British Airways Pensions has handed over the management of its two main pension schemes to BlackRock just months after the airline was forced to defer GBP450m in retirement contribution payments after a huge decline in air travel during the pandemic. BA cut services on almost all of its routes to a skeleton schedule during 2020 amid global restrictions that also drove it to ask the UK government for a £2bn loan guarantee and to suspend dividend payments to its parent International Airlines Group for three years. Under the new arrangements, BlackRock will take over the management of £21.5bn of pension assets that were previously run in-house. The deal is one of the biggest transfers of retirement investments by a company to an external manager. BA Pensions said that it expected the partnership with BlackRock to bring cost benefits and operational efficiencies that would put the two pension schemes in a better position for the future. Roger Maynard, the independent chair of the two schemes, said the agreement with BlackRock was the “necessary next step” for the pension funds in working toward their goals. “In-house asset management costs have been increasing because of the rise in operational costs, particularly in terms of more regulation,” said Keira-Marie Ramnath, pensions asset management outsourcing lead at PwC, which advised on the deal.<br/>