- British Airways aircraft to lead a fly-past over The Mall tomorrow to thank fans and athletes
- 700,000 people visited Park Live presented by British Airways during the Games
- The airline transported over 2,250 athletes from 28 countries to London
- Over a thousand British Airways staff and their families volunteered
British Airways will lead a fly-past with the Red Arrows over London to thank Team GB, ParalympicsGB and the home crowd for making the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games a huge success. The airline has been granted special permission to – over The Mall at 1,000ft during the Greatest Team Parade on Monday 10 September.
The flame-coloured ‘Firefly’ A319 aircraft, which was used to bring the Olympic Flame to the UK at the start of the Games will now display a special ‘Thank You’ message spanning 13 metres emblazoned on its underbelly. During its 20-minute journey, it will pass over the Olympic Park reaching The Mall one minute later at approximately 3.41pm.
On the ground, British Airways ambassadors will give message boards and pens to 10,000 fans to write their own celebratory messages for display during the procession.
British Airways chief executive, Keith Williams, said: “Like everyone else in the country, I have been gripped by the Games. It has been a glorious time for London and the country, which will benefit from the afterglow for years to come.
“Everyone involved has done an outstanding job to show this country at its absolute best. Our fly-past is a special tribute to all of them.”
Throughout the London 2012 Games, British Airways hosted Park Live at the Olympic Park, where 700,000 spectators watched the action on its giant LED screens, and saw athletes interviewed on the BA Stage including Sir Chris Hoy, Louis Smith, Rebecca Adlington, Zac Purchase, Mark Hunter, Rik Waddon and Bethany Woodward.
LOCOG Chair Seb Coe said: “British Airways has played a huge part in the London 2012 Games. During the Games, Park Live has been such a great place for fans to get together and cheer on athletes and I’m delighted that British Airways are going to be supporting the athlete’s parade. When Firefly goes past The Mall, make sure you all look skywards!”
Over the summer, the airline’s ‘Home Advantage’ campaign, which encouraged people to stay at home and back our athletes has generated more than 85,000 tweets, using the hashtag #HomeAdvantage. It was named by the public as the Olympic campaign that had the most impact*.
Prior to the Games, the airline placed a giant image of gold medallist Jessica Ennis on the flightpath to Heathrow with the words ‘Welcome to our turf’ and a projection of Wheelchair racer Shelly Woods with ‘Welcome to our manor’ for thousands of incoming passengers to see.
British Airways is proud airline partner of Team GB and ParalympicsGB, as well as official airline partner of the London 2012 Games. It has supported more than 2,400 British athletes and their coaching teams with flights to travel around the world to train, compete and qualify in the run up to the Games.
*PR Week/One Poll survey, August
