The sale starts today and runs until midnight PT time on Monday, May 14, 2012.  The $1098 fare is for travel from New York (JFK or Newark) to Paris (CDG or Orly) in BA World Traveller economy class or OpenSkies’ new cabin, Eco. 

Fares begin at $1098, including all taxes, fees and charges. The fare is valid for travel from May 22, 2012 to August 23, 2012.

Customers flying with British Airways in the World Traveller cabin will experience ergonomically designed seats with adjustable headrests and footrests. They will also enjoy an audio and video on demand (AVOD) system which offers over 200 entertainment choices, including 100 films and TV programs.

From June 19, OpenSkies, a wholly owned subsidiary by British Airways, will have seats in its completely new Eco economy class available for booking.  The Eco cabin features 11 rows of leather seats in a 3X3 configuration to guarantee service intimacy.  Customers will also receive individual digital tablets loaded with more than 70 hours of entertainment including movies, TV and games.

As well as the flight savings, customers can also pick up great package deals by booking hotels or car hire through ba.com, creating an extra special holiday in Paris. 

Visit ba.com/nyc-paris to book.

*           *           *

MEDIA CONTACT:                    Americas Communications        212 716 0477

Notes to editors:

• The $1098 fare includes all taxes, fees and charges.
• All flights are based on roundtrip purchases.
• Terms and conditions apply and are available on ba.com.
• Seats are subject to availability.

British Airways customers traveling from Newark can now experience a more premium travel departure thanks to a multi-million dollar investment to provide customers with new services, both on the ground and in the air. 

British Airways today opened its new Galleries lounge – twice the size of the previous offering and relocated near the airline’s new home at gates B50-58.  Only steps from security, the new lounge will reduce walking time by half and provide comfortable seating for up to 177 customers.  The stylish lounge has dedicated dining areas, offering First guests private dining booths and Club World customers self-serve pre-flight dining.

Customers will also soon benefit from refurbished British Airways Boeing 767 aircraft, the first of which has already entered service.  It is the first of 14 aircraft which will be renovated to improve customer comfort, offering the airline’s newest designs and a contemporary style.  In addition, passengers traveling on OpenSkies nonstop to Paris from Newark this June will be able to take advantage of a new Eco class, in addition to its Biz Bed and Prem Plus cabins.

Simon Talling-Smith, British Airways’ Executive Vice President Americas, said: “British Airways understands the importance of delivering a superior international travel experience to businesses located near Newark.  From faster check-in to the most convenient and luxurious lounge facilities, we are continuing to listen to what our customers want and delivering premium products to serve their needs.”

Over the next five years British Airways will be investing more than £5billion in new aircraft, smarter cabins, elegant lounges and new technologies to make life more comfortable in the air and on the ground.  

New First and Club Lounge

• Two Silver Bars are stocked with fine wines and premium spirits.
• Work and Entertainment Zones offer computers and power outlets throughout the lounge, with TVs, a choice of newspapers, magazines and complimentary Wi-fi. 
• Elemis products are located in the Ladies and Gents washrooms and shower.

New Look Fleet

• Once complete, the B767s will feature refurbished sidewalls and bulkheads, new carpets and newly recessed overhead bins with extra space and new lighting throughout.
• Seats will feature the same herringbone covers as on the Club World London City Service, while customers in World Traveller Plus can now order the same main dining option from the Club World menu.

 New OpenSkies Service

• In June the airline will boast a three cabin aircraft: Biz Bed, Prem Plus and Eco.
• Customers in Biz Bed will experience the ground improvements with access to the Newark lounge and pre-flight dining.  They will also benefit in the air from new duvets, offering a true sleeper service product.

