The final British Airways BAe RJ aircraft leaves the fleet today (July 14) after a long and successful history with the airline.

The nine Avro RJ100 and two RJ85 aircraft operated by wholly owned British Airways subsidiary BA CityFlyer have been the backbone of the regional fleet at London City Airport since 2003. For many years before that they operated at Gatwick and other UK regional bases.

The London City operated RJs have been replaced by 11 brand new Embraer 170 and 190SR aircraft and BA CityFlyer now officially operates the youngest fleet of aircraft in the UK. The first one was delivered 10 months ago and a final Embraer 190SR will be delivered in November this year.

The last RJ aircraft, registration GLCY-B, operated its final commercial flight for British Airways from Glasgow to London City today.

Peter Simpson, managing director BA CityFlyer, said: “The RJs have given us long and valuable service but it’s time to move onto the next generation and we are delighted with our new fleet of E-jets that are operating all our domestic and European services from London City Airport. Passenger feedback on the new fleet has been fantastic, with the two by two seating configuration and the additional space a particular hit over the RJs they have replaced.”