British airlines

bmi British Midland

BD / BMA

Historic British airline (1938–2012) from the East Midlands: from a flying school in Derby to the second-largest airline at London Heathrow, Star Alliance member, finally a Lufthansa subsidiary, taken over by IAG in 2012 and folded into British Airways.

BOAC

BA / BOA

Historic British long-haul state airline: BOAC flew from 1939 to 1974, launched the world’s first scheduled jet service in 1952 and merged with BEA to form British Airways.

British Airways

BA / BAW

The British network airline from London: formed in 1974 from BOAC and BEA, Heathrow hub, part of IAG, a founding member of oneworld and, with the A380, 777 and 787, one of Europe’s most diverse long-haul fleets.

British Caledonian

BR

Historic British airline based at Gatwick: from 1970 to 1988, BCal flew One-Elevens, DC-10s and Boeing 747s to Africa, the Americas and Asia before British Airways took it over.

British European Airways

BE / BEA

Historic British state airline for Europe and domestic routes: BEA flew from London Heathrow from 1946 to 1974, made the Viscount and the Trident famous and linked West Berlin with West Germany before being absorbed into British Airways.

GB Airways

GT / GBL

Historic British airline with roots in Gibraltar: from 1995 GB Airways flew as a British Airways franchise partner in BA colors from Gatwick to the Mediterranean and North Africa, until easyJet took it over in 2008.

Virgin Atlantic

VS / VIR

The British long-haul airline with the red tail: launched in 1984 by the Virgin Group, hub at London Heathrow, in SkyTeam since 2023 and with a fleet made up purely of twin-engine widebody jets.

bmibaby

WW / BMI

Historic British low-cost airline (2002–2012): the budget offshoot of bmi British Midland with Boeing 737-300s and 737-500s, based at East Midlands, with destinations as far as Cologne/Bonn and Munich – shut down after bmi was sold to IAG.

easyJet

U2 / EZY

The orange low-cost airline from Luton: only Airbus A320 family aircraft, bases all over Europe and three companies under one brand – with British, Austrian and Swiss registrations.

Flyglobespan

Y2 / GSM

Historic Scottish airline (2002–2009) of the Globespan Group from Edinburgh: it flew cheaply with Boeing 737s from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen to the Mediterranean, and with 757s and 767s even across the Atlantic – until it ceased operations on December 16, 2009.

Laker Airways

GK / LKR

Freddie Laker’s historic British airline: from Gatwick it flew charters with the One-Eleven and DC-10 and in 1977 launched the Skytrain, the first cheap flight across the Atlantic. It collapsed in 1982.

Air Europe

AE

Historic British leisure and scheduled airline (1978–1991) from Gatwick: Air Europe flew for the tour operator Intasun with brand-new Boeing 737s and 757s, built a European airline group and abruptly ceased operations in March 1991.

Airtours International

VZ

Historic British leisure airline (1990–2008) from Manchester: Airtours International flew for the travel group of the same name with the MD-83, Airbus A320/A321, Boeing 757, 767 and DC-10, became MyTravel Airways in 2002 and merged into Thomas Cook Airlines in 2008.

Britannia Airways

BY / BAL

Historic British charter airline based in Luton (operating 1962–2005): Euravia became Britannia Airways in 1964, the in-house airline of tour operator Thomson. It flew the Boeing 737-200 early, brought the Boeing 767 to Europe and became Thomsonfly in 2005 – the predecessor of today’s TUI Airways.

First Choice Airways

DP / FCA

Historic British charter airline (1987–2008): it started as Air 2000 in Manchester in 1987 with two Boeing 757s and flew as First Choice Airways from 2003/2004. In 2008 it merged with Thomsonfly into Thomson Airways, today’s TUI Airways.

Jet2.com

LS / EXS

British leisure airline from Leeds: Boeing 737s and Airbus A321neos, 14 bases in the United Kingdom, a close link to the tour operator Jet2holidays – and a callsign that recalls its cargo past.

Monarch Airlines

ZB / MON

Historic British leisure airline (1968–2017) from London Luton: for almost 50 years Monarch flew vacationers south, from the Bristol Britannia through the Boeing 720 and 757 to an Airbus A321 fleet. Its collapse on October 2, 2017 triggered the biggest British peacetime repatriation effort to date.

