1990
Boeing 767 entered British Airways’ service on its European routes, predominately to Charles de Gaulle, Paris.

During July, 21 Boeing 747-436s were ordered and 12 options placed. The airline’s total order for the type was 42.

In May, plans were announced to increase British Airways’ services between the UK and Japan to 15 a week from the autumn, following a new agreement with the British and Japanese governments.

A proposal was unveiled in June to develop a new £70m aircraft engineering base to be built at Cardiff, Wales airport creating 1,200 jobs. The facility was to carry out heavy maintenance on the airline’s growing fleet of Boeing 747s. Plans were announced for a new £37m catering base at Heathrow to replace the airline’s existing shorthaul facility at the airport, producing 29,000 meals daily.

Two new brands were announced in November in the airline’s Economy cabin, in an effort to win a greater share of the air travel market. World Traveller, on intercontinental services, and Euro Traveller on shorthaul, would offer passengers more comfortable seats, improved catering and a wide range of in-flight entertainment. Most importantly, they were to provide a new approach to service. The new brands were to be introduced on 15 January 1991.

1991
The Gulf War during February caused a significant loss of traffic, resulting in job losses and the deferral of several aircraft deliveries.

In March a campaign designed to bring back traffic after the Gulf War was spearheaded by "The World's Biggest Offer" to give away free every seat on the airline’s international services on 23 April.

Cuts in a number of uneconomic services were announced, including the withdrawal on 29 March of all services from the UK to the Republic of Ireland. Also to be withdrawn were services to Amsterdam (from Gatwick), Banjul, Freetown, Karachi and Nassau, and Concorde services to Miami.

In June, a £10m package of customer service enhancements was announced designed to maintain the airline’s competitive edge on the North Atlantic. Mission Atlantic included new lounges and check-in facilities in the USA, new Club World catering and passenger service enhancements at Heathrow, all of which were to be introduced during the month on services to 21 destinations in North America.

In July an agreement was signed to begin work on setting up a new international airline based in Moscow to be known as Air Russia. British Airways would have a 31% stake.

In August the airline ordered 15 Boeing 777 aircraft powered by General Electric GE90 engines with a further 15 options. The aircraft formed part of a £4.3 billion package, including orders and options for 24 Boeing 747-400s and 11 British Aerospace ATPs.

British Airways agreed in principle to sell the business previously carried on by British Airways Engine Overhaul Limited to General Electric of the US for around £272m.

The airline took delivery of its first three 141-seat Boeing 737-436s entered service in October. By the end of March 1992, 13 of the aircraft would be in scheduled service with 14 more due for delivery by December 1993. The last Lockheed TriStars were withdrawn.

1992
In January a three-year plan to restore the airline's Gatwick operation to an acceptable level of profitability was announced.

In February the airline agreed the sale of its property maintenance branch to Drake and Scull.

In March British Airways Regional, a new business to run and improve the profitability of services from Birmingham, Manchester and Scotland, was announced. ATPs replaced the last HS748s during April.

Deutsche BA, the company formed by a consortium of German Banks and British Airways, announced the acquisition of the German regional airline, Delta Air.

In July British Airways and USAir Group Inc announced an agreement to forge links through an investment by British Airways of US$750m in convertible preferred shares in USAir. The transaction was conditional upon obtaining the necessary regulatory and legal consents and the approval of USAir shareholders. The agreement was terminated in December after the US Government indicated the transaction would not be approved without unwarranted and unilateral concessions by the UK Government under the two countries' bilateral air services agreement.

Lord King announced he was to step down as Chairman in July 1993 after 12 years.

In September British Airways announces it was to acquire a 49.9% share in TAT European Airlines (TAT) for £17.25m, subject to adjustment at the time of completion (January 1993).

In November British Airways acquired for £1 the assets of the holding company for Dan-Air. The charter side of Dan-Air was closed down but its Gatwick scheduled service routes and fleet of Boeing 737-300/400s were retained with a view to creating a low-cost BA operation at Gatwick to operate a much-enlarged network of European services.

1993
In January British Airways announced a new alliance with USAir, including an immediate investment of US$300m (£198m) by British Airways in new convertible preferred shares in USAir for an initial 19.9% voting interest. The agreement gave British Airways options over the next five years to invest up to a further US$450m in preferred shares in USAir in two tranches if financial and regulatory conditions permitted. Commercial arrangements announced simultaneously covered codesharing on USAir flights in the USA, and the launch by British Airways of three new transatlantic services using USAir crews and aircraft leased from USAir. Both parties intended to explore other areas in which they would be able to work together to their mutual benefit.

British Airways paid £610,000 in settlement of a libel action brought by Mr Richard Branson and Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited.

In February Lord King retired as Chairman and became the first President of British Airways. The Board appointed Colin Marshall as Chairman and Robert Ayling as Group Managing Director.

In March British Airways purchased a 25% stake in Qantas.

BA Regional began two-class services during March from Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow to New York, and from Manchester to Los Angeles.

The US Government approved British Airways' alliance with USAir, with clearance for the normal period of one year for codesharing and wet-lease operations. The two airlines commenced in May a phased programme of codeshared flights to 38 cities.

British Asia Airways, a wholly owned subsidiary, inaugurated direct services between the UK and Taiwan using dedicated Boeing 747-436s with special Chinese tail logos.

In April, in conjunction with USAir's sale of ten million shares of common stock, British Airways exercised its right under the investment agreement of January 1993 to invest US$101m additional preferred stock to maintain its 24.6% holding in USAir.
Fast Track, a dedicated channel for premium passengers opened at Heathrow Terminal 4, providing a fast service from check-in to the departure lounge.

TAT European Airlines commenced operations from Gatwick's North Terminal.

In May British Airways raised approximately £442m, net of expenses, by way of a Rights Issue on the basis of one New Ordinary Share for every four Ordinary Shares. Acceptances were received in respect of 92% of the shares offered.

British Airways and Maersk Air of Denmark announced a conditional agreement to each inject £6m into The Plimsoll Line to enable it to meet its outstanding debts and restructure. Brymon Aviation and Plymouth City Airport were to become wholly-owned British Airways subsidiaries and Maersk Air Ltd (formerly Birmingham European Airways) became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Maersk Air. Following approval to the restructuring by Office of Fair Trading, British Airways announced in August that flights operated by Brymon and Maersk Air Ltd were to fly in the colours of British Airways.

