British Airways to hire 2,000 pilots, cabin crew this year

British Airways announced Friday it would recruit nearly 2,000 pilots and cabin crew in 2016, its largest ever intake in a single year.

The move will take the number of its flying crew to over 20,000 for the first time in the history of the company, which is nearly 100 years old.

Over 350 of the new recruits will be pilots and 1,600 will be cabin crew.

BA is set to serve 13 new routes from London this year, notably to South American destinations including Lima in Peru and San Jose in Costa Rica.

BA is part of the International Airlines Group (IAG), which also includes Ireland's Aer Lingus and Spain's Iberia.

IAG acquired Aer Lingus last year in a bid to boost its share of the lucrative transatlantic market.