BOAC 747-8i

British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was a British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World war II. After of the passing of the Civil aviation Act 1946, European and South American services passed to two further state-owned airlines British European Airways (BEA) and British South American Airways (BSSA). BOAC absorbed BSSA in 1949, but BEA continued to operate British domestic and European routes for the next quarter century. a 1971 Act of Parliament merged BOAC and BEA, effective 31 March 1974, forming today's British Airways who still use the callsign "Speedbird".