In June British Airways launched daily flights between Gatwick and Pittsburgh using a USAir Boeing 767 in British Airways livery and staffed by USAir crews in British Airways uniforms. Similar services were launched to Baltimore in October and Charlotte in January 1994.

British Airways Maintenance Cardiff (BAMC), the new £70m aircraft maintenance base at Cardiff-Wales Airport, was formally opened.

In July British Airways announced a new marketing agreement with CityFlyer Express. From August the airline operated all scheduled services under the name British Airways Express, with British Airways' livery, uniforms and service standards. The agreement, for an initial five years, was designed to increase feeder traffic at Gatwick to the benefit of both airlines.

BA’s final BAC 1-11s were retired at Birmingham, in July.

In August, as a result of redeployment of aircraft in the fleet and the airline's drive to improve utilisation, the last four Boeing 737-436 aircraft due for delivery in the period September-December 1993 were to be placed into storage pending disposal.

In December the airline opened a new £23m avionics facility in South Wales, which was to create some 375 jobs by October 1994. The new workshop would be capable of handling over 130,000 avionic components a year, more than double the workload at Heathrow, with a three day turnaround compared with the industry norm of up to 28 days.

1994
In January the US Department of Transportation (DoT) approved British Airways and USAir codesharing to 65 destinations across the USA until 17 March 1994. In March the DOT renewed approval for one year and said it would not act on British Airways' application to extend these arrangements to further destinations.

In March British Airways launched "World Offers" fares to more than 50 destinations, cutting prices by an average of a third, to sell seats that otherwise probably would have been unsold.

In April British Airways and Loganair announced plans to protect loss-making Scottish routes with British Airways redeploying resources on strengthening cross-border routes. Loganair would enter into a franchise arrangement to provide services on several Scottish routes in British Airways Express livery from July.

In June British Airways announced changes on services to the Caribbean from Gatwick, including discontinuing the under-utilised First Class to provide more Club World seats.

In August British Airways and Qantas announced a much greater level of co-operation on services between Europe and Australasia. The airlines were to co-ordinate scheduling, sales and marketing on their 35 weekly Boeing 747-400 Kangaroo route services and the Qantas network of Boeing 767 services between Australia, Singapore and Bangkok.

In September British Airways launched its new Club Europe brand, with a £70m package of improvements including new seats, lounges at key business destinations throughout Europe, telephone check-in, Fast Track through passport and security checks at Heathrow's Terminal 1, better food and a choice between a snack and a full meal.

In November, Concorde services to Washington were discontinued after 18 years of operation.

In December GB Airways, 49% owned by British Airways, announced that from February 1995 it was to operate scheduled services as a franchisee in British Airways livery.

1995
In January eight additional destinations were added to the British Airways route network as Manx Airlines Europe became a franchise operator.

In March British Airways sold its charter airline subsidiary Caledonian Airways, including its fleet of five Lockheed TriStar aircraft, to Inspirations plc.

British Airways and BAA plc restructured leases covering 224 acres at Heathrow, giving the airline security of tenure on its core maintenance base for 150 years.

In June HM Government reached agreement with the US Government on a new "mini-deal" annex to the Bermuda 2 air service agreement which secured US approval for British Airways' outstanding codeshare requests, and confirmed that the airline could operate a double-daily service from Heathrow to Philadelphia. Under the agreement, the US DoT approved applications to add 57 codeshare points to the 65 previously approved.

British Airways announced the transfer of eleven weekly Central and East African services to Gatwick in Spring 1996. The transfer would release slots and terminal capacity at Heathrow for the launch of additional intercontinental services.

In July, trading in Qantas shares commenced on the Australian Stock Market.

In September British Airways announced a £500m three-year plan to revolutionise air travel. The programme kicked off with the relaunch of Club World and Executive Club frequent flyer programme. A completely new First Class service, renamed First, was to lift off in the winter, with every other cabin then following suit.

USAir reported preliminary conversations with both American Airlines and United Airlines concerning possible strategic relationships up to and including the acquisition of USAir. British Airways said it would evaluate a number of options in relation to its investment in USAir and the airline's future alliance strategy in North America.

In October British Airways and Qantas commenced services on the "Kangaroo route" between Europe and Australia under the Joint Services Agreement (JSA) between the two airlines.

In November United Airlines announced it would not pursue talks on the possibility of acquiring USAir.

British Airways took delivery of its first Boeing 777 in November and entered service from Heathrow to Dubai and Muscat.

1996
In January Bob Ayling became Chief Executive of British Airways Plc. Sir Colin Marshall continued as Chairman on a non-executive, part-time basis.

British Airways confirmed that it would not be exercising its rights to subscribe for additional preference shares in USAir.

In April the airline announced a codesharing agreement with America West, enabling British Airways’ Gatwick-Phoenix passengers to fly on to some America West destinations.

In May the airline announced the Business Efficiency Programme for the three years from 1997/8 worth £1 billion.

Canadian Airlines International and British Airways announced codesharing on selected routes and reciprocal frequent flyer programmes.

British Airways announced its first franchise agreement with a company based outside the UK. Sun-Air, the Danish regional airline, would fly as British Airways Express from August on a network linking with British Airways at Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm.

In June British Airways and American Airlines announced plans for a broad alliance. From April 1997, the two airlines planed to co-ordinate their passenger and cargo activities between Europe and the USA, introduce extensive codesharing across each other's networks and establish full reciprocity between their frequent flyer programmes.

In July British Airways announced it was to switch its Latin American services from Heathrow to Gatwick from March 1997.

In August the European Commission approved British Airways' purchase of the remaining 50.1% of the share capital of its French partner TAT European Airlines.

British Airways announced that from March 1997, its services to Faro, Malaga and Oporto would be operated by GB Airways as a British Airways franchise.

In September British Airways announced the closure of its Contract Handling unit, which carried out ground handling for other airlines at Heathrow. All 750 staff were to be offered the choice of voluntary redundancy and severance payments, or redeployment and retraining.

In October British Airways submitted a bid, in conjunction with Paris-based Groupe Rivaud, to offer to invest FFr630m of share capital in Air Liberté.

