British Airways Reveals Classic BOAC Livery To Celebrate Their 100th Birthday
2019 is an important year for British Airways. The flag carrier of Britain is celebrating a century of operations and is going to provide us with the chance to feel like we’re in the 70s again. The airline announced that starting from the 18th of February a Boeing 747 will enter regularly scheduled flight service with an old school BOAC livery. The livery is a tribute to the predecessor of British Airways, BOAC. The G-BYGC registered aircraft usually flies trans-Atlantic flights to such destinations as New York, Boston and other United States cities.
A peek into the past of British Airways
The company traces its roots back to a company that was called Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited. The company launched its first scheduled flights from London to Paris. As years passed by, more carriers have started services in the UK. To strengthen their positions, the companies, including the previously mentioned AT&T, formed a new airline. They called it Imperial Airways Limited.
The airline successfully expanded its network to multiple European cities and seen a lot of success during the 30s. Another company had formed meantime, as multiple small carriers in the UK decided to join forces and create the privately-owned British Airways airline. As the British Government reviewed the current status of both Imperial and British Airways, it decided to nationalize both and establish BOAC. BOAC stands for British Overseas Airways Corporation. The British government also established a new airline, BAE (British European Airways). BAE focused mainly on flying domestic and European routes, while BOAC started flying trans-Atlantic.
As BAE’s situation darkened with multiple other companies getting involved in the airline, the government intervened once again. This resulted that operations of BOAC and BAE were combined in 1972 and the new company being called British Airways.
More BOAC livery designs to follow
As British Airways announced, this is the first BAOC livery that will soar through the skies. The airline will reveal more designs later. However, new BA aircraft will not bear the old BOAC livery, as they will be painted in the Chatham Dockyard livery.
The freshly repainted Boeing 747 will land in Heathrow on the 18th and enter service the next day. The aircraft will fly with the old-school livery until its planned retirement in 2023.
And we cannot wait, as the BOAC livery is absolutely magnificent! Hopefully, we‘re going to get the chance to fly on the Queen Of The Skies with the unique paint scheme.