Airline Profile: British Airways
The Facts:
| Founded | 1974 |
| Alliance | Oneworld |
| Hubs | London Heathrow (largest) London Gatwick (leisure flights) London City (BA City Flyer) |
| Headquarters | London, England |
| Frequent Flyer Program | Avios |
| Skytrax Rating | 4 (out of 5) |
| Type of Airline | Full Service Carrier |
| Parent Company | International Airlines Group (IAG) |
| Travel Classes | Short Haul: Euro Traveller (Economy) Club Europe (Business) Long Haul: World Traveller (Economy) World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy) Club World (Business) Club World London City (Business, Between London City and JFK) First |
| Subsidiaries | BA City Flyer Sun-Air of Scandinavia (franchise) Comair (franchise) |
| Fleet Count | About 280 |
| Website | https://www.britishairways.com |
| Competitors | Virgin Atlantic |
Analysis:
6 Things You Need To Know About British Airways
- Fleet: British Airways’ mainline short-haul fleet consists solely of the Airbus A320 series, including the A319, A320, A321, and the A321neo in its fleet. While their short-haul fleet consists solely of Airbus aircraft, their long-haul fleet is composed mostly of Boeing jets, including the 777-200, 777-300ER, 747-400, 787-8, 787-9, 787-10, along with the Airbus A380 and the recent addition of the Airbus A350-1000. Additionally, British Airways also operates a sole Airbus A318, which it uses on its flight from London City Airport to New York JFK, which operates via Shannon, Ireland westbound and is nonstop eastbound.
- Subsidiaries: British Airways is owned by the International Airlines Group, Europe’s third largest airline group (behind Ryanair and the Lufthansa Group), which also owns airlines such as Iberia, Aer Lingus, and Vueling. British Airways itself has only one subsidiary per-say, BA City Flyer, which operates flights out of London City Airport to a variety of destinations around the UK and Europe using its fleet of Embraer E190s, along with occasionally leasing aircraft from Flybe or Loganair. British Airways also weirdly enough does have two franchises. Firstly, SUN Air of Scandinavia operates under the British Airways name, mostly out of Billund in Denmark, using its fleet of rare Dornier 328JETs. Secondly, South Africa’s Comair, partially owned by British Airways, also operates directly under the British Airways brand using its fleet of 737s to fly a variety of domestic and short-haul routes out of Johannesburg, among other South African cities.
- Hubs: British Airways’ main hub is without a doubt, whether you
lovehate it or hate it, is London Heathrow Airport. BA operates the vast majority of its flights, domestic, short-haul, and intercontinental, out of Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 (and some also out of Terminal 3), which it has exclusive access to, besides its partner airline Iberia, which also operates out of T5. While Heathrow Airport is British Airways’ main hub for business and connecting passengers, Gatwick Airport is British Airways’ main hub for leisure destinations, although Heathrow does also have a significant presence in the leisure market. Most of British Airways’ flights to the Caribbean, along with many to other European leisure destinations such as Tenerife, Malaga, Madeira, among many others do operate, at least partially, out of Gatwick. As previously mentioned, London City Airport is British Airways’ main hub for its subsidiary, BA City Flyer, which operates from there to mostly point-to-point destinations for business travelers within Europe, along with its one flight to JFK.
- Intercontinental Routes: British Airways operates a massive intercontinental network of flights, with over 135 wide body jets (AA only has slightly more at about 150), out of both Heathrow and Gatwick. British Airways is by far the European airline with the largest presence in North America and the United States, operating to 26 destinations in the US alone (with a 27th, Portland, coming this year!), from the obvious places (New York JFK, with up to 9x flights a day, LAX, ORD, IAD, BOS), to leisure destinations (Las Vegas, Orlando, Tampa), to places where not many (if any) other airlines operate transatlantic flights (Charleston, Nashville, Phoenix, San Jose, New Orleans, Pittsburgh). Additionally, British Airways’ intercontinental network is also extremely large outside of the US, with flights to all six inhabited continents, including to perhaps unlikely destinations such as Abuja, Dammam, Bangalore, or Islamabad. British Airways also operates one flight to Sydney from London-Heathrow, although it does make a fuel stop at Singapore Changi Airport.
- Lounges: British Airways operates four types of airline lounges. Firstly, they operate quite a few Galleries Business Class lounges around the world, which are fairly standard as far as business class lounges go, with free snacks and (although not a-la-carte) small meals available. Galleries Business Class lounges can be accessed through having a same-day OneWorld business or first class ticket or through having British Airways Silver (or higher) status or OneWorld Sapphire (or higher) status. British Airways additionally operates an Arrivals Lounge at London Heathrow Airport in the landslide portion of the terminal, intended for passengers arriving off of British Airways transatlantic flights, and has the same eligibility rules as the Galleries Business lounge. Also, British Airways operates a variety of Galleries First Class lounges around the world, with enhanced amenities and (usually) a-la-carte dining, and is available for all OneWorld and British Airways first class passengers, along with OneWorld Emerald passengers. Lastly, British Airways does operate two lounges (at Heathrow T5 and JFK T7) which are more exclusive than their Galleries First Class Lounges and is called “The Concorde Room.” These lounges are exclusively available for British Airways First Class passengers and have slightly better amenities than Galleries First Class lounges.
- Award Program: British Airways’ award program is called British Airways Executive Club, in which its points currency is called Avios, which are also transferrable to Iberia’s and Aer Lingus’s award programs. British Airways Avios are pretty valuable for short-haul economy class awards on partner airlines such as American Airlines, and while long-haul business and first class awards on British Airways aren’t too outrageously priced, there are some pretty high surcharges on flights to and from the UK in all cabins, making it sometimes cheaper to pay outright with cash. Executive Club also has three main elite tiers: Bronze status, translating to OneWorld Ruby, Silver status, translating to OneWorld Sapphire, and Gold status, translating to OneWorld Emerald. Lastly, British Airways does have one co-branded credit card for US residents, the Chase British Airways Visa Signature Card, which comes with fantastic benefits such as 100,000 bonus miles, 10% off on British Airways flights, and 3 points per dollar on British Airways, Iberia, Level, and Aer Lingus flights.
Travel Classes:
Euro Traveller:
Short haul economy on British Airways features slimline seats throughout its entire short-haul fleet and is branded as Euro Traveler on intra-European flights. It is in a 3-3 configuration on all Airbus A320 series aircraft and is in a 2-2 configuration on all Embraer E190s. On all narrow-body aircraft, there is no in-flight entertainment (although many aircraft are being retrofitted with WiFi). Snacks are available for purchase on most short haul flights. The seats are identical to the ones found in business class. British Airways is currently in the process of installing USB Ports and power outlets on some Airbus A320 series aircraft, while most A320neo series aircraft are already installed with them.
Club Europe:
Short-haul business class on pretty much all European airlines is not worth it and should be avoided, if possible. The seats are the same as the seats in economy class, and the seats have not an inch more legroom or recline than the economy. The only difference is that the middle seat is always blocked for passengers. Unlike most other European airlines, British Airways offers tables in between seats in Club Europe, although they are in the process of getting rid of them. British Airways can increase or decrease the number of seats in Business Class with no effort at all, only depending on demand.
There is not much difference between business and economy other than that in business, and you get a relatively small meal and lounge access. I wouldn’t recommend paying with miles or money for intra-European business class outright (unless attached to a longer segment) on British Airways, especially since business Class can cost more than twice as much as Economy Class, and is not even close to being twice as good as economy. British Airways isn’t the only airline to just have standard economy seats in business class as nearly all other European airlines also offer it, including Lufthansa, Air France, and KLM.
World Traveller (Long Haul Economy):
Long-haul Economy Class on British Airways is pretty standard compared to other airlines. Economy class is in a 3-3-3 configuration on older Boeing 777s, on all 787s, and on all A350s, and is in a 3-4-3 configuration on retrofitted 777s, and on all Boeing 747s and A380s. British Airways also operates a sub-fleet of ex-BMI Airbus A321s where it brands economy class as World Traveler and has a superior business class product; British Airways operates these aircraft to medium-haul destinations such as Moscow or Beirut. WiFi is also available for purchase on all Airbus A350s, while it is currently being installed on the rest of its long-haul fleet, including its 747s, 777s, 787s, and A380s.
Passengers also receive complimentary meals on all flights, and personal on-demand entertainment is available for free on all long-haul flights, although newer or retrofitted aircraft models such as the A350 have newer interfaces. Lastly, British Airways, in addition to lately revamping their economy class catering, recently introduced new pillows and blankets in economy class.
World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy):
World Traveller Plus is also pretty standard regarding premium economy classes in the market. It features seatback entertainment, wifi for purchase, leg rests, more legroom, seat width, and recline than economy, and meals better than the ones which can be found in regular Economy Class. Current premium economy classes can be compared to what you could see in business class in the late 1990s and early 2000s, as they both feature recliner seats. Unlike some Asian airlines, passengers in premium economy do not have access to lounges. World Traveler Plus is in a 2-3-2 configuration on 787s and A380s and is in a 2-4-2 configuration on all 777s, 747s, and A350s.
Additionally, British Airways recently introduced a new premium economy seat, which features leg rests (not available on most 777s, 787s, and A380s) and larger entertainment screens, which are available on British Airways’ high density Gatwick configured 777s, 787-10s, and A350-1000s. British Airways also recently introduced new amenities in World Traveller Plus, including improved meals (while Lufthansa recently downgraded premium economy catering), along with new amenity kits, pillows, and blankets, which generally was a very positive development.
Club World (Business Class):
British Airways’ long-haul business class product is branded as Club World. All Club World passengers have access to Galleries Business lounges, along with partner or OneWorld business class lounges. British Airways comparatively actually has a pretty good soft product now a days, with great in-flight bedding (including two blankets, a large pillow, and a mattress pad) from the White Company, good amenity kits, and British Airways fairly recently refreshed their catering. Of course, personal on-demand entertainment is available on all aircraft in Club World. British Airways Club World has a very varied business class hard product, with different a few different business class products, listed below.
British Airways’ Legacy Business Class Product
A bit after the year 2000, British Airways was the first airline to introduce flat beds in Business Class. They have barely improved the product since, besides adding more technology to the seat such as new in-flight entertainment screens. Club World (long-haul business class) features a kind of unique configuration, with forwards and backward facing seats in a 2-3-2 (787, A380 upper deck) or 2-4-2 (777, 747, A380 lower deck) configurations.
After doing quite some digging, I found out that British Airways actually uses a highly modified of the highly popular B/E Aerospace Minipod seat, which was actually called the “Stretch Minipod.” Seats are alternating between forwards and backward facing seats within the same row. Each seat has an ottoman which can flip down to become part of the bed when you turn the seat into the lay–flat mode. The seats also have rather small entertainment screens which flip out from the divider between your seat and the seat next to you.
The seats themselves are pretty narrow, have almost zero storage, and lack a lot of privacy, especially if you have an aisle seat. However, the window seats, because of a privacy partition in between the window seat and the aisle seat, do have a significant amount of privacy, although you will will have to climb over your neighbor to get to the aisle.
The seats are most definitely sub-par when you compare them to most of the newer business class seats on the market, although at least they still are fully flat. British Airways’ legacy business class product is still featured on the vast majority of their aircraft, including on all of their A380s, 747s, 787-8s, 787-9s, along with on most of their 777-200s and 777-300s. Fortunately, British Airways will have their new business class installed on all of their long-haul aircraft by 2024, meaning that their legacy product will be completely phased out a quarter of a decade after it was introduced.
British Airways Club Suite
British Airways last year introduced a completely new business class product, which named the Club Suite. They opted for the popular Rockwell Collins Super Diamond seat, although they decided to innovate it and add a door to the seats, making them one of the first airlines to have doors in business class, like Qatar Airways and Delta Air Lines. The seats are themselves reverse herringbone seats and have a lot of privacy and storage, and overall are really solid business class seats; they are leagues better than their old legacy business class seats.
British Airways’ Club Suites are in a 1-2-1 configuration on all aircraft which they are installed on and are available on all Airbus A350-100s and 787-10s, along with some retrofitted Boeing 777-200s and 777-300ERs. As stated earlier in the article, British Airways intends to retrofit all aircraft with the Club Suites by 2024 along with retiring some of their 747s, which, along with some 777s, are the only aircraft which it doesn’t plan on installing the new seats on. For more information on how to fly on the British Airways Club Suites, visit the post on it which I wrote last year (link attached).
Medium Haul A321s (Thompson Vantage Seat)
British Airways operates a very small sub-fleet of Airbus A321s which used to fly for BMI which are in a medium-haul configuration, equipped with personal on-demand entertainment at all seats and a lie-flat business class cabin. Business Class features flat-bed seats in an alternating 1-1 and 2-2 configuration and uses an early version of the Thompson Vantage seat, which is also used on JetBlue’s, Aer Lingus’, and TAP’s Airbus A321s. British Airways uses these A321s to fly on certain medium-haul routes to destinations such as Moscow, Tel Aviv, Amman, Beirut, among others.
Club World London City:
British Airways offers a unique service: flying in an all-business-class configured Airbus A318 from New York (JFK) to London City (LCY). The flight is operated directly from JFK to LCY but has a stop in Shannon (where customers have US Pre-Clearance). The stop is held because the London City runway is not long enough to have an A318 with full fuel take off, and the flight requires full fuel tanks.
The interior features only 32 flatbed seats in a 2-2 configuration, equipped with wifi, tablets handed out as entertainment, and power plugs at every seat. The flight is incredibly convenient because every airport besides London City is far out from London (so you can get to LCY quickly), there is US Pre-Clearance in Shannon, so you do not have to wait in long lines in immigration in New York, and because it is a small all-business-class airplane, so it can feel almost like a private jet.
Note: Due to reduced demand because of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, British Airways has cancelled their Club World London City service as of late March, 2020. It remains to be seen whether they will resume this unique service in the future, hopefully once demand picks up again.
First Class:
Along with being the first airline to have the first flatbed business class seat, earlier, British Airways was also a pioneer in bringing in flatbed seats into first class in the 1990s. British Airways unfortunately doesn’t have great seats in first class, as they only offer open suites, which are actually quite non-spacious onboard some of their aircraft, such as their 747, making their product simply not competitive, in comparison to other airlines, such as Air France. British Airways has different seats onboard its 747s, 777s, and 787-9s, the three aircraft in which first class is equipped on; while none of them are fully enclosed, the first class product on British Airways’ 787s is generally the best, with larger entertainment screens, more privacy, and generally just a larger suite.
What’s ironic is that some of British Airways’ 777 have closed doors in business class, while British Airways didn’t choose to majorly update the first class on those same routes, meaning that some of British Airways’ 777s debatably have a better business class than first class seat. Passengers additionally have access to the Concord Room and to British Airways Galleries First Class Lounges, which are located at London Heathrow Airport and at numerous other locations around the world. Also, British Aiways refreshed their first class soft product last year, as they introduced new and improved bedding, pajamas, along with improved catering.
Have you ever flown on British Airways? Share about your experience below!