The airline signed a franchise agreement with the Johannesburg-based South African regional airline Comair, starting from October. The airline’s fleet, which included two Boeing 727-200s, began to appear in BA’s colours.

Deutsche BA (DBA) and Regional Airlines of France agreed the sale of DBA's turboprop activities to the French company, freeing DBA to concentrate on its core jet operations.

British Airways announced a £10m programme of improvements to its UK domestic services. The programme includes more frequencies, more capacity, more lounge space and new electronic ticketing and self-service machines for speedier check-in.

USAir served notice to end its codeshare and frequent flyer relationship with British Airways, with effect from 29 March 1997.

Under a franchise arrangement with British Airways, the Airlines of Britain Group were to take over six loss making routes serving Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

In December British Airways gave notice of its intention to sell all of its shares in USAir and in January announced the resignation from the Board of USAir of its three nominated directors.

The President of the Board of Trade announced that the alliance between British Airways and American Airlines should be approved without referral to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission if suitable undertakings were given. The undertakings included the two airlines making available up to 168 weekly slots (equivalent to 12 slot pairs a day) at Heathrow for use exclusively on UK-US services. These slots would be made available over a phased period with some of the slots being leased to other carriers until competitors obtained slots of their own through normal channels.

1997
In January, British Airways and American Airlines submitted a joint application to the US Department of Transportation, requesting formal approval of their alliance. The application requested anti-trust immunity which would permit the two carriers to co-ordinate their activities between the US and Europe, and introduce extensive codesharing across each other's networks.

Deutsche BA introduced major changes on its domestic routes including an expanded network, simplified pricing and a standard on-board service with a single class product.

In February British Airways and British Mediterranean Airways announced a new franchise partnership on routes between Britain and the Levant.

British Airways announced a £250m investment in a new World Cargo centre at Heathrow.

The airline announced that it is to combine its general accounting activities at a new Global Accounting Centre at Ruislip, which would result in a reduction of 290 jobs over three years.

In March British Airways and American Airlines linked their frequent flyer programmes enabling members to "earn and burn" on each other's networks, excluding transatlantic services.

The airline transferred its Ground Fleet Services vehicle maintenance business at Heathrow and Gatwick to Ryder plc on a five year contract.

British Airways announced a US$100m investment to improve facilities for passengers travelling to and from New York. The project included expanding the airline's terminal at JFK, major new road access to the building and new premium passenger facilities at Newark.

In April British Airways and Canadian Airlines International announced an expansion of their codesharing to all flights from London to Toronto and Vancouver.

In May British Airways sold its investment in USAirways, realising total proceeds of US$625m.

British Airways, on 10 June, unveiled its new corporate identity image and aircraft livery featuring images on the aircraft tails from around the world. Concordes received the “Chatham Historic Dockyard” design, which later became standard throughout the subsonic fleet.

In July British Airways extended its network in Australia with codeshares on certain Qantas domestic flights, and Qantas extended its network in the UK and Europe by codesharing on certain British Airways flights from Heathrow.

British Airways sold 45.7% of its holding in Galileo International for net proceeds of US$136.8m.

British Airways announced that it had agreed a memorandum of understanding with Iberia, which committed the two airlines to discussing a co-operation agreement.

In August British Airways Engineering announced a strengthened focus on maintaining British Airways' own aircraft. It was to continue to sell services to other operators, but on a more selective basis. This would result in a streamlined organisation and a reduction of 450 managerial and support jobs.

British Regional introduced Britain’s first Embraer EMB-145 regional jets during August.

In September British Airways announced the sales of its Landing Gear business to Hawker Pacific Inc. and its Wheels and Brakes business to AlliedSignal Aerospace.

In November British Airways announced that it was to introduce a new reward scheme in the UK and US for travel agents. The airline was also to modify its commission structure in other markets.

British Airways confirmed that it was to launch a new low-fare, no-frills airline which would start flying in Europe in early 1998. The new airline was to be based at Stansted and operate as a separate business with its own name, identity, management and employees.

In December British Airways sold its Heathrow catering production units to Gate Gourmet, part of the SAir Group. The 1,200 staff transferred to Gate Gourmet.

1998
In January British Airways opened a new business centre at the Club Europe lounge in Terminal 1. It was equipped with personal computers, modem connections for laptop computers, faxes, phones and printers, photocopying and scanning facilities.

British Airways introduced electronic ticketing on international routes. It was available on all routes between the UK and Germany and on all internal German routes with Deutsche BA. Deutsche BA became fully-owned by BA during April.

In February British Airways announced its link up with Finnair, with codesharing on 15 return flights a day between London and Helsinki as well as Stockholm, effective from March. Deutsche BA would also codeshare with Finnair from March on seven routes. As well as codesharing, the agreement enabled frequent flyers to earn and redeem miles on each other's networks.

An order for five Boeing 777-236ERs replaced an order for four 747-436s; six Boeing 757s were also ordered. Two of the 777s and six 767s from Heathrow were to replace the Gatwick-based DC-10 by March 1991.

In April British Airways and Qantas announced an expansion of their co-operation on the "Kangaroo route," with the launch of codesharing services via Bangkok.

Manchester Airport's new £75m terminal - named Terminal 1 British Airways - was officially opened. The new terminal, funded largely by Manchester Airport Plc, was capable of handling up to six million passengers a year and enabled all British Airways domestic and international flights - and those of its partners - to be brought together under one roof, offering a minimum connection time of just 30 minutes for transfer passengers.

Low-cost airline Go, a BA subsidiary, opened its first ‘no-frills’ route from Stansted to Rome Ciampino on 22 May; initially, the airline used a fleet of seven leased Boeing 737-300s.

In June British Airways and Canadian Airlines expanded their codesharing to include new flights between London and Ottawa and an additional daily service between London and Toronto.

In July the European Commission (EC) published its draft remedies on the proposed alliance between British Airways and American Airlines. The draft opinion says that the Commission intended to approve the alliance provided that certain conditions be fulfilled.

British Airways announced a codeshare agreement with LOT Polish Airlines covering eight weekly flights between the UK and Poland from August. Frequent flyers were to be able to earn and redeem miles on the codeshare flights.

British Airways resumed services to Nigeria after a break of 14 months. The move followed the Nigerian Government lifting a ban on all UK-registered aircraft from operating to Nigeria.

British Airways announced a further realignment of capacity in the Asia-Pacific region. From October, flights between Jakarta and London would decrease from six to two a week; services to Seoul, Nagoya and Osaka were suspended. A new route connecting the UK and Australia via Kuala Lumpur would be opened, with Qantas to come off the Kuala Lumpur to Sydney leg. British Airways also announced a 14th weekly flight between London and Tokyo.

In August the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry published the advice of the Director General for Fair Trading which set out the basis on which he would recommend approval of the alliance with American Airlines. His advice included the making available of 250 slots at Heathrow and Gatwick and the suggestion that slots might be sold.

British Airways ordered 59 aircraft in the Airbus A320 family with options on a further 129. The airline also ordered 16 Boeing 777s, with options on a further 16, whilst cancelling 5 firm orders and 7 options for Boeing 747-400s. The airline announced in September that Rolls Royce had won the contract to supply the engines to power the new Boeing 777s.

British Airways announced that it was to suspend services to Osaka as a result of worsening passenger demand and the continued fall in the value of the Japanese yen.

British Airways and Malév Hungarian Airlines began codesharing on Malév's services between Gatwick and Budapest.

Members of both airlines' mileage programmes were also able to earn and redeem miles on the codeshare flights.

In September, American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and Qantas Airways announce the new the oneworld global alliance. From early 1999, the five airlines were together to phase in a wide range of initiatives designed to provide greater customer benefits, including more information and support, greater value and increased opportunities for rewards and recognition.

British Airways and Nigeria Airways announced an agreement over services between London and Lagos which had the approval of the UK and Nigerian authorities. A three times a week Boeing 747-436 service was to be operated by British Airways in co-operation with Nigeria Airways.

In October, on the third day of open skies discussions between the UK and US, the US negotiators called an end to the discussions. The US DoT also postponed evidentiary hearings. British Airways and American Airlines continued to press for approval of their proposed alliance on commercially acceptable terms, but reiterated that the terms of the EC proposal are too harsh.

British Airways and Emirates signed a codeshare agreement covering selected flights between Britain and the United Arab Emirates. Subject to Government approval, from December British Airways' flights between Heathrow and Abu Dhabi would carry Emirates' EK code, and Emirates services between Manchester and Dubai would bear the BA prefix.

British Airways and LOT further extended their codesharing to their six weekly flights between Krakow and Gatwick. At the same time, LOT moved its operations from Gatwick's South Terminal to the North Terminal. The agreement was supported by a link-up of mileage award programmes, enabling frequent flyers to earn and redeem miles on the codeshared flights.

In November the New York City Industrial Development Authority launched a $115m 34-year tax-exempt bond to assist in financing improvements to the British Airways terminal at JFK.

The first jumbo jet to join a British airline retired from British Airways service as part of the sale of the airline's fleet of 15 Boeing 747-136s.

British Airways announced that it would not be resuming regional transatlantic services to New York from Glasgow and Birmingham for Summer 1999. Neither of the services operated in the winter season due to poor demand and financial performance.

British Airways launched a comprehensive range of new services and benefits for "World Traveller" passengers. New features included new seats with adjustable headrests and footrests and more knee room; and personal video screens for every passenger.

British Airways and Qantas announced six new codeshare routes with flights to Australia from Gatwick, Birmingham and Manchester connecting over Paris or Frankfurt.

British Airways and Finnair announced codesharing on two daily British Airways flights from Heathrow to Glasgow and Edinburgh. The airlines also joined their codes on four daily services between Birmingham and Helsinki, operated via European hubs, offering the most convenient connecting times. British Airways also added its code to Finnair flights from Helsinki and Stockholm to Turku in Finland.

British Airways and Malev announced codesharing on services between Budapest and Birmingham and Manchester. The codeshare flights operated via Frankfurt, which Malev served from Budapest twice daily, where passengers could connect to British Airways' three daily flights each to Manchester and Birmingham.

In December Finnair became the first new recruit to oneworld.

British Airways opened its new Concorde Room at New York's JFK airport.

1999
In January British Airways and Japan Airlines (JAL) announced a deepening of their relationship. Members of the British Airways Executive Club and JAL's Mileage Bank would be able to earn and redeem miles on both international networks from June. The airlines also planned, subject to approvals, to codeshare on JAL's daily service between Heathrow and Osaka from late summer.

The oneworld alliance became effective on 1 February.

In February British Airways confirmed that it was to take a 9% stake in Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana SA as part of the Spanish airline's privatisation programme. The expected price was in the region of £200m with a maximum of £215m. The final price would depend on a number of adjustments, such as the eventual value of Amadeus in which Iberia had a 29% stake and which was planning an Initial Public Offering. American Airlines confirmed that it would take a 1% holding in Iberia. British Airways and American Airlines would have the right to appoint two directors to Iberia's 12 person board as well representation on all Board sub-committees. Iberia announced that it had accepted an invitation to join oneworld.

British Airways and Iberia signed a commercial agreement under which they planned to co-operate in a wide area of activities, including codesharing on flights beyond the UK and Spain, reciprocal frequent flyer programmes, and common ground handling and cargo.

British Airways sold just under 30% of its holding in Equant, the telecommunications company, for a profit of £49m.

In March, Base Airlines of Holland became the airline's 10th franchise partner and would offer services between Eindhoven and Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester and Zurich.

British Airways and LOT announced additional codesharing and deeper frequent flyer integration. Combined Heathrow to Warsaw services would increase to 35 per week.

In April the airline's last McDonnell Douglas DC10 aircraft left service as part of the new fleet strategy. The DC10 fleet had been sold for conversion to freighters. Also in April, the 59th and final Boeing 747-436 was delivered to BA.

In May British Airways announced that it was to develop radical new products, which redefined longhaul business travel and set new benchmarks in comfort and design. The plans included improved Club World featuring completely flat beds, a new state-of-the-art entertainment system with bigger screens, in-seat power for lap top computers, e-mail, phones and fax.

Linea Aerea Nacional de Chile (LanChile) became the eighth member of oneworld.

British Airways officially opened its new World Cargo Centre fitted with state-of-the-art technology. Business was scheduled to transfer to the new facility progressively over the following 18 months, enabling an increased focus on higher-yielding loose freight and significant improvements to the customer offering. This would raise average yields and the new technology and working practices were expected to improve productivity by 30%.

