Thursday 14 June 2012

British Airways Celebrates The Queen's Diamond Jubilee


To celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in June 2012, British Airways has opened its archives to reveal the long-standing history between the airline and the British Royal Family.

The Queen's association with British Airways began in 1947 when Her Majesty, then Princess Elizabeth, visited London Airport to christen an Avro Tudor aircraft for BOAC (a predecessor of British Airways).

Since that day, The Queen and the Royal Family have regularly chosen British Airways to fly them in comfort and safety during their international tours. For more than 93 years, British Airways has delivered a premium service with classic British elegance to millions of customers around the globe.

"We are extremely proud of our British heritage, and are honoured to continue to serve the Royal Family during their overseas tours. As an airline, we were delighted to fly Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh to Canada in 1951 on their very first transatlantic flight," said Neil Ager, British Airways Regional Commercial Manager, South West Pacific.

Highlights Of Queen Elizabeth's History With British Airways
- 21 January 1947 - As Princess Elizabeth, her Majesty visits London Airport to christen for BOAC an Avro Tudor aircraft 'Elizabeth of England.'
- December 1951 - The airline is deeply honoured to be asked to fly the royal couple from London Airport to Montreal, which marks Queen Elizabeth II's first transatlantic flight.
- 6 February 1952 - While in Kenya with the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Elizabeth learns of the death of her father, King George VI, and of her own accession to the throne as Queen Elizabeth II. She returns to London on a BOAC Argonaut aircraft and is greeted upon her arrival by Winston Churchill, her first Prime Minister.
- 16 February 1957 - The Queen travels to Portugal, visiting Oporto and Lisbon in Portugal. At the end of the return flight to London Airport, Her Majesty confers Membership of the Royal Victorian Order upon Captain Johnson.
- May 1969 - The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne, makes a state visit to Austria in a Super 1-11 aircraft of British European Airways.
- 2 November 1977 - The Queen ends her Silver Jubilee year of travels with a 1,134mph flight home from Bridgetown, Barbados on British Airways' Concorde.
- 19 February 1979 - The Queen flies on British Airways' Concorde from snowy Heathrow to the sunshine of Kuwait in just under four hours, at the start of a three-week Middle East tour that includes Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
- 11 October 1986 - The Queen flies with British Airways to Peking (Beijing) where she meets the Duke of Edinburgh for the start of a 13-day visit to China and the Far East.
- October 2011 - The Queen travels to Australia in a chartered British Airways Boeing 777 aircraft, which carries the Royal Family to Canberra, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Perth before returning to London.

British Airways
  - British Airways has a worldwide route network that covers more than 150 destinations in 75 countries.
  - British Airways operates a daily flight from Sydney to London via Singapore
  - British Airways operates 17 return services per week between Hong Kong and London
  - British Airways operates 14 return services per week between Singapore and London
  - British Airways operates a daily return service between Bangkok and London
  - British Airways code shares on all Qantas services between Australia and the three Asian mid-points of Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok.
  - In August 2009, British Airways celebrated its 90th anniversary. The airline has carried more than 1.2 billion customers on its extensive network and is recognised as one of the world's elite carriers.
  - British Airways is one of the world's largest international airlines carrying approximately 36 million customers around the world every year.
  - British Airways has been operating in Australia for 77 years.
  - British Airways' home at Heathrow, the state-of-the-art Terminal 5, is exclusive to customers of British Airways and Iberia and is capable of handling 30 million customers a year.
  - Australian flights operate from the multi-million pound refurbished Terminal 3.
  - In September 2011, British Airways was recognised as "Best European Airline" for the 11th consecutive year by readers of Business Traveller, at the 20th Business Traveller Asia Pacific Awards. 

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