British Airways
![A Boeing 747-100 in BOAC-British Airways transition livery](/Images/godic/202501/01/British_Airways_Boeing_747-100_in_BOAC_basic_livery_Marmet3243.jpg")
![A British Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident in transitional scheme with BEA livery but with British Airways titles](/Images/godic/202501/01/British_Airways_Trident_Three_G-AWZA3243.jpg")
![British Airways' first Concorde at Heathrow Airport, on 15 January 1976](/Images/godic/202501/01/British_Airways_Concorde_official_handover_ceremony_Fitzgerald3243.jpg")
![British Airways and Iberia merged in January 2011, forming the International Airlines Group, one of the world's largest airlines](/Images/godic/202501/01/British_Airways_Iberia_aircraft_tails_BA_IB3243.jpg")
British Airways, often shortened to BA, is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom and the largest airline in the United Kingdom based on fleet size. When measured by passengers carried, it is second-largest in the United Kingdom behind easyJet. The airline is based in Waterside near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport.