Looking back at the BA 767 (1990-2018)
From 1990 to 2018 British Airways was a long-time operator of the Boeing 767-300ER. The aircraft was a versatile asset to the fleet during the 1990s and 2000s. The airline had two fleets, a long-haul fleet used on ETOPS routes to destinations which didn't require the Boeing 747, McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 or Boeing 777-200ER. The rest were geared for short-haul operations within Europe to complement the airline's then large Boeing 757-200 fleet, as Boeing 767 crews can be dual type-rated on both aircraft.
The short-haul Boeing 767s were used on a variety of routes over the years from London Heathrow including Stockholm Arlanda, Madrid Barajas, Nice Cote d'Azur, Athens, Larnaca, Frankfurt Main and Amsterdam Schiphol. Domestically the planes were often seen regularly at peek times to Edinburgh and Glasgow, they sometimes turned up on the occasional Manchester shuttle from London Heathrow- though this was mainly when BA had to catch up after bad weather, industrial action or any other incidents.
Some of the aircraft's long-haul operations saw them fly to Newark, Calgary, Entebbe, Nassau and Moscow as well as at one time operating a Manchester to New York JFK service.
With the introduction of the Boeing 787-8 and medium-haul configured Airbus A321 from BMI with Airbus A321neo arriving in the later-2010s, as well as the retirement of the Boeing 757-200 fleet in 2010, the long-haul Boeing 767s were retired by late 2015 and the short-haulers carried on until late 2018.
Including two leased Boeing 767-200ER from US Airways in 1996-1998 there were a total of 31x Boeing 767s operated by British Airways as well as 55x Boeing 757-200. One of British Airways Boeing 767s proceeded to fly on with their French franchisee BA Openskies.
British Airways introduced the Boeing 767 on their London Heathrow to Paris CDG route in 1990, the last service in November 2018 was Larnaca to London Heathrow… I do miss the Boeing 767s, I flew them 11 times to/from Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Madrid and Stockholm over 3 years. I have done a few reports on the BA 767- but I haven't reported on this flight, so I thought I'd share this 2016 nostalgia!
Edinburgh Airport
Enchainement de vols
- 1
- 2BA1435 - Economy - Edinburgh to London - Boeing 767-300ER
We had an early arrival into Edinburgh Airport, but getting there whilst dark and all the main areas of the Airport lit up including the Air Traffic Control tower and the EDINBURGH sign outside the Terminal was pretty nice!
I love the colour purple, so I quite like the purple mood lighting that surrounds the Edinburgh Airport. We had already checked in and gotten our boarding passes online the day before, so we were good to go through security.
Back in June 2016 Edinburgh boasted over 50x flights a day to London, which isn't too much of a stretch of the imagination given that British Airways had multiple daily shuttle flights linking to London Heathrow, London Gatwick and London City, easyJet offered regular flights per day to London Gatwick, London Luton, London Stansted and London Southend as well as Flybe flying to London City, though it was about this time they announced they'd acquired slots to fly to London Heathrow for the first time in March 2017!
I had a look at FR24 for Edinburgh Airport on Friday May 22nd 2025, I can confirm that there was nearly 10 years later there was 30x departures from Edinburgh to London Heathrow, London City, London Gatwick, London Stansted and London Luton from easyJet, Ryanair, British Airways and BA Cityflyer as well as an additional EDI-STN flight with West Atlantic Cargo.
I managed to spot a few random aircraft parked up from the evening before as the dawn began to break over Edinburgh Airport including a Ryanair Boeing 737-800, easyJet's first factory delivered Airbus A320ceo (G-EZTA), Jet2 Boeing 737-800, British Airways Airbus A319 from the ex-bmi British Midland fleet and a Portuguese EuroAtlantic Cargo Boeing 767-300F which was a treat!
Eventually we had our gate announced. We wondered towards our gate area towards the same gate area we were dropped us some 24hrs earlier on the JetTime Boeing 737! As we headed to our Gate, we passed a boarding Jet2 Boeing 737 which was loading up with Scottish tourists gagging to escape a rainy Edinburgh for the warmer and relaxing climates of Malaga & the Costa-del-Sol!
British Airways BA1435 (EDI-LHR)
Our British Airways Boeing 767-300ER that morning was G-BZHA! This Boeing 767 was in service its entire life with British Airways from its construction in May 1998 through to it retiring in November 2018. This aircraft from 1998 to 2005 wore the "Wings" World Tail design before wearing the incumbent Chatham Dockyard it wore until its retirement. The aircraft had the honour of flying the last commercial BA 767 flight from Larnaca to London Heathrow, and I flew this aircraft a total of three times, making it my most flown BA Boeing 767! I also flew it on my last BA 767 flight in September 2018 on a Club Europe flight from London Heathrow to Edinburgh!
