British Airways
British Airways (BA) is the national flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is based in Waterside, Harmondsworth, London Borough of Hillingdon in England. Its main hubs are at London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport. It is the founding member of Oneworld, currently the third largest airline alliance in the world.
British Airways was formed as a result of a merger between British European Airways (BEA) and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) in 1974. It was privatised in 1987 and was floated in the London Stock Exchange. In 1988, it acquired British Caledonian, an independent, international scheduled airline. Some routes of Dan-Air were also acquired in 1992.
British Airways favoured the use of Boeing for a long time until 1998 when it first ordered an Airbus aircraft. The airline started replacing their long-haul fleet since then. In 2007, orders for Boeing 787s and Airbus 380s were made. Its long-haul fleet centrepiece is the Boeing 747-400.
British Airways’ latest slogan is “Upgrade to British Airways.”
Domestic and International Destinations
British Airways has a fleet size of 240 aircraft and flies to around 147 destinations in 75 countries, in every inhabited continent such as Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and the Caribbean, Oceania and South and Central America.
It has international flight services to Nairobi in Kenya; Mauritius; Dar es Salaam in Tanzania; Kampala in Uganda; Algiers in Algeria; Cairo in Egypt; Tripoli in Libya; Tunis in Tunisia; Luanda in Angola; Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa; Lusaka in Zambia; Accra in Ghana; Abuja and Lagos in Nigeria; Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai in China; Tokyo in Japan; Dhaka in Bangladesh; Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai in India; Singapore; Bangkok in Thailand; Bahrain; Tel Aviv in Israel; Amman in Jordan; Kuwait; Riyadh and Jeddah in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Muscat in Oman; Doha in Qatar; Abu Dhabi and Dubai in United Arab Emirates; Buenos Aires in Argentina; Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil; Sydney in Australia; Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Atlanta, Chicago, Baltimore, Boston, Newark, New York City, Philadelphia; Dallas; Houston; Washington, D. C. and Seattle in the United States; Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal in Canada; Mexico City in Mexico; Bermuda; Cayman Islands; Antigua and Barbuda; Bahamas; Barbados; Grenada; Jamaica; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Trinidad and Tobago; and Turks and Caicos Islands.
European destinations include Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.
In the United Kingdom, British Airways flies to Jersey in the Channel Islands; Leeds, London, Manchester and Newcastle in London; Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland.
Executive Club
The Executive Club is BA’s frequent flyer programme. It has a three-tier membership namely Blue, Silver and Gold. Silver and Gold cardholders are given access to airport lounges and dedicated reservation lines. Redeeming of awards depends on the BA Miles and Tier Points accumulated.
Earning BA Miles is easy, just fly with British Airways and their partner airlines, stay in hotels, rent cars, use BA credit card or shop in partner establishments. To speed up earning this type of miles, members can also purchase it.
Tier Points, on the other hand, are earned based on frequency, class type and distance of your travels. British Airways has four travel classes, First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy Class and Economy Class. The Tier Points are earned on eligible flights and fares.
BA Miles can be spent on reward flights and upgrade of an existing booking while Tier Points can help boost, maintain or push to the next level your membership status.
Other benefits of Executive Club membership include priority waitlisting, preferred seating, meal preferences, priority check in and boarding, reservation assurance, lounge access with BA and its partner airlines, and use of first class check in desks of BA and Oneworld airlines.
The Premier programme is an invitation-only loyalty programme given exclusively to BA Board. It offers more benefits than that of the Gold Executive Club membership.
British Airways operates lounges for passengers who travel in the premium cabins and those with status. These are the Concorde Room, Galleries First, Galleries Club, Galleries Lounge, Galleries Arrivals, First Lounge, Terraces Lounge, Executive Club Lounge, Gate 1 Lounge and Chesapeake Club Lounge. These member lounges provide different amenities for passengers such as fax, internet, phone, meeting rooms and other business services.
Oneworld
BA co-founded Oneworld airline alliance with American Airlines, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas Airways in 1998. It became operational the next year, 1999 where two members were added, namely Iberia and Finnair. At present, the alliance has 10 full members.
There are three premium statuses in Oneworld alliance, Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald. The frequent flyer programmes of member airlines determine the requirements, equivalent and extent of benefits for each status.