In June British Airways sold to Galileo International Inc its subsidiary that indirectly held 7,000,400 shares of Galileo International Inc. The disposal realised a profit before tax of £149m.

British Airways sold its in-flight catering facility at Gatwick to ALPHA Catering Services for £14m. In addition, ALPHA and British Airways entered into a new ten-year agreement for the supply of in-flight catering service at Gatwick and eight UK regional airports.

In July British Airways and American Airlines re-affirmed their commitment to developing their alliance, despite US DoT rejection of their application for anti-trust immunity for joint venture operations on North Atlantic routes. Both airlines envisaged many opportunities to broaden the alliance in ways which did not require anti-trust immunity, both jointly and through the oneworld alliance.

The Irish Government endorsed plans for the British Airways alliance with Aer Lingus. The two airlines planned to codeshare extensively and offer reciprocal benefits to frequent flyers. In the longer term both companies intended to deepen the alliance, co-operating in many areas.

British Airways announced that it was to suspend its own services between Heathrow and Basle, and codeshare with Crossair on that route.

British Airways announced plans for a £14m upgrade to Concorde. The plans included new seats, new toilets, interiors, tableware and a new lounge at Heathrow.

In September British Airways announced the disposal of 34 of its 53 Boeing 757s. The aircraft were to be converted by Boeing into freighters for DHL. Deliveries would begin in July 2000. The airline also welcomed a new generation of aircraft with the arrival in Britain of its first Airbus A319.

The airline announced a £50m programme of improvements to British Airways Club Europe, including faster check-in, and re-designed seats and interiors.

In October British Airways ordered 12 new 100-seat Airbus 318s, with options to purchase 12 more.

British Airways and LanChile announced an agreement to co-operate further on air travel between the UK and Chile. Frequent flyer miles would be redeemable on each other's services, with further exploration into codeshare opportunities.

The new benefits would begin in June, shortly after which LanChile would join the oneworld alliance.

British Airways announced that it was to increase services between Heathrow and Lagos, Nigeria, in conjunction with Nigeria Airways from three to six services a week.

In November British Airways and Aer Lingus signed a co-operative agreement to codeshare on 14 routes across the Irish Sea and to eight continental European destinations from March. Both airlines' frequent flyers would be able to earn and redeem miles on each other's networks. In December Aer Lingus was confirmed as the ninth member of the oneworld alliance.

British Airways and American Airlines filed an application with the US DoT to codeshare on flights serving some 75 destinations in the UK, USA, Europe and Africa.

British Airways completed its purchase of CityFlyer Express. This followed approval from the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, subject to undertakings which were offered by British Airways during the Competition Commission's investigation of the transaction.

British Airways launched a new £25m transfer baggage sorting system at Gatwick.

The first operation into London City Airport by an aircraft in British Airways' livery occurred when British Regional Airlines began their 3 per day weekday operation from Sheffield.

2000
In January British Airways announced the introduction of a new cabin class, World Traveller Plus. The cabin would offer more space and facilities than World Traveller for a premium to the full World Traveller fare. Services between London and New York JFK were to be fully embodied with both the Club World 'Lounge in the Sky', the world's first fully flat bed in business class, and World Traveller Plus by Summer 2000.

British Airways took delivery of its first two Boeing 777 Extended Range aircraft.

British Airways completed the £17m (R168m) purchase of an 18.3% shareholding in Comair, its franchise partner in Southern Africa.

British Airways agreed to sell Galileo UK to Galileo International Inc.

British Airways launched the world's first commercial interactive TV service offered by an airline. The service was to appear within the interactive TV travel sections of the UK cable companies Cable & Wireless Communications, ntl and Telewest.

In February British Airways announced its e-business strategy, comprising e-Commerce, e-Working, e-Procurement and e-Ventures. E-procurement was targeted to increase on-line purchasing in the UK from 25% to 80% by March 2002, saving more than £175m on the airline's £3.7 billion a year purchasing spend. E-Working was to transform the way the company carried out its business internally. E-Ventures included three new on-line ventures, in which up to £100m of investment was planned over the following two years. These would be an on-line travel agency; a lifestyle portal; and a significant expansion of the on-line activities of Air Miles.

British Airways and Qantas announced the introduction of new services between the UK and Australia. Together, the airlines were to offer four daily services between London and Sydney. Qantas would also add a second daily service between Melbourne and London. Frequencies between Singapore and Perth were to rise to 18 per week, with Singapore-Brisbane frequencies rising to 11 per week. These legs were to be operated by Qantas 767s and would offer more connections to London via Singapore. To support the new schedules, Qantas was to lease from British Airways seven Boeing 767s, released as a result of BA’s new fleet strategy.

The oneworld alliance announced the formation of a central management team to drive future growth and the launch of new customer services and benefits. It would be led by Peter Buecking, who was to step down from his role as Sales and Marketing Director with Cathay Pacific Airways. As oneworld Managing Partner, he would report to the alliance's Governing Board, comprising the Chief Executives of the member airlines.

In March British Airways completed its acquisition of 9% of the shares in Iberia, at a total of Ptas41 billion (£155m). If the price of the shares in Iberia offered through its public flotation were less, the sum paid by British Airways was to be reduced accordingly.

British Airways and Cathay Pacific signed a codeshare agreement, adding Cathay's CX code on British Airways' flights linking Heathrow with Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester.

In April six major world airlines, including British Airways, announced the formation of a company to create and operate an internet marketplace, linking airlines worldwide with sellers of airline-related goods and services. The company would handle approximately $32 billion of the six airlines' supply chain business annually. The other founding member airlines were American Airlines, Air France, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines.

British Airways announced it was to transfer management of its flight booking, departure control, inventory and related information systems to Amadeus.

British Airways teamed up with GetThere.com, the leading supplier of internet-based business-to-business travel systems in the US, to launch a new on-line business travel management system. The private access website was available to travel agents for their medium to small sized corporate clients and also to corporate customers who wished to book directly.

Following extensive consultation with trade bodies and UK travel agents, British Airways announced the payment levels for the agents' remuneration scheme, which in 2001 was to replace the standard seven 7% payment. Payments were to be higher for longhaul than for shorthaul, and for full fare flexible tickets than restricted tickets to reflect the increased workload.

On 1 May, Rod Eddington joined British Airways as Chief Executive, succeeding Robert Ayling. Previously he was Managing Director of Cathay Pacific and Executive Chairman of Ansett.

In May British Airways sold its 86% shareholding in the parent company of Air Liberté to Taitbout Antibes BV. British Airways' net cash proceeds were FFr457m (£40m). Accounting rules required goodwill previously written off to be reinstated, leading to a loss on disposal of approximately £56m. The net effect of the disposal was to increase reserves by £117m, and eliminate the continuing trading losses of Air Liberté.

In conjunction with ten other major airlines, British Airways announced the creation of the first European, multi-airline, on-line travel agency. The new site would offer the public access to the most up-to-date fare information, including the airlines' lowest branded fares. Passengers would also be able to book hotels, car hire, insurance and other travel services through the site.

British Airways sold its 14.1% stake in Hogg Robinson to the management buy-out consortium, leading to a £4.9m profit on disposal.

British Airways rolled out a free on-line information service for leisure and business travel agencies. This gave give the UK travel trade extranet capability, allowing the agent to view product and service information, special promotions, training information and an on-line service to enable agents to talk to the trade query centre.

In June, with the entry into service of the ninth Airbus A319 at Birmingham, the last Boeing 737-236 was retired from the Eurohub terminal.

British Airways and LanChile reached a codesharing agreement. From August, LanChile operated connections between Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile, replacing British Airways' service on that sector, which had struggled to make a profit since introduction in 1993.

Canadian Airlines International withdrew from the oneworld alliance. Oneworld airlines continued to provide services to seven Canadian cities with 64 daily flights.

British Airways consolidated its leisure activities into one division, to offer an integrated range of leisure products sold through all distribution channels, including travel agents, tour operators, British Airways Telesales, Travel Shops and ba.com.

British Airways renewed its franchise agreement with GB Airways for a further eight years. The Gatwick-based carrier had been a franchise carrier since 1995.

In July embodiment of Club World flat beds was completed for the Heathrow-JFK route.

British Airways launched a trial offering on-line check-in for its top corporate customers via the British Airways extranet. The system allowed customers to check in and select seats from home or the office up to 24 hours before departure. If the trial proved successful, the service was to be offered to the top 200 corporate customers by the end of March 2001.

The British Airways Executive Club was relaunched with an enhanced range of benefits. In October, BA Miles replaced Air Miles as the mileage currency for UK Executive Club members. Members would be able to earn miles on discount economy fares for the first time and mid and longhaul destinations were to be easier to reach. BA Miles were to focus on rewarding anyone who flies with British Airways, while Air Miles continued as the UK's leading frequent shopping reward scheme.

CityFlyer Express ordered six new Avro RJ100 jets, together with options for six more. The aircraft were to be used to upgrade selected routes currently operated by ATR aircraft, as well as introduce some new routes on to the CityFlyer network. Delivery of the aircraft was scheduled from November 2000 through to April 2001.

National Jet Italia, a start-up carrier, became the 11th member of the British Airways franchise family, flying from Rome to Palermo four times daily.

In August new Club World flying beds were available on the Hong Kong route. The seats had been well-received by customers on the Heathrow-New York JFK route, with significant rises in customer satisfaction ratings for cabin crew, catering, sleep, privacy, comfort and space.

World Traveller Plus opened for sale for travel from October 29 for services between London Heathrow and New York JFK, Hong Kong and San Francisco.

British Airways cancelled all Concorde operations after the loss of an Air France aircraft near Paris, Charles de Gaulle on 25 July. British Airways remained optimistic that services would resume at some point. As a result of the suspension of Concorde operations, an extra 32 new Club World seats were to be available on two daily Heathrow-New York JFK services from mid-September.

In October, following the completion of the Club Europe embodiment on its aircraft, British Airways increased the baggage allowance for that cabin. Passengers now could take two pieces of hand baggage weighing up to 18kgs on board, doubling the previous allowance.

AirNewco, an airline-led B2B initiative which included British Airways, and MyAircraft, a B2B exchange led by aerospace manufacturers, announced their intent to combine their efforts into one venture.

British Airways launched a new corporate rewards program for small to medium sized businesses, called On Business, following a successful nine months trial period. Each time an employee booked an eligible fare with British Airways, the company earnt points, which could be exchanged for a range of business travel rewards, such as free flights, chauffeur drives to or from UK airports, Heathrow and Gatwick Express train tickets and hotel vouchers.

British Airways and Iberia announced further codesharing agreements. BA codes were added to Iberia services between Gatwick and Oviedo, Palma and Ibiza and between Palma and Mahon. The IB code was added to BA flights between Gatwick and Faro, Oporto, Palma, Tenerife and Bermuda and between Heathrow and Faro.

In November British Airways announced that it was to restructure its operations at Gatwick into a largely point-to-point business. BA also announced its intention to sell GO, its no frills subsidiary, and to better integrate its various shorthaul operations.

British Airways unveiled its new-look First cabin. The investment included new interiors, improvements to seat cushioning and bedding, and in-seat telephones and laptop power.

British Airways and Finnair extended their codesharing agreement to include a longhaul route. Finnair's AY flight code was added to one of British Airways' two daily services between Heathrow and Toronto.

In December British Airways announced the results of its review of Gatwick operations, marking a shift from previous attempts to build Gatwick as a transfer hub. The plan, which was to be implemented over two years, included reducing longhaul destinations served from Gatwick from 43 to around 25, through cutting some destinations and relocating other services to Heathrow. Gatwick's shorthaul business would be refocused on serving the needs of London and South East England, and the consolidation of City Flyer operations in the North Terminal.

Thomas Cook and British Airways announced that they planned to merge their existing UK scheduled businesses, Thomas Cook Holidays and British Airways Holidays outbound business, to create a 50/50 joint venture company.

British Airways appointed Mike Street, the airline's Director for Customer Service and Operations, to the company's Board.
Zambian Air Services (ZAS) became a British Airways franchisee. ZAS was to begin flying from Johannesburg to N'dola twice a week and from Johannesburg to Lusaka three times a week.

2001
In January British Airways began modifying its Concordes, with the hope of resuming services later in the year. £17m was to be spent on safety-related modifications and £14m on upgrading the onboard product.

British Airways announced large cuts in many of its fares, effective from 1 April. The adjustments to fares reflected the changes in payments to agents, following the introduction of its new agents' remuneration scheme.

British Airways announced the launch of its new Value Pass, enabling passengers to buy full fare domestic and Club Europe e-tickets in bulk at a 10-18% discount.

British Airways and Iberia announced the expansion of their codesharing agreement to cover four destinations in Spain served by Iberia subsidiary Air Nostrum. From February, the BA code would be added to Air Nostrum/Iberia flights between Madrid and the regional cities of Almeria, Murcia, Pamplona and Zaragoza.

In February British Airways re-opened its First class lounge at London Heathrow's Terminal 4 for premium passengers, ensuring unrivalled comfort and luxury on the ground and in the air. A new Concorde Room designed by Sir Terence Conran also opened in the airline's Lounge Pavilion at Terminal 4, in anticipation of a resumption of supersonic services later in the year.

In March British Airways confirmed it intended to make a recommended offer for all of the issued shares in British Regional Air Lines Plc (BRAL). The offer was subject to formal approval by the Office of Fair Trading. The purchase was a further step in British Airways' previously announced plans to co-ordinate better its various shorthaul businesses and reduce fragmentation among subsidiary and franchise partners.

The Airline Group, including British Airways, was named by the UK Government as strategic partner for National Air Traffic Services' public-private partnership. The group announced plans for £1 billion worth of investment.

In April British Airways and Iberia announced that they were to extend their codesharing arrangements to long-distance routes. British Airways' code was to be added to Iberia's six weekly flights between Madrid and Lima. Iberia's code was to be placed on five weekly British Airways flights between London Heathrow and Bangkok.

Australia became the latest country to get the Next Generation products. Aircraft flying to Melbourne and Sydney were embodied with the new 21st century products.

In May British Airways announced customers could save money each time they buy a ticket from the airline's website - www.bacom. Passengers would benefit from a £3 discount for domestic and shorthaul flights and £5 for longhaul journeys. The discount applied to all bookings to and from the UK.

In June British Airways sold its no-frills subsidiary "Go" for £100m to 3i.

British Airways celebrated 10 years of operations at Birmingham's Eurohub.

In July, British Airways Concorde G-BOAF flew for the first time since modifications were made as part of the programme to return the supersonic airliner safely to service.

11 September - possibly the worst day in aviation history. Terrorists hijacked two United Airlines and two American Airlines flights, crashing two of the aircraft into the World Trade Centre's twin towers in New York, and a third into the Pentagon in Washington. The fourth aircraft crashed in woodland in Pennsylvania. No British Airways aircraft were directly involved, although 22 aircraft were diverted. More than 4,000 people were killed. Staff all over British Airways volunteered to ease disruption in the terminals as chaos reigned following many cancellations and aircraft diversions.

Following the attacks British Airways drew up a plan of action. A Business Response Scheme to achieve 7,000 workforce reductions was approved. A reduction in flying of 10% was also announced. Other measures included a review of spending on new projects, aircraft modifications, investment in products and a moratorium on IT expenditure.

Concorde's Certificate of Airworthiness was returned by the Civil Aviation Authority and its French equivalent, DGAC. It marked the end of an intensive programme of work by the manufacturers, regulatory authorities, British Airways and Air France to ensure Concorde returned safely into service.

In October British Airways combined its two UK regional subsidiaries, British Airways Regional (BAR) and CitiExpress, creating the second largest regional airline in Europe. The combined regional business would have a turnover in excess of £600m and a fleet of 92 aircraft serving more than 120 routes. The new entity would employ around 3,200 people and carry some 5m passengers each year.

Concorde tickets went on sale and were snapped up in preparation for the flagship's return to commercial service.
British Airways launched a new twice-daily service between Manchester and Zurich. The flight, operated by British Airways CitiExpress, the wholly owned British Airways regional subsidiary, provided Club Europe and EuroTraveller service.

British Airways launched a promotion to get people flying again, with 50,000 Club class tickets up for grabs for Executive Club members, enabling them to take a companion free. Five million cut-price tickets also went on sale to destinations all over Europe with children able to fly for free.

British Airways won the prestigious Grand Prix Award for International Design Effectiveness for the new Club World seat which turned into a six-foot fully flat bed. The award was given in recognition of how the product had revolutionised business travel. The seat also won the best consumer product award.

In November armour-plated cockpit doors were fitted on all British Airways aircraft as an extra security measure.

On 7 November Concorde returned to commercial service; G-BOAF landed in New York for the first time since July last year. The atmosphere on board was described as "electric".

Heathrow Terminal 5 was given the go-ahead by the UK Government. It was due to open in 2007.

In December Concorde services returned to Barbados. British Airways was to operate a once a week scheduled supersonic service to the island from London Heathrow. The average flight time between London Heathrow and Barbados was three hours and fifty minutes. A subsonic aircraft such as a Boeing 747, flying the same distance, averaged a flight time of eight hours fifty minutes.

British Airways suspended services from Hong Kong to Taipei and Manila. British Airways and its oneworld alliance partner, Cathay Pacific Airways, announced an expansion to their codesharing agreement to cover Kuala Lumpur, Auckland and eleven destinations in Europe.

2002
In January British Airways increased services to Nassau and Grand Cayman for the summer to cope with increased demand. The extra weekly service meant an additional Boeing 767 was put on the route to operate to the Caribbean islands.

The US Department of Transportation announced the regulatory conditions for the proposed alliance between British Airways and American Airlines, which involved giving up 224 Heathrow slots. Rod Eddington, British Airways' chief executive and Don Carty, chairman and chief executive, American Airlines said the regulatory price was too high.

In February the chief executives of the eight oneworld member airlines - Aer Lingus, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, LanChile and Qantas - underlined their commitment to the alliance by accelerating plans to deepen working relationships between the partners. The new developments included a major expansion of codesharing agreements between the airlines.

British Airways unveiled a major package of measures designed to return the airline to profitability, following a wide-ranging analysis of its business led by chief executive Rod Eddington. The review - known as Future Size and Shape - showed measures needed to be introduced to meet £650m of annualised cost savings. They included 5,800 further job losses in addition to 7,200 announced previously with total head office and support staff to be reduced by more than a third and a significant restructuring of the short haul business to compete with no frills carriers.

