British Airways to Sell Art Collection to Raise Cash

BRITISH AIRWAYS has announced it plans to sell some of its multi-million pound art collection to raise funds to help the airline through the pandemic.

Included in the prestigious collection are artworks by Damien Hirst, Bridget Riley and Peter Doig, with one piece said to have been valued in excess of £1 million.

Other work in the collection include works by Tracey Emin, Anish Kapoor and Chris Ofili.

Much of the art collection was amassed using the help of London-based curators Artwise, which worked with the airline for 17 years until 2012.

Over the years it is estimated that Artwise purchased more than 1,500 works of art on behalf of BA.

It is understood that 10 pieces of BA’s closely-guarded art collection have been identified for sale, although exactly which pieces is unclear.

Just last week, British Airway boss Alex Cruz warned that the airline’s survival was at stake without a “drastic restructuring” of the business.

Renowned auction house Sotheby’s has been brought in to arrange sales of the artworks as soon as possible.