British Airways Collection

British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom as well as one of the UK's most visible brands today. As the airline with one of the longest history in the world, British Airways can trace its origins back to the birth of civil aviation, the pioneering days following World War I.

On 25 August 1919, Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited, a forerunner company of today's British Airways, launched the world's first daily international scheduled air service between London and Paris. The company was purchased in 1922, forming Daimler Airway and later merged into Imperial Airways in 1924. With another merger of Imperial Airways and the pre-war British Airways Ltd, the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) started its new chapter in 1939.

As the first airline to introduce a passenger jet into airline service, BOAC played an important role in aviation history. The BOAC speedbird logo inherited from Imperial Airways also became one of the most iconic symbols for the jet age. It is very special that the speedbird logo wasthe only logo to be applied on all four aircraft representing the jet age: the de Havilland Comet, the Boeing 707, the Boeing 747 and Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde.

On 31 March 1974, BOAC merged with British European Airways (BEA), establishing British Airways as an airline. Like its predecessor airlines being the first to provide daily international scheduled air service and flying a jet airliner, British Airways became one of the two airlines to operate the supersonic Concorde in 1976. Over the last fifty years, British Airways has not only been the pioneer of the aviation industry but also one of the most recognised airlines in the world. On 18 February 2019, British Airways unveiled the special "Gold Speedbird" BOAC retro livery on G-BYGC, a Boeing 747-400, as part of its centenary celebrations. As perhaps the world's largest Boeing 747-400 operator, BA chose the Boeing 747 to celebrate its 100th anniversary because it was not only the flagship of the fleet but also the largest airliner that BOAC ever flew. 

“Gulf Charlie” was built in 1999 and flew in British Airways liveries for 20 years before becoming the “Gold Speedbird” in 2019. The newly-painted aircraft continued in service flying on the airlines intercontinental routes from London. On 4 April 2020, G-BYGC completed its last commercial flight, BA284 from San Francisco to London. The airliner was then stored due to the sharp travel downturn caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Sadly, British Airways finally decided to retire its entire Boeing 747 fleet in July 2020 due to the "devastating impact" of COVID-19. Although the decision was later proven to be right, it was still a heartbreaking moment for everyone who loved the "Queen of the Skies" deeply.

On 11 December 2020, G-BYGC became the final British Airways Boeing 747 ever to fly. The ferry flight BA747 took off from Cardiff and landed at St. Athan for the last time, marking the end of an era with 11,049 flights and 91,023 flying hours over nearly 45 million miles. The initial plan was to preserve the "Gold Speedbird" for generations to come, but unfortunately “Gulf Charlie” was eventually broken up for parts in October 2023.

British Airways, along with Plane Reclaimers and Airlinertags, saved part of the skin from the fuselage and the tail before the teardown. Ladies and gentlemen, the "Gold Speedbird" is gone, but these tags will always stay with us, reminding us with the good old days from the Jet Age.