By July 2019 the aircraft was broken up at St Athan in Wales…
Despite the foul weather, we boarded this Boeing 767-300ER with an open boarding, which I wasn't complaining about as it meant I got full view of our massive wide-body aircraft up close! Its okay doing this on a Boeing 737 or Airbus A320, but man oh man- doing this with a Boeing 767! That is something more than impressive- especially getting a up close to the Rolls-Royce engines!
I took my place in Seat 16K, a window seat overlooking the Engine 2 and Right Wing. Back in 2016, BA packed the literacy pocket with a safety card, a duty free shopping magazine, High Life magazine and Business Life magazine… oh how the times have changed by 2026 standards!
We had a pretty uneventful flight from Edinburgh to London with our Boeing 767-300ER! As British Airways only flew these particular Boeing 767s in their fleet on short-medium haul flights, the airline never fitted them with winglets, unlike many other 767 operators. As you can see I had a decent window view for this flight and the attached video!
The complimentary traditional cooked breakfast was handed out to all the passengers on this flight. At the time of this flight, British Airways did not offer a Club Europe & Euro Traveller cabin on their domestic flights which were branded as UK Domestic, offering a slightly different service. All that would change once they brought in Alex Cruz from Vueling around this time!
In 2026, BA still offer a cooked breakfast on their London-Scotland flights, but only in Club Europe. A buy-on-board is offered in Euro Traveller alongside a free bottle of water & a snack item.
I did ask the Cabin Crew in the mid-galley on the Boeing 767 if I could take some photos (obviously with no one in them) as I was not sure how many more chances I'd get to fly the Boeing 767 with British Airways as they were already starting to be phased out during 2016. They kindly obliged and were happy to see two young enthusiasts enjoying this aircraft!
I recall us having to hold a little while before arriving into London Heathrow, we taxied to the domestic arrival stands at the North-side of Terminal 5A, parking next to an Airbus A320. I did sleep a bit on this flight as me and my friend were tired from the night before!
I grabbed some photos of the cabin as we left as well, we were sat in the older style BA seats at the time which were doubled for Club Europe or "preferred seating" in Euro Traveller on various flights the Boeing 767s undertook within Europe and the UK, as you can see- from roughly Row 21 the seats change to a variation of the seats used on the Airbus A320s after they were retrofitted.
These "plush seats" used for Club Europe were mainly used on the Boeing 737-400 (until Sept 2015) and Boeing 767-300 (until Nov 2018) as the last aircraft to fly them before the fleets retired, the Airbus A320-family had these until they were all retro-fitted by 2015, the Boeing 757-200 fleet also had these at the time of their retirement in October 2010.
As we left the aircraft, our gate at Terminal 5A offered us a great view of the forward cabin of our Boeing 767-300ER! I do miss the Boeing 767s, if you want to fly short-haul on a wide-body aircraft from British Airways in 2026, they are currently flying Boeing 777-200ER on their London-Madrid route, so keep an eye out- there are still opportunities to be enjoyed!
A bit of "Post-Arrival Plane Spotting" at LHR!
After seeing my friend off on the London Underground as he had to get home to Thurrock in Essex, just outside of East London- I had to get back to Burnham in Berkshire just outside of West London, I opted to go to Terminal 2 to see some departures and parked up aircraft at Terminal 4 before I had to go home!
When I got to Terminal 2, I overlooked Terminal 4 across the Runway and spotted a few gems that morning. I saw a Jet Airways Boeing 777-300ER, which is an airline that is now long-gone by 2026 as well as a Delta Airlines Boeing 767-400ER, appropriate given my last flight! Delta Airlines in 2026 still uses on some routes the Boeing 767-400ER to London Heathrow, but they now fly from Terminal 3, not Terminal 4!
I also spotted an Air Mauritius Airbus A340-300 parked up between flights Infront of an Airbus A380-800 of Malaysia Airlines… Air Mauritius in 2026 now flies the Airbus A350-900 to London Gatwick and has retired their Airbus A340-300, whilst Malaysia Airlines has also retired the Airbus A380 and now flies to London Heathrow with Airbus A350-900!
Another sight that morning, which by comparison, oddly hasn't changed in the last 10 years is the Royal Brunei Boeing 787 Dreamliner!
In terms of departing traffic, a few BA A320s departed- but in terms of excitement I saw an Airbus A380 of Etihad in its striking gold-clat livery and a British Airways Boeing 787-9, which was a brand new and exciting thing to see at the time in 2016!
My dad agreed to come and get me from Terminal 2 after a while, and as we drove out of London Heathrow I was able to finish the trip with a few pictures of the Emirates Airbus A380 model that has resided on the London Heathrow roundabout since the late-2000s! Its not quite a British Airways Concorde, but its still an impressive sight!
And that concludes my Flight Report from 2016- only took me 10 years to complete it! I hope you enjoyed the read!
