On 25 August 1919 its forerunner company, Aircraft Transport and Travel (AT&T), launched the world's first daily international scheduled air service, between London and Paris. On 31 March 1924, Britain's four fledgling airlines - Instone, Handley Page, Daimler Airways (a successor to AT&T) and British Air Marine Navigation - merged to form Imperial Airways, which developed its Empire routes to Australia and Africa.
Meanwhile a number of smaller UK air transport companies had started flights. These merged in 1935 to form the original privately owned British Airways Ltd.
Following a government review Imperial Airways and British Airways were nationalised in 1939 to form the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). Post-war, BOAC continued to operate long-haul services, other than routes to South America - these were flown by British South American Airways, which was merged back into BOAC in 1949. Continental European and domestic flights were flown by a new airline, British European Airways (BEA).
In 1952 BOAC flew the De Havilland Comet to Johannesburg, halving the previous flight time. The birth of the mass package-holiday business meant change for the airline industry. BEA met the challenge by establishing BEA Airtours in 1970. In 1972 BOAC and BEA were combined under the newly formed British Airways Board, with the separate airlines coming together as British Airways in 1974, under the guidance of David Nicolson as Chairman of the BA Board. British Airways, simultaneously with Air France, inaugurated the world's first supersonic passenger service with Concorde in January 1976.
British Airways Plc : the sky's the limit. British Airways Plc, aka BA, is the leading airline in the United Kingdom, and naturally one of the biggest in the world. Based at Heathrow and Gatwick, London. British Airways plc (BA) is engaged in the operation of international and domestic scheduled and charter air services for the carriage of passengers, freight and mail, and the provision of ancillary services. BA has three segments: network airline, regional airline, and non-airline. Its principal place of business is London. BA operates an international scheduled airline route networks, comprising 148 destinations in 75 countries. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006 (fiscal 2006), it carried more than 35 million passengers on its services. During fiscal 2006, of the Company's total revenue, 80% was generated from passenger traffic, 6% from cargo and 14% from other activities (including fuel surcharges). In fiscal 2006, 795,000 tons of cargo was carried to destinations in Europe, the Americas and throughout the world. At March 31, 2006, BA had 284 aircraft in service. In March 2007, Flybe completed the acquisition of BA Connect, the regional airline business of the Company.
In addition, BA has holdings in other airlines, such as the Australian, Quantas, and the Spanish Iberia. With its sights set on the international scene, a key to success today, BA recently signed a partnership with the world giant, American Airlines, and with other companies of various sizes, such as Cathay Pacific Airways and Finnair. The alliance thus created is called Oneworld. It aims to be a transnational airline. Aware of the new technologies, and of the need to develop to maintain its position, BA has also set up a highly-developed Internet site, offering a variety of services : on-line reservations, flight times and tourist city guides.