10 Years Of Long-Haul Flying: What Does British Airways' Boeing 787 Fleet Look Like Today?

It may be hard to believe, but an entire decade has now passed since British Airways began flying the Boeing 787 on long-haul routes. According to Johnny Jet, the first of these connected the UK flag carrier’s hub at London Heathrow Airport (LHR) with Toronto Pearson International (YYZ) in Canada. Since then, the airline has served a huge variety of destinations with the 787, and it now flies three variants.

Small but mighty

The smallest of these aircraft types is also British Airways‘ oldest when it comes to the oneworld founding member’s Dreamliners, with data from ch-aviation.com showing that its 787-8s are 8.2 years old on average. The UK flag carrier currently has 12 examples of the short-fuselage model in its fleet, and all are currently active.

Deliveries of this type took place in two distinct waves, with the first eight examples arriving between June 2013 (G-ZBJA and G-ZBJB) and August 2014 (G-ZBJH). Meanwhile, the remaining four came onboard later in the 2010s, with their arrivals occurring between September 2017 (G-ZBJI) and November 2018 (G-ZBJM).

Photo: Boeing

According to aeroLOPA, British Airways typically deploys its Boeing 787-8s on routes to Asia, the Middle East, and North America, alongside ad hoc usage on certain European routes. The carrier has two different three-class seating configurations for the type, and these layouts can accommodate either 204 or 214 passengers.

Mid-sized magic

Moving up in size, BA’s most numerous aircraft type from the Dreamliner family is the mid-sized 787-9. These aircraft have an average age of 7.2 years old, with 18 examples currently present in the UK flag carrier‘s fleet. Of this sub-fleet, 16 examples are active, with one under repair and another undergoing maintenance.

These aircraft began arriving at British Airways in 2015, with G-ZBKA getting the party started in September of that year. This twinjet was the first of five 787-9s to join the airline in 2015, with 2016 representing an even busier year for deliveries. All in all, 11 examples arrived that year, with G-ZBKP being the last, on December 6th. After a pause in 2017, 2018 saw BA’s final two Boeing 787-9 deliveries.

Photo: Nick Morrish/British Airways

The 787-9 sees diverse use at British Airways, serving major hubs on both the East (Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington DC) and West (Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle) coasts of the US. Outside the US, other notable destinations include Mexico City, Tel Aviv, and Tokyo Haneda. All of these aircraft have the same four-class seating configuration, accommodating 216 passengers.

Going large

British Airways’ stretched-fuselage Boeing 787-10 aircraft are by far its youngest Dreamliners, with an average age of just 2.8 years old. Deliveries of its existing seven examples occurred between June 2020 (G-ZBLA and G-ZBLB) and May 2023 (G-ZBLE). It has another 11 on order, which will bring its total sub-fleet to 18.

According to aeroLOPA, destinations that British Airways sends its Boeing 787-10s to include the likes of Atlanta (ATL), Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), and Seattle (SEA). Much like the mid-sized 787-9 model, the UK flag carrier has chosen to fit its larger 787-10s with a four-class configuration, and they can seat up to 256 passengers.

What do you make of British Airways’ Boeing 787 fleet? Have you ever flown on one of the UK flag carrier’s Dreamliners? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!

Sources: aeroLOPA, ch-aviation.com, Johnny Jet