British Airways turns 100: the best images of BA from the last century

This year has been a big one for Britain’s namesake airline, as British Airways marks its 100^th birthday.

BA has been celebrating its centenary year with a number of activities and events, including a major flight sale earlier in 2019 where it sold flights to long haul destinations, including Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town, for just £100 each way.

The airline also announced its BA2119 programme which will explore the future of sustainable aviation fuels and it has also unveiled four re-deigned aircraft celebrating the airline’s heritage.

Now, BA has released a selection of images highlighting key moments from its 100-year history, starting on August 25, 1919 with the world’s first scheduled international flight from London to Paris taking off from Hounslow Heath, a patch of land a mile from what is now London’s Heathrow Airport.

This flight was operated by Air Transport & Travel Ltd, who would later become British Airways.

Just 23 year later, in 1942, Winston Churchill became the first British Prime Minister to make a transatlantic flight, flying with British Airways and it was 18 years after this, in 1960, that BA welcomed its first Boeing 707 to its fleet.

The Duke of Edinburgh in 1964 (British Airways )

1949 saw the launch of its long-haul first-class service with fully reclining chairs and in-built ash trays, and while 2019 no longer sees in-flights cigarettes, passengers are still treated to flat beds, cotton pyjamas and, currently, Alice Temperley amenity kits when flying first class with BA today.

Click through the gallery above to see some historic moments from 100 years of British Airways.