In March the wholly owned BA subsidiary CitiExpress was officially launched operating to 48 destinations from 26 airports.

Passengers benefited from travelling with a full service regional airline that offered high frequency schedules to some of Europe's top cities. BA CitiExpress was created from the integration of two wholly owned subsidiaries, Brymon Airways and British Regional Airlines.

In April British Airways signed a deal with Warburg Pincus for the private equity investor to acquire a majority shareholding in World Network Services (WNS), the airline's India-based data management company. The sale of WNS was put forward to enhance the future growth prospects and development of the company and allowed British Airways to maintain a meaningful stake, whilst pursuing its ongoing strategy to focus on core business.

The outcome of the Future Size and Shape in the regions was unveiled. British Airways CitiExpress had undertaken a review to ensure the profitability of its services at airports throughout the UK. They announced withdrawal of 12 loss-making routes, launched two new routes, increased frequency on nine and reduced staffing by the equivalent of 500 full time positions. The changes were to bring £20m cost savings each year by 2004.

In May BA launched a summer promotion for Concorde return fares to New York. The special Concorde tickets went on sale for £3,999 representing savings of up to £3,867. The tickets were on sale throughout May.

British Airways signed a deal with easyJet for the sale of Deutsche BA (DBA), a subsidiary which flies exclusively in Germany. Under the terms of the deal BA was granting easyJet the option to buy 100% of DBA by March 31, 2003. The deal was potentially worth between £18.3m (30m euros) and £28m (46m euros), dependent on when easyJet exercised the option.

In June British Airways and Finnair expanded their current codesharing arrangements by adding destinations in South Africa, Canada and the UK regions. The Finnair code was added to BA operated flights from London to Johannesburg, Cape Town, Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto. British Airways also added its code to selected flights operated by Finnair.

British Airways cut European air fares by up to 80% on 42 routes. Saturday night stay and advance purchase restrictions were scrapped and prices slashed to from £59 return on domestic routes and £69 return to Europe. More than 50,000 air tickets at the lowest fare would be available every month on the 71 domestic and European routes, which also would have lower flexible fares and fewer booking restrictions.

In July a World Traveller Plus promotion launched on 11 US destinations for passengers to travel for an extra £150 for a one-way upgrade in the airline's premier economy cabin. A return ticket to New York, Boston and Washington with a one-way upgrade to World Traveller Plus started from £399 including taxes (saving up to £74).

British Airways and its oneworld partner, Iberia, expanded their codesharing arrangements, resulting in new international destinations for each carrier. From July 12, the Iberia code was added to connecting flights operated by British Airways from London Heathrow to Budapest, Nairobi and Singapore. At the same time, British Airways added its code to connecting flights operated by Iberia from its main hub in Madrid for travel on to Havana in Cuba and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

British Airways and SN Brussels Airlines announced that they were entering into a commercial relationship, subject to regulatory approvals. The agreement between the two carriers was to enable the SN Brussels flight code to be placed on all British Airways services between Brussels and London from 27 October. In addition to the codeshare, new ticketing arrangements were put in place to allow customers to benefit from improved access to each airline's network.

British Airways announced changes to its winter schedule for 2002, which included increased services to profitable destinations and further route transfers from London Gatwick to London Heathrow. These transfers were in line with the airline's Future Size and Shape strategy, unveiled in February 2002. Services to San Diego, Denver and Phoenix in the USA and Harare in Zimbabwe and Lusaka in Zambia moved from Gatwick to Heathrow's Terminal Four, a move which concentrated British Airways' African network at Heathrow. Flights to New York's JFK airport from Heathrow increased from six to seven daily sub-sonic services.

In August the launch of British Airways' winter longhaul sale saw thousands of discounted flight tickets to 49 far flung destinations, offering savings of up to £204. Prices started from just £239 for a return ticket to New York, Boston and Atlanta including taxes. Prices are slashed by up to 80% on British Airways' flights to Spain, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary and Luxembourg completing the launch by the airline of year-round low fares on 170 key routes to Europe.

In November British Airways and American Airlines filed an application with the US Department of Transportation seeking US regulatory approval to offer certain codeshare services permitted under the current provisions of the US-UK air services agreement. The arrangement would have enabled British Airways to place its code on American's flights beyond British Airways' US gateway cities to points in the US, Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America. The application submitted by the two carriers excluded codesharing on each other's transatlantic services between the US and London.

In December British Airways switched its aircraft order with Airbus to receive 10 A321 aircraft instead of 12 A318 aircraft and three A319 aircraft. The airline's capital spend with Airbus for the orders placed in 1998 and 1999 remained unchanged. The move came as part of BA's fleet simplification strategy to base its Airbus fleet at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports and re-deploy its fleet of 16 110-seat RJ100 aircraft from Gatwick to British Airways CitiExpress at regional airports. British Airways announced it will be simplifying and strengthening its UK regional operation.

British Airways CitiExpress was to operate for the first time from London City in April 2003 with the launch of three new routes. In addition British Airways was to give its key Manchester network a major boost with the introduction of three new routes and extra capacity. British Airways CitiExpress also signed a heads of terms with Eastern Airways with the intention of transferring its 12 strong fleet of 29-seater Jetstream 41s and its associated engineering hangar at Glasgow to the Humberside-based airline; this was the first part of an accelerated strategy to move to an all jet regional operation.

CitiExpress was to withdraw from 21 regional routes and would no longer fly from Cardiff and Leeds-Bradford airports.

2003
On 24 October, British Airways withdrew Concorde, the closure of the world’s only supersonic passenger services. The last scheduled commercial flight was BA2 from JFK operated by G-BOAG. BA’s fleet of seven aircraft were dispersed for preservation at Barbados (AE), Edinburgh (AA), Filton (AF), Manchester (AC), New York (AD) and Seattle (AG) with one (AB) remaining at Heathrow.

2004
Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge retired as Chairman of British Airways at the company’s AGM in July. He was succeeded by Martin Broughton, previously the airline’s Vice-Chairman.

2005 and into the future …
From the world’s first scheduled international passenger service in 1919, through to the first jet service in 1952, and to the first supersonic service in 1976, British Airways is justly proud of its heritage.