British Airways has launched a competition for the public to choose a name for the aircraft bringing Team GB and ParalympicsGB home from the Rio Games this summer.
The special charter flight will feature a commemorative gold-nose and has been given the flight number ‘BA2016’ to mark the occasion.
The public can cast their vote on Twitter @british_airways, between August 1-7.
Presumably to avoid a BoatyMcBoatFace-type embarrasment, the choice must be from the following shortlisted names, put forward by the athletes and British Airways staff;
- Gold Force One
- Golden Hauls
- VictoRIOus
- Mission Accomplished
To vote, the public are invited to tweet their preferred name prefixing it with a hashtag. British Airways will calculate all the nominations and reveal the winner on August 16.
The public can vote on British Airways twitter page and Team GB and ParalympicsGB twitter page as well.
The name ‘Gold Force One’ was put forward by Team GB,
‘Mission Accomplished’ by ParalympicsGB,
‘Golden Hauls’ by British Airways staff and ‘
VictoRIOus’ was a joint name chosen by all parties.
The winning name will be announced on August 16 when the aircraft is unveiled with its shiny new nose and name.
Alex Cruz, Chairman and CEO of British Airways, said: “It’s extremely fitting that athletes from Team GB and ParalympicsGB, along with British Airways staff have put forward their favourite names for the fans to choose. The names capture the uniquely British sense of humour, yet recognise the great pride we have for our sporting heroes.”
The airline has a long history of naming aircraft for special sporting occasions. In 2008, the aircraft bringing athletes home from the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games was named ‘Pride’. In 2009 the aircraft taking the British and Irish Lions to South Africa was named ‘Air Force Scrum’, and in 2003 an aircraft was named ‘Sweet Chariot’ for the England squad flying to the Rugby World Cup.
For other special livery aircraft, see British Airways paint jobs
For more on this, see the Business Traveller forum and
