Tuesday April 9, 2019 – British Airways has, for the first time brought together its four heritage liveried aircraft which were repainted to mark the airline’s centenary this year, alongside an A319 in the current Chatham Dockyard livery, to capture a rare image of some of the airline’s most iconic designs together.
The photos captured also mark the fact that 50,000 customers have already flown around the globe on the four heritage liveries since they re-joined the fleet, with the Boeing 747s having travelled to destinations such as New York, Cape Town, Dubai and Lagos, while the BEA liveried Airbus A319 has flown far and wide across the airlines’ UK and European network to cities including Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Milan, Zurich and Amsterdam.
Alex Cruz, British Airways’ Chairman and CEO, said:
“The excitement and pride that we’ve witnessed from customers and colleagues as these heritage liveries, which we painted to mark our centenary, have flown around the globe has been unparalleled.
“Social media has been fired up with images from travellers all over the world when they’ve spotted the aircraft and as some 50,000 people have now flown on them since they arrived back in the fleet we wanted to capture a special photo to share with them.”
To capture the photo, the four heritage aircraft, which were in scheduled downtime and parked at the airline’s engineering base, were lined up alongside an aircraft with the current Chatham Dockyard design.
The painstaking process of arranging them for the photo took over two (careful) hours.
The retro designs are part of a special series to mark British Airways’ centenary, as the airline celebrates its past while looking to the future and can be followed using tracking website Flightradar24, which features special images of the aircraft.
In this, its centenary year, British Airways is hosting a range of activities and events. As well as looking back, the airline is also hosting BA 2119 – a programme, which will lead the debate on the future of flying and explore the future of sustainable aviation fuels, the aviation careers of the future and the customer experience of the future.
The airline will be working with expert partners to identify BA’s 100 Great Britons; the people up and down the country who are currently shaping modern Britain, and of course, the year would not be complete without some special flying and moments for customers.
The centenary activity is taking place alongside the airline’s current five-year £6.5bn investment for customers. This includes the installation of the best quality WiFi and power in every seat, fitting 128 long-haul aircraft with new interiors and taking delivery of 72 new aircraft. The airline has also revealed a brand-new business class seat with direct aisle access, the Club Suite, which will debut on the Airbus A350 later this year.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
• The Boeing 747 in BOAC livery (G-BYGC) arrived in to LHR on February 18, 2019
• The Airbus A319 in BEA livery (G-EUPJ) arrived in to LHR on March 3, 2019
• The Boeing 747 in Landor livery (G-BNLY) arrived in to LHR on March 9, 2019
• The Boeing 747 in Negus livery (G-CIVB) arrived in to LHR on March 21, 2019
A potted history of BA:
• On August 25, 1919, British Airways’ forerunner company, Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited (AT&T), launched the world’s first daily international scheduled air service between London and Paris.
• In 1924, Britain’s four main fledgling airlines, which had by then evolved into Instone, Handley Page, Daimler Airways (a successor to AT&T), and British Air Marine Navigation Company Limited, merged to form Imperial Airways Limited.
• By 1925, Imperial Airways was providing services to Paris, Brussels, Basle, Cologne and Zurich. Meanwhile, a number of smaller UK air transport companies had started flights and in 1935, they merged to form the original privately-owned British Airways Limited, which became Imperial Airways’ principal UK competitor on European routes.
• Following a Government review, Imperial Airways and British Airways were nationalised in 1939 to form British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). Continental European and domestic flights were flown by a new airline, British European Airways (BEA) from 1946. BOAC introduced services to New York in 1946, Japan in 1948, Chicago in 1954 and the west coast of the United States in 1957. BEA developed a domestic network to various points in the United Kingdom, including Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester.
• From 1946 until 1960, BOAC and BEA were the principal British operators of scheduled international passenger and cargo services – and they preserved Britain’s pioneering role in the industry. The 1950s saw the world enter the passenger jet era – led by BOAC, with the Comet flying to Johannesburg in 1952, halving the previous flight time.
• Additional airlines began to pass into BEA’s ownership and in 1967, the Government recommended a holding board be responsible for BOAC and BEA, with the establishment of a second force airline, resulting in British Caledonian being born in 1970.
• Two years later, the businesses of BOAC and BEA were combined under the newly formed British Airways Board, with the separate airlines coming together as British Airways in 1974.
