British Airways is the national airline of the United Kingdom and the largest full-service airline in the United Kingdom based on destinations and passengers served. The airline also owns two subsidiary airlines, BA CityFlyer and BA EuroFly. In terms of passengers carried, it's the second-largest airline in the United Kingdom (behind easyJet) but is the dominant airline for long-haul flights flying from the UK.
The airline is based at London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and flies to over 200 destinations worldwide. While the airline mainly does intercontinental flights, it also has a strong route network in Europe and a domestic route network within the UK.
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British Airways has a different baggage policy for carry-on and checked baggage policy. The cabin class is also a determinate factor.
Passengers are given one item of free carry-on baggage and one free small personal item.
The free carry-on bag cannot exceed 23 kg in weight or 56 cm x 45 cm x 25 cm (22" x 17.7" x 9.8") in dimensions.
The free small personal item cannot exceed 23 kg in weight or 40 cm x 15 cm x 30 cm (15.7" x 5.9" x 11.8") in dimensions.
Passengers free checked baggage allowance will depend on the cabin class that the passenger is flying in. The table below details the free checked baggage allowance of each cabin class:
Economy Class: 1 or 2 pieces of free checked baggage with a maximum weight of 23–32 kg, depending on the route flown.
Premium Economy: 2 pieces of free checked baggage with a maximum weight of 23 kg per bag on all flights.
Business Class: 2 pieces of free checked baggage with a maximum weight of 32 kg per bag on all flights.
First Class: 3 items of free checked baggage with a maximum weight of 32 kg per bag on all flights.
British Airways' customers can choose between Economy, Premium Economy, Business or First Class for their flights.
British Airways Economy Class differs depending on whether the flights are short-haul or long-haul.
Euro Traveller is Economy Class for flights within Europe and UK. It offers a comfortable cabin with leather seats, adjustable headrests, complimentary newspapers and LED mood lighting.
Euro Traveller is split into three different fare structures:
Basic —this includes an allocated seat and hand baggage. With this fare, you can add a checked bag for a fee or choose a seat.
Plus — Plus fare allows passengers to choose their seat for free 48 hours before departure, request flight changes on the departure date for free and a greater checked baggage allowance.
Plus Flex — Plus Flex is a suitable fare provides flexibility on ticket changes and allows passengers to choose where a seat up to an hour before the flight.
World Traveller is Economy Class for long-haul flights. Onboard a wide body plane, it offers a comfortable and spacious cabin with leather reclinable seats, complimentary meals and drinks, a personal entertainment system on all fares.
World Traveller is split into two fares:
Basic — includes carry-on baggage and a pre-allocated seat, perfect for light travel with no-frills.
Standard — includes checked baggage, seat selection and allows passengers to board earlier than the Basic fare.
Seats on British Airways flights are set out in a 3 x 3 x 3 configuration on long-haul flights and a 3 x 3 configuration on short-haul flights. Seats offer between 29–31" of pitch and 17" of width.
The British Airways Premium Economy Service is called World Traveller Plus and is only available on medium-haul and long-haul flights.
Passengers receive a quilt and cushion and can enjoy great in-flight entertainment with a selection of movies and films. Passengers can enjoy the same great menu that's in Economy Class but with alcoholic cocktails and mocktails added to the Premium Economy bar menu. Each passenger is given an amenity kit, which uses materials created from recycled plastic bottles. The kits include eyeshade, socks, pen, toothbrush, toothpaste and lip balm from Scaramouche & Fandango.
The service offers passengers increased reclination on seats, personal in-seat power sockets and a larger in-flight entertainment screen.
The seats in British Airways Premium Economy are approximately 18.5 inches in width and recline to a 38-inch pitch.
British Airways Business Class service provides passengers with an excellent range of services to ensure they have the most enjoyable flight possible. The facilities offered onboard depend on whether the flight is long-haul or short-haul. For long-haul flights "Club World" flights passengers will be able to enjoy the best night's sleep possible onboard their BA flights. Passengers flying within Europe on "Club Europe" BA flights are guaranteed more comfort on board to help them relax on their European flight.
BA's Club World passengers can expect three-course meals to suit every taste as well as a range of expertly chosen Old and New World wines. Each passenger's seat is equipped with a personal 10.4in flat screen so you never spend a moment bored on your flight. For Business Club Europe passengers, delicious meal options will be crafted to match the length of your flight.