Thomas Cook Airlines

MT / TCX

A historic British leisure airline (2003–2019) from Manchester: it grew out of JMC Air, flew Airbus A321s and A330-200s at the end – until the Thomas Cook group went into liquidation on September 23, 2019, and the largest peacetime repatriation in British history.

TUI Airways

BY / TOM

The British leisure airline of the TUI Group: the largest airline in the TUI family, Boeing 737s on short and medium-haul routes, Boeing 787s on long-haul and a history that starts with Britannia Airways.

XL Airways

JN / XLA

Historic British leisure airline (1994–2008) based in Crawley near Gatwick: Sabre Airways became Excel Airways in 2001 and XL Airways in 2006. With Boeing 737-800, 757, 767 and A330 it flew package holidaymakers to the Mediterranean and the Caribbean until the XL Leisure Group collapsed on September 12, 2008.

Air UK

UK / UKA

Historic British regional airline (1980–1998), formed from Air Anglia, British Island Airways and two smaller companies. Air UK flew Fokker turboprops and BAe 146s from Norwich and Stansted, came gradually under KLM control and was called KLM uk from 1998.

Aurigny

GR / AUR

The airline of the Channel Island of Guernsey is owned by the island government, today flies almost only ATR 72-600s and was the launch operator of the three-engine Britten-Norman Trislander.

BA CityFlyer

CJ / CFE

British Airways’ regional subsidiary flies across Europe from London City with an all-Embraer 190 fleet – in full BA livery and under BA flight numbers. You can recognize it by type, registration and the callsign FLYER.

bmi regional

BM / BMR

Historic British regional airline (1987–2019): from Business Air in Aberdeen through the bmi family to the independent flybmi with Embraer jets, which also served many German airports until its insolvency in February 2019.

Eastern Airways

T3 / EZE

Historic British regional airline (1997–2025) based at Humberside Airport: known for the Jetstream 41, oil industry shuttles from Aberdeen, the Saab 2000, Embraer jets and, finally, E190 flights on behalf of KLM.

Flybe

BE / BEE

Historic British regional airline from Exeter: Jersey European became Flybe, at times Europe’s largest regional airline and the world’s largest operator of the Dash 8 Q400. After the collapse in March 2020, a relaunch from Birmingham followed in 2022 and ended in January 2023.

Loganair

LM / LOG

Scotland’s regional airline links islands, the Highlands and British cities – with ATR turboprops, Embraer jets, Twin Otters landing on Barra’s beach and Islanders on the world’s shortest scheduled flight.

Channel Express

LS / EXS

Historic British cargo and charter airline from Bournemouth: it began with flowers from Guernsey, and later Heralds, Lockheed Electras, Fokker F27s and Airbus A300s flew mail, newspapers and express parcels. In 2006 the company became Jet2.com – the code EXS and the callsign CHANNEX live on to this day.

DHL Air UK

D0 / DHK

The British cargo airline of the DHL Group is based at East Midlands Airport and flies Boeing 757F, 767F and 777F in DHL yellow – at night across Europe and on long-haul routes.

Astraeus Airlines

5W / AEU

Historic British charter and wet lease airline from Gatwick (2002–2011): Astraeus flew Boeing 737s and 757s for tour operators, Iceland Express and other airlines – and provided Iron Maiden with the 757 “Ed Force One,” often with singer Bruce Dickinson in the cockpit.

Dan-Air

DA / DAN

Historic British charter and scheduled airline (1953–1992) based at London Gatwick: Dan-Air operated the world’s largest Comet fleet, put the BAe 146 into scheduled service and flew from Berlin Tegel for decades. In 1992 it went to British Airways for a symbolic pound.

Global Airlines

A British startup buys a used Airbus A380 and flies it to New York in 2025: Global Airlines by James Asquith – with a single aircraft, no AOC of its own and an open future.

Titan Airways

ZT / AWC

British charter and wet lease airline from London Stansted: steps in at short notice for other airlines, flies VIP charters, cargo with converted A321s and operates the British government’s A321neo.

AirTanker

9L / TOW

The British company behind the Royal Air Force’s tanker aircraft: 14 Airbus A330 MRTTs, called Voyager in RAF service and based at Brize Norton – plus the white government Voyager ZZ336 “Vespina” and civil-registered aircraft for charter and wet lease.