• In July 1979, the Government announced its intention to sell shares in British Airways and in February 1987 British Airways was privatised.
• In January 2011 the International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) was formed when British Airways and Iberia merged. IAG has since also become the parent company of Aer Lingus, and Vueling and in 2017, IAG launched LEVEL a new low-cost airline brand that operates from Barcelona, Paris and Vienna.
Battle of the Brands British Airways Takes the Top Spot for Britain
British Airways has been voted the number one British brand in both the consumer and business Superbrands lists for 2019.
Over 1,500 brands were included in both surveys and British Airways was voted in fourth place in the Business Index and fifth place in the Consumer Index. The airline also secured the number one spot in the ‘Travel – Airlines’ category in the consumer survey, ahead of 18 of its competitors from the UK and internationally.
Alex Cruz, British Airways’ Chairman and Chief Executive said: “It’s our centenary year and we couldn’t be more proud to be flying the flag for Britain. We’re thrilled to be featured as one the top five Superbrands alongside some incredible global organisations. We’re investing more than £6.5 billion to ensure British Airways offers a world-class service – but we’re never complacent and we will continue to strive to ensure we meet and surpass our customer and colleagues’ expectations.”
All voters were asked to judge brands against the three core factors inherent in a Superbrand: quality, reliability and distinction. According to the experts at Superbrands, brand perception and voting by individuals is also influenced by a range of both short and long-term factors, from the brand’s current profile to its latest marketing activities and new product and service developments, giving a holistic picture of how brands are currently perceived.
The business Superbrands voting process involving 2,500 UK business professionals, supplemented by an expert council comprising 24 senior business-to-business marketing leaders.
In addition to the British public vote in the consumer Superbrands survey, which was weighted to reflect the breadth of opinion across the whole country, all brands awarded Superbrand status were also highly rated by an objective and voluntary council of senior industry experts to provide a secondary quality control mechanism.
Brands do not pay or apply to be considered – in order to provide a broad review of the market and identify the strongest brands in each category, all the key players in each sector need to be voted on.
The research process was managed by The Centre for Brand Analysis (TCBA) in partnership with Dynata, one of the world’s leading data research companies.
More information can be found on the Superbrands UK website: www.superbrands.uk.com.
Notes to Editors:
For more information about British Airways’ investments visit: http://mediacentre.britishairways.com/pressrelease
In Consumer Superbrands, British Airways placed 5th out of the 1,596 brands voted on, and also came first in the ‘Travel – Airlines’ category, ahead of 18 peers.
The overall top 10 Consumer Superbrands for 2019 are:
1. LEGO 6. Coca-cola
2. Apple 7. Andrex
3. Gillette 8. Mastercard
4. Rolex 9. Visa
5. British Airways 10. Dyson
In Business Superbrands, British Airways placed 4th out of the 1,586 brands voted on. It places second in category, out of the 22 brands surveyed. Emirates placed top of category and third overall.
The overall top 10 Business Superbrands for 2019 are:
1. Apple 6. PayPal
2. Microsoft 7. BP
3. Emirates 8. Mastercard
4. British Airways 9. Google
5. Samsung 10. Visa
About Superbrands
The Superbrands organisation identifies and pays tribute to exceptional brands throughout the world. The UK programme is run under license by The Centre for Brand Analysis (TCBA). A selection of identified Superbrands are celebrated in the Superbrands Annual, first published in 1995 and now in its 20th volume in the UK. The book explores the history, development and achievements of the nation’s leading brands, showcasing why they are well-regarded and providing valuable insights into each brands strategy and proposition.
What is a Superbrand?
All voters considered the following definition and criteria when judging the brands:
‘A Superbrand has established the finest reputation in its field. It offers customers significant emotional and/or tangible advantages over its competitors, which customers want and recognise.’
• Quality: Does the brand provide quality products and services?
• Reliability: Can the brand be trusted to deliver consistently?
• Distinction: Is it well known in its sector and suitably different from its rivals?
About Dynata
Dynata is one of the world’s leading providers of first-party data contributed by people who opt-in to member-based panels. With a reach that encompasses over 60 million people globally and an extensive library of individual profile attributes collected through surveys, Dynata is the cornerstone for precise, trustworthy quality data. Dynata serves nearly 6,000 market research agencies, media and advertising agencies, consulting and investment firms as well as healthcare and corporate customers.
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