Club World British Airways seats give personal space to stretch out in privacy and comfort. At night, seats will convert into a 183cm (72") fully flatbed. Passengers flying between London and New York on BA's Club World London City flights will be able to get the rest they need on board with a seat that converts into a fully flatbed. Power supplies are fitted to every seat to allow passengers to charge their electronic devices in-flight. Passengers in the airline's Club Europe cabin sit on contoured leather seats with 76.2cm (30") legroom and fully movable headrests.
First Class is the most luxurious of the British Airways travel classes. From a personal stylish suite to exclusive spa treatments and world-class meals, First Class ensures that passengers arrive at their destination in style. First Class is only available on long-haul flights.
Passengers flying from LHR and JFK are given access to The Concorde Room, BA's most luxurious departure lounge. The lounge offers passengers total intimacy with a private cabin and full waiter service.
In-flight, passengers can enjoy their own private suite and a fine-dining experience with crockery, cutlery and glassware. Passengers are also provided with soft cotton sleepwear and can pamper themselves with the airline's luxury Aromatherapy Associates products and Liberty of London amenity kit.
British Airways First Class seats recline into a fully-flat bed with a luxurious quilted mattress, crisp white cotton duvet and pillows. Each seat gives 78" of pitch, 22" of width and has a power supply to allow passengers to charge their personal electronic devices.
BA's in-flight entertainment is available on all long-haul international flights and offers a range of TVs, movies, music and games.
The TV shows on offer with British Airways are constantly being updated, but the airline currently offers a range of documentaries, BBC dramas, cartoons and sitcoms.
Offering action packed blockbusters as well as thought-provoking thrillers, British Airways has a excellent selection of films to suit every taste. As well as British films, the airline also shows a number of Hollywood movies.
British Airways high-speed WIFI is powered by .air, which allows passengers to browse the web with Chrome, Safari 1E11 and Edge.
British Airways WIFI allows you to choose from two different packages:
British Airways WIFI pricing starts at £4.99 GBP.
British Airways offers a variety of food and drink to its customers, the menu changing depending on the class which you're situated in.
British Airways offer a variety of meals and snacks on board their flights, depending on the route and class flying.
Passengers travelling short-haul in Economy are offered food provided by Marks & Spencer to purchase , including sandwiches and sweet and savoury snacks. Passengers travelling short-haul in Premium Economy or Business are given complimentary meals based on the length of the flight as part of the Club Europe service.
Passengers travelling long-haul flights are offered complimentary food on all flights, with breakfast in the morning and a meal for either lunch or dinner and afternoon tea provided on select flights. All passengers are offered complimentary snacks and drinks in addition to this. Prior to the flight, passengers can check their booking to see what special meals can be reserved, purchased or upgraded to. This must be done between 30 days and 24 hours before flying.
British Airways offer special meals for their flights for passengers who request them prior to flying. These meals must be ordered at least 24 hours before scheduled departure time, except for Kosher meals on flights departing from London Gatwick (LGW) which must be ordered at least 48 hours prior to departure. These are all the meal types that British Airways offer:
British Airways offer a full drinks service, including alcoholic beverages, on most of their flights. These are available to purchase in any class, but long-haul flights will include a complimentary drink with their meal.
British Airways have check in available both online or at the airport and the times at which it opens and closes will vary depending on whether you're flying domestically or internationally.
Passengers can check-in online for their flight on the British Airways online check-in page. Online check-in opens 24 hours before scheduled flight departure time.
Passengers that can't check-in online or are unable to check-in online can check-in at the airport. This can be done by visiting one of the airport check-in desks with the relevant travel documents. Airport check-in closing times differ depending on the airport of departure.
British Airways' tiered loyalty programme, Executive Club, gives passengers access to special lounges and dedicated 'fast' queues. Passengers can collect Avios (points) every time that they fly with British Airways or purchase from one of its partners. The more Avios earned, the higher the level of membership passengers are awarded. The higher the level of membership, the more benefits passengers will receive.
Passengers can also use Avios to purchase or upgrade their flight on any British Airways flight or any member of the Oneworld alliance.
British Airways is currently part of Oneworld.
British Airways is a founding member of the world's third-biggest airline alliance, the Oneworld alliance. British Airways works closely with its Oneworld partner airlines to offer passengers a range of benefits for each airline. BA has a series of interline agreements with airline's within Oneworld that allows its passengers to fly to destinations beyond Britsh Airway's route network.
These are all the members of the Oneworld alliance:
This includes:
British Airways only offer a small number of special services on board their aircraft.