 Ends

The event marks the final countdown to the London 2012 Games featuring a spectacular line up of Britain’s best entertainers including; Gary Barlow, Will Young, Davina McCall, John Bishop, Charlie Siem, Alfie Boe, Dermot O’Leary, and Melanie C – as well as Team GB and ParalympicsGB athletes, who will enjoy Simon’s three-course banquet. It will be the last time that the athletes come together to celebrate, ahead of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The 37-year-old chef from The Elephant restaurant in Torquay, was awarded the opportunity to cook for guests, through the British Airways Great Britons programme, which helps British talent take off. As part of his role, he also worked with mentor Heston Blumenthal, to produce an Olympic-inspired menu, which will be available to three million customers on board British Airways flights this summer.

Simon’s mentor, Heston Blumenthal, said: “Simon has produced a fantastic menu for this very special occasion.  It not only showcases the best of British ingredients but also has a truly British team behind it. It’s fitting that a great UK talent like Simon is behind this celebratory meal for our great British sporting heroes.”

Simon will work with a team of 25 chefs on the night, including Heston’s catering team at Rhubarb, and chefs from the Elephant. Simon’s ‘Our Greatest Team Rises Menu’ features:

• (Starter) Free range chicken and lightly smoked ham hock terrine with champagne soused new season vegetables and a jelly of wild celery and granny smith apple
• (Main) Slowly Braised British featherblade on spring cabbage and pancetta, oxtail and potato dumplings, confit young carrots with lemon thyme infused onions and a red wine jus
• (Dessert) Salted bitter chocolate mousse on a rich chocolate shortbread, tangy passion fruit gel wrapped in a crisp chocolate cylinder and accompanied by passion fruit yoghurt and freeze dried mango and coconut

There is also a vegetarian option, which includes a terrine of new season British vegetables, and a cured smoked salmon starter.

Speaking about his dishes, Simon Hulstone, said: “It’s an honour, a privilege and ever so slightly daunting to be cooking for our sporting heroes, best of British talents and thousands of guests on this very special occasion! With the weeks of training ahead for the athletes, I hope to give them a good meal before they get into their final phase of training.”

However, it’s not just celebrities that will be getting the VIP treatment – customers flying on British Airways flights over the summer will enjoy Simon’s menu which is inspired by popular foods from 1948 – the last time the Games were held in the capital.

Working with Heston and his experimental team, they researched food in post war Britain, as well as the 1948 airline menus and discovered that indigenous and plentiful foods such as cuts of beef and fish played an important part of people’s diet during these austerity years.

Simon’s in-flight menu reflects these trends, and includes dishes such as; ‘Rillette of mackerel dressed on a pickled cucumber carpaccio with sour dough croutes’ and ‘Fish pie using sustainable sourced hake, dressed with parmesan pomme puree and a warm tartare sauce’ as well as ‘Potted braised beef, with a potato and horseradish topping served with hispy cabbage, baby carrots and roasted shallots with a rich jus’.

Simon has long flown the flag for Britain, representing the country at international culinary events, including the Culinary Olympics in 2010 and 2008. 

British Airways is proud airline of Team GB and ParalympicsGB and is proud to support the BOA Ball.

The London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) has teamed up with official airline partner British Airways to create a dedicated area for up to 10,000 fans at a time with giant screens and picnic lawns in acres of newly created parklands in the Olympic Park. ‘BA Hosts’, made up of volunteers from the airline and their families, will also be on hand to help visitors.

At the heart of the plans for Park Live is a giant double-sided screen in the River Lea broadcasting live London 2012 coverage. Sitting in a newly created natural amphitheatre, Park Live plans to offer a host of entertainment including interviews with athletes on the British Airways presentation stage, allowing fans to hear first-hand from medal-winning athletes and other stars, and short films on the creation of the parklands.

Park Live will be set in the centre of the wetland bowl, within the newly created 250 acre parklands, which provides new green space for people and wildlife as well as spectacular views of the Olympic Park venues and London landmarks. It features riverside spectator lawns, timber seating, frog ponds, loggeries, wildflower meadows, woodlands, tree-lined footpaths and reed beds with over 30 species of native reeds, rushes, wet wildflowers and irises.

Park Live will be open from early morning to late evening for spectators to visit before and after sporting events on the Olympic Park. LOCOG has also outlined its ambition to offer general Park tickets, enabling people to come into the Olympic Park without tickets for sporting events.

LOCOG Chair Seb Coe said: ‘Whether it’s “Halsall Hill”, “Pistorious Park” or “Dai Greene Fields” our plans for Park Live will create a green and colourful place for fans to cheer their heroes and soak up the Olympic Park atmosphere. With lush lawns surrounded by wildflower meadows and rustling reeds, a trip to Park Live will be a truly unforgettable experience.’

Olympic gold medal winner Denise Lewis said: ‘It’s fantastic that British Airways is presenting Park Live, it looks like it could be the “Henman Hill” of the Games. I know the athletes, their families and guests at the Olympic Park will be thrilled to have a dedicated place for people to come together.’

British Airways managing director of brands and customer experience Frank van der Post, said: “Park Live Presented by British Airways will be the place for fans to go, cheer on Team GB and ParalympicsGB and give them some home support. It will be open to all guests on the Olympic Park before or after they’ve watched an event, or simply as a destination in itself. We’re looking forward to offering a great experience and dedicated area to watch all the action live.”

Park Live Presented by British Airways includes:

- Park Live will be set in a natural amphitheatre in the north of the Olympic Park spanning 15,220 square metres.

- With a capacity of 10,000 people Park Live will create the fifth largest venue on the Olympic Park and will be open from early morning to late evening on a first come first served basis.

- Up to 1,000 dedicated British Airways staff will welcome hundreds of thousands of spectators to Park Live during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with up to 100 staff on hand to help at any one time.

- The ’BA Hosts’ will receive extensive premium service training to prepare for welcoming people from hundreds of different countries.

- Once the planning process is concluded in the coming weeks, carefully planned construction work will start on the temporary double-sided 14m high, 132 square metre screen, which is the height of three double-decker buses and will sit on a purpose built structure on the river bed.

- Alongside live sporting action, Park Live will feature a host of activity including live entertainment, short films on the creation of the parklands and visits from Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

Park Live will be set in the newly created wetland bowl in the north of the Olympic Park which features: 

- Riverside spectator lawns originally grown in Lincolnshire and watered with non-drinkable recycled water provided by the new Thames Water Old Ford treatment plant.

- Wetlands and rare wet woodlands in the north of the Park which create habitat and help manage floodwater, protecting new housing and venues and 5,000 existing properties from a 1:100 year storm. Rainwater is captured through porous paving and cleaned through a network of planted ditches, ponds and reedbeds before flowing into the river.

- The UK’s largest ever urban river and wetland planting with 300,000 wetland plants grown on the Gower peninsula in Wales and then Thetford in Norfolk. Includes over 30 species of native reeds, rushes, grasses, sedges, wet wildflowers and irises, with around a third grown from cuttings and seeds collected from the Olympic Park before construction started.

- The UK’s largest-ever perennial nectar-rich wildflower meadows designed by James Hitchmough of the University of Sheffield, showcasing world-leading colourful and bee-friendly wildflower planting.

- Accessible footpaths with shallow gradients and resting points and timber seating with wheel chair spaces.

A host of wildlife habitats including frog ponds, loggeries, wetlands, woodlands, irrigation ditches, fish channels for spawning, otter holts, kingfisher nests, bat boxes and strips of Toadflax planted to attract the rare Toadflax Brocade caterpillar.

-Ends -

Notes to editors:

CGI impressions of Park Live and a map showing its location on the Olympic Park can be downloaded at

http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?nav=pr167002156

A CGI fly-through of Park Live can be downloaded at: http://footagelibrary.london2012.com

British Airways begins selling flights to the capital city today (May 3, 2012) and the service will begin on December 2, 2012.

A Boeing 777, with First class, Club World (business class), World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and World Traveller (economy) cabins, will serve the six flights a week to Seoul.

The outbound flight to Seoul arrives at the beginning of the working day there and the flights have been timed in order to allow convenient connections to British Airways’ extensive domestic and European short haul network to and from Heathrow.

Drew Crawley, British Airways’ commercial director, said: “We have seen significant growth in customers wanting to travel to Seoul for both business and pleasure. It is a vibrant city with a strong economic base, rated eighth in the Global Cities Index this year.

“Equally, there are vast numbers of South Korean companies wishing to come to the UK to do business as Asia’s economies continue to grow. We want to ensure that we do our bit in bringing as much business and tourism to the UK as we can.”

Prices from Heathrow will start from £798 return for a World Traveller seat, £1,196 for World Traveller Plus, £2,599 in Club World and £5,775 for First class.

There are also great fares from the UK regions, including Manchester from £799, Glasgow from £798 and Newcastle from £797 return.

Accommodation is also available through British Airways, with the 3* Novotel Seoul Ambassador Doksan starting from £94 per room per night, the 4* Hyatt Regency Incheon starting from £143 per room per night and the 5* InterContinental Seoul Coex starting from £183 per room per night.

Book online at www.ba.com or call 0844 493 0787.

Ends

May 3, 2012 054/AA/2012

Notes to editors:
· British Airways last flew direct to Seoul between 1996 and 1998.
· All prices quoted are based on a return flight and include taxes, fees and charges.
· The schedule for British Airways’ new flight to Seoul is:
Flight number From To Local departure time Local arrival time Days of the week flight operates
BA017 Heathrow Terminal 5 Seoul Incheon 13:00 08:55 (the next day) Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun
BA018 Seoul Incheon Heathrow Terminal 5 10:45 14:00 Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun

The first-ever British Airways Future Pilot Programme cadets have started their 18-month pilot training course this month.

Only the top three per cent of applicants qualified for the airline’s dedicated training programme, with the successful 95 future pilots fighting off stiff competition from more than 3,500 hopefuls.

On completion of their training the newly qualified pilots will be introduced to the British Airways fleet of aircraft, the most diverse of any UK airline, and will begin their flying careers.

The top-flight cadets will start their training, at one of three British Airways approved flight training schools in Oxford, Southampton and Jerez in Spain, between April 2012 and February 2013.

During the initial 16-month period at the flight training schools, students complete their ground theory training, cockpit instrument rating and flight training – flying light aircraft in Spain, New Zealand or Arizona in the US.

The final two months of the programme is completed on British Airways’ multi-million pound simulators at the airline’s flight training centre near Heathrow, where the cadets will learn to maintain British Airways’ high standards.   

British Airways’ director of flight operations, Captain Stephen Riley, said: “It’s great to see our Future Pilot Programme come to life.

“With this first group of new pilots entering the airline in 2013 and the second recruitment phase starting later this year, the high levels of skill and service that our customers rightly expect from British Airways’ pilots are assured for years to come.

“We look forward to welcoming them into our fleet of 3,500 pilots.”

                                                                    ends

April 26, 2012                                                                                            052/TC/12

Notes to editors:

For more information please contact the British Airways press office on 020 8738 5100 or email media.relations@ba.com

The Future Pilot Programme, launched in 2011, is a new initiative to help the company find the very best pilots by helping more people to train to become airline pilots for the first time.

The three approved flight training schools involved are: CTC Aviation Training, Oxford Aviation Academy and Flight Training Europe in Jerez.

British Airways began consultation with trade unions today (April 12) on proposals to integrate bmi mainline into its operations at Heathrow.

The acquisition of bmi by British Airways’ owner, International Airlines Group (IAG), was given regulatory approval from the European Commission in late March. bmi is losing more than £3m a week and, without this acquisition, was facing closure with the potential loss of all 2,700 UK based jobs.

The consultation proposes the full integration of bmi mainline into British Airways securing approximately 1,500 jobs. The integration proposals could result in up to 1,200 redundancies.

