of the airline are London Gatwick and London Heathrow. The origins of the company go back to the 1920s. In 1924 four of Britain's main airlines Handley Page Transport, Instone Air Line, British Air Marine Navigation Ltd. and Daimler Airways came together to form the Imperial Airways. On the other hand there were a number of small airline companies in the country that merged to form the British Airways Ltd. This was later merged with the Imperial Airways that resulted in the formation of the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). In 1972 BOAC merged with BEA to form the British Airways.

The privatization of the British Airways happened in 1987. It acquired British Caledonian in 1988. The airline was primarily a Boeing customer for several years before switching over to airbus aircrafts in 1998. In 2008 the subsidiary of the company, OpenSkies was opened to benefit from the relaxation of the transatlantic traffic rights. There would be non-stop flights between the US and the European cities. It is expected that it would commence from July 2008.

In the 1990s the company had the maximum profits among all the airlines of the world. The company bought Delta Air Transport in 1992 and changed the name to Deutsche BA. In 1995 the company introduced a new subsidiary, British Asia Airways to connect Taipei with London. The late nineties were turbulent for the company. Stiff competition, hike in the oil prices did not allow the company makes good profits. In 1999 the company