If you are wanting to fly with either a pet, service animal or emotional support animal, you can see all information and advice by Alternative Airlines about travelling with an animal.
British Airways flies to a vast amount of destinations, below is a detailed table of all its destinations:
Please click on the logos below to find out more about airlines that fly similar routes:
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Heathrow Airport is a major international airport in west London, England. Heathrow and is the hub airport for British Airways.
By passenger traffic, London Heathrow is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom, the busiest airport in Europe and within the top 10 busiest airports in the world. In 2018, it handled a record 80.1 million passengers.
Currently, British Airways is the only airline that fly to/from London Heathrow include Virgin Atlantic, Flybe, United Airlines, KLM, Air Canada, Scandinavian Airlines Ireland and more.
London Heathrow has a massive duty free sections and lots of other shops both landside and airside. London Heathrow was featured on our blog as one of the best places in the world for airport shopping.
The British Airways fleet includes a mix of Airbus and Boeing aircraft. This includes:
Overall, the airline has more than 250 aircraft within its fleet.
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British Airways codeshares with the following airlines:
Aer Lingus
airBaltic
American Airlines
Bangkok Airways
Cathay Pacific
China Eastern
Finnair
Iberia
Japan Airlines
LATAM Brasil
LATAM Chile
Qantas
Qatar Airways
Royal Jordanian
TAAG Angola Airlines
Vueling
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✈ Manchester, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Belfast, Glasgow, Isle of Man, Jersey, London City, London Heathrow, Newcastle upon Tyne
✈ Barcelona, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Madrid, Malaga, Menorca, Tenerife, Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Paris, Bologna, Florence, Milan, Naples, Pisa, Rome, Venice, Verona
✈ Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Washington D.C.
✈ Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver
✈ Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangkok, Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai
✈ Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth
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Here are Alternative Airlines, we love saving you money when you book your flights through our site. Our discounts and deals page is constantly updated with the latest offers. What's more, when you book through Alternative Airlines, the discount codes can be applied to any airline, including British Airways. This will apply no matter what class fare you pick (Economy through to Business).
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The options available will depend on the country in which you reside — if you live in the U.K., you can split the cost of your flights with Clearpay or Klarna. With Clearpay, you can split the payment into 4 and only need to pay 25% of the cost today, with absolutely no interest charged. You can also 'Pay Later' or 'Pay in 3' with PayPal Credit.
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London Heathrow to New York JFK is one of British Airways's most popular long-haul flights, and the airline's most popular flights to the U.S. from the U.K. If you're looking to save money on your flights, this guide includes lots of helpful information, including links to our flight discounts and offers page.
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Last-minute British Airways flights are British Airways flights purchased close to the departure date and time of the flight. These flights are usually purchased in the days or weeks leading up to the departure date. Last-minute flights tend to be purchased by business travellers who need to attend meetings or by passengers who need to travel urgently. Last-minute flights can often be cheaper than buying flights months before departure, however, this isn't always guaranteed.
Booking last-minute flights with British Airways is super easy. Simply follow our step-by-step guide on how to book last-minute flights with British Airways. We offer 40+ payment methods such as buy now, pay later, cryptocurrency and Apple Pay. Select the payment method that best suits you. You can also add extras to your booking such as Cancellation Protection and Lost Baggage Insurance.
At Alternative Airlines, the majority of our e-tickets are sent to you instantly or within 2 hours via email. Please note that when booking last-minute flights, in some cases, it might take up to 24 hours to receive your e-ticket.
British Airways flies to over 200 destinations globally. Below are some suggestions of popular last-minute routes with British Airways. Pack your bags today for a last-minute flight tomorrow.
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Absolutely! You can reserve your British Airways flight today and spread the cost with instalment payments through Alternative Airlines. We understand that last-minute flights can be a financial challenge during emergencies, but with us, you can finance them instead of paying a lump sum from unexpected funds.
We offer a variety of payment methods, including convenient Buy Now, Pay Later options like PayPal Credit, Clearpay, Klarna and Affirm, with over 40 payment methods available on our site.
19th October 2023
British Airways is set to recommence flights to Abu Dhabi in April 2024, marking a return after a four-year pause caused by the pandemic and sluggish demand recovery. The airline will provide year-round daily flights using the Boeing 787-9, putting it in direct competition with Etihad's London services. Notably, British Airways will utilise its premium-oriented Dreamliner aircraft for this route, offering first class, business class, premium economy and economy cabins.