Jobs secured under the proposals include the transfer to British Airways of around 1,100 cabin crew, pilots and engineers based at Heathrow.

Up to 400 passenger services jobs would be secured at Heathrow Terminal 1.

The proposed UK redundancies consist primarily of roles based at bmi’s head office at Castle Donington and at regional airports. Consultation will seek to reduce the number and mitigate the impact of the proposed redundancies, including the potential to offer vacancies within British Airways at Heathrow.

British Airways will also be working on potential job opportunities with industry partners in the Midlands, such as Rolls-Royce, and will look to create jobs at its engineering facility in Glasgow from January 2014 when the contract for bmi aircraft heavy maintenance work outside the UK expires.

Keith Williams, British Airways’ chief executive, said: “bmi is heavily loss making and is not a viable business as it stands today. Our proposals would secure around 1,500 jobs that would otherwise have been lost. As we look to restructure the business and restore profitability, job losses are deeply regrettable but inevitable. We will work with the unions to explore as many options as possible and are already working with industry partners.

“This deal is good news for our customers and will offer new destinations, new routes and new schedules in due course. For customers with bmi bookings to or from Heathrow this summer, it is business as usual and customers can continue to book with confidence.”

As announced on December 22 last year, Lufthansa is to take on bmi’s defined benefit pension scheme before completion of the transaction, which is expected to take place around April 20. This scheme has been closed and the terms on which pensions will be retained will be agreed between Lufthansa and the bmi pension trustees. After completion, British Airways intends to maintain the bmi defined contribution pension arrangements for bmi employees with the potential, subject to the outcome of consultation, to transfer some or all of the bmi employees to the British Airways defined contribution scheme.

The acquisition of bmi mainline will give British Airways an additional 56 average daily slot pairs at Heathrow, of which up to 14 will be available to other carriers. Retained slots will be used to expand British Airways’ operations at Heathrow with customers benefiting from new destinations and more convenient schedules. The proposed integration would also include repainting the bmi mainline aircraft in British Airways’ livery.

Discussions with potential buyers for bmibaby and bmi Regional are continuing.

Ends

April 12, 2012 45/RG/12

They were joined by a roll call of stars including; Gemma Arterton, Danielle Lineker, Mr Hudson, Daisy Lowe, Chef Jocky and Team GB hopefuls – Aaron Cook (taekwondo), Mark Hunter and Zac Purchase (rowing).

Guests were able to sample Heston and Simon Hulstone’s Olympic inspired dishes as well as view the Olympic-inspired film and ‘Dove’ artwork, while music was provided by DJ and model Daisy Lowe.

The event marked the official unveiling of the works of the BA Great Britons programme, celebrating the best in British talent in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The works will be showcased at the three-in-one art gallery, cinema and dining room from April 4 to 17, and will be rolled out on flights to millions of customers from today onwards.

The BA Great Britons programme was launched last year to find rising British stars in food, film and art and provide them with career defining opportunities and a global platform to showcase their work in the run up to the Games. ‘Flight BA2012’ includes artwork from artist-designer Pascal Anson from Brighton, who was mentored by Tracey Emin on his ‘Dove’ design for a range of celebratory aircraft, displayed in the gallery. It also features short film ‘BOY’ starring Timothy Spall, written by screenwriter Prasanna Purwanarajah under the mentorship of Richard E Grant, screened in the cinema. Guests are also able to sample a bold British menu created by Michelin-star chef Simon Hulstone, who has produced an Olympic Games inspired menu under the guidance of Heston Blumenthal.

Frank van der Post, British Airways managing director of brands and customer experience, said: “We wanted to bring the flying experience to the public, allowing guests to preview our in-flight entertainment, celebratory aircraft livery and on-board menus in anticipation of the London 2012 Games. This is going to be an exciting year for the capital and this is just the very start of our take-off!”

Flight BA2012 is open on select weekdays from April 4 to 17, the gallery and screening room are free to attend with a bar open from 6-10pm, for more information visit; www.