British Airways plc or (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. BA has its headquarters in Waterside near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport and is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations. Its second hub is London Gatwick Airport. British Airways has discontinued all direct overseas flights from UK airports other than Heathrow, Gatwick and London City Airport. BA's UK passengers originating at non-London airports must now connect via London

British Airways doubled its direct flights to India, between London Mumbai to two per day the new flight (BA 126) will taking off from Mumbai at 13:40 p.m. everyday and land at Heathrow Airport, London at 6.05 p.m. This new flight is in addition to flight no. 138, which departs from Mumbai at 2:40 a.m. daily.

British Airways has also extended connectivity to Bangalore thus offering direct flights from London Heathrow, to five cities in India - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata. The increase in flight services comes after the successful outcome of bilateral talks between UK and India, which allows more flights to operate between the two countries. As a part of its major expansion drive in India, British Airways will also be doubling the number of flights between Heathrow, London and Delhi from one to two per day, In order to maximise customer connectivity, British Airways has already signed a (MOU) with Air Sahara to make the airline its preferred partner and to leverage its extensive domestic network.

The Beginning of the Empire Routes
As the name 'Imperial Airways' implied, the organisation had been formed to cast its eyes on more distant horizons than the boundaries of Europe. It was charged with the task of pioneering a chain of long-distance intercontinental air services linking the countries of the British Empire with each other and with the United Kingdom. Between the two World Wars it achieved that aim    more

British Airways is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index on 31 March 2009 the airline celebrated its 35th anniversary. On 12 November 2009, British Airways confirmed that it had reached a preliminary agreement to merge with Iberia Airlines the combined airline will become the world's third-largest carrier (after Delta Air Lines and American Airlines) in terms of annual revenue.

British Airways (BA) was created in 1972, when the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways Corporation (BEA) managements were combined under the newly formed British Airways Board. This effectively made British Airways into the national airline for the United Kingdom and due to the lack of competition; the new company began to exert its position and significance. BA was one of only two airlines to operate the supersonic Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde; inaugurating the world's first supersonic passenger service in January 1976. The final commercial Concorde flight from New York to London was on 24 October 2003.
Sir John King, later Lord King, was appointed Chairman in 1981 with the goal of preparing the airline for privatisation. King was credited with transforming the loss-making giant into one of the most profitable air carriers in the world, boldly claiming to be "The World's Favourite Airline", while many other large airlines struggled. The flag carrier was privatised and was floated on the London Stock Exchange in February 1987 by the government. In July 1987, British Airways affected the takeover of Britain's "second" airline, British Caledonian
During the 1990s, BA became the world's most profitable airline under the slogan "The World's Favourite Airline". In 1993 BA formed British Asia Airways, a subsidiary based in the Republic of China (Taiwan), to operate between London and Taipei. BA also purchased a 25% stake in Australian airline Qantas and acquired Brymon Airways to form BA Connect all in the same year.

The musical theme predominantly used on British Airways advertising is "The Flower Duet" by Léo Delibes. This and the slogan "The World's Favourite Airline" were introduced in 1989 with the launch of the iconic "Face" advertisement. The slogan was dropped in 2001; however, "Flower Duet" is still used by the airline, and has been through several different arrangements since 1989. The recent version of this melody was shown in 2007, with a new slogan, "Upgrade to British Airways"
The advertising agency used for many years by BA was Saatchi & Saatchi, who created many of the most famous advertisements for the airline

British Airways' speedbird logo marks the entrance to London Heathrow Terminal 5
Prior to "The World's Favourite Airline", advertising slogans included:
"The World's Best Airline".
"We'll Take More Care Of You".
"Fly the Flag".

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