Which Aircraft Types Has British Airways Operated?

Heathrow-based UK flag carrier British Airways has operated a wide variety of commercial aircraft over the years. Its white, red, and blue planes have left almost no part of the world untouched since the airline came to be in 1974. But which are the aircraft types that have graced BA’s fleet since it came into existence after BOAC and BEA’s mid-1970s merger?

BA’s 747s were among the most distinctive aircraft in its fleet. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Airbus

We’ll start by concentrating on the European half of the industry-dominating Airbus-Boeung duopoly. BA is currently a rather loyal Airbus customer, with the A320/A320neo families making up the entirety of its short-haul fleet. The airline also operates a handful of Airbus’s long-haul designs. The current Airbus contingent at BA, according to Planespotters.net, is as follows.

• A319-100 (35 examples, with an average age of 19.2 years old)
• A320-200 (67 examples, with an average age of 14.7 years old)
• A320neo (14 examples, with an average age of 2 years old)
• A321-200 (18 examples, with an average age of 15.5 years old)
• A321neo (10 examples, with an average age of 1.7 years old)
• A350-1000 (8 examples, with an average age of 1.1 years old)
• A380-800 (12 examples, with an average age of 8 years old)

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All of BA’s A380s are currently in storage. However, the airline is committed to returning them to service. Photo: Getty Images

There are also a couple of Airbus designs that BA has previously operated but no longer does. The smallest of these was the A318-100 ‘Baby Bus.’ BA flew two examples of this on its all-business-class London City-Shannon-New York JFK services between 2009 and 2020. Furthermore, while the airline presently operates the A320-200 and A320neo, it has also flown the A320-100 in years gone by. Five examples of this served the airline from 1988 to 2007.

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Boeing

As far as Boeing aircraft are concerned, BA is presently an exclusively long-haul customer for the US manufacturer. Its current Boeing fleet consists of the following aircraft.

• 777-200ER (43 examples, with an average age of 21.1 years old)
• 777-300ER (16 examples, with an average age of 6.5 years old)
• 787-8 (12 examples, with an average age of 5.8 years old)
• 787-9 (18 examples, with an average age of 4.8 years old)
• 787-10 (2 examples, with an average age of 1 year old).

In recent years, BA has modernized its long-haul fleet with aircraft from the Boeing 787 ‘Dreamliner’ family. Photo: Jake Hardiman | Simple Flying

However, in years gone by, BA has operated a far greater variety of Boeing aircraft. The families in question were workhorses on both short-haul and long-haul services at the airline. It inherited some of its older aircraft from the BOAC/BEA merger that formed the carrier in 1974. Historically speaking, BA has flown aircraft from the following Boeing families.

• 707 (22 examples across 2 variants, 1974-1984)
• 737 (122 examples across 4 variants, 1977-2015)
• 747 (101 examples across 3 variants, 1974-2020)
• 757 (56 examples of the 757-200, 1983-2010)
• 767 (31 examples across 2 variants, 1990-2018)

The best of the rest

Of course, the story of BA’s fleet is one with far more depth than just Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Perhaps its most famous plane of all came from outside this duopoly. Of course, this was none other than the legendary supersonic Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde. All in all, BA operated seven of these inspiring Mach 2 jetliners for 27 glorious years between 1976 and 2003.

Concorde was one of BA’s most legendary aircraft. It flew the airline’s flagship London-New York services. Photo: Getty Images

Concorde aside, BA has operated several other models from outside the Airbus-Boeing duopoly. Among the aircraft that it began with in 1974 was the rear-engined BAC 1-11. All in all, the airline flew 35 examples of this aircraft across two variants between 1974 and 1993. It also flew a couple of BAe designs in the late-80s and early-90s, namely the four-engine 146 regional jet and the turboprop ATP.

Finally, BA has also flown designs from Hawker Siddeley (Trident and HS 748), Lockheed (TriStar), McDonnell Douglas (DC-10), and Vickers (VC-10, Super VC-10, Vanguard, and Viscount). Meanwhile, its subsidiaries and regional partners have also seen aircraft from the likes of de Havilland, Embraer, Fokker, and Saab pass through their fleets. While BA may operate a more streamlined fleet nowadays, it can certainly look back on a very rich history of aircraft.

Which is your favorite of the aircraft that British Airways has operated? How many of them have you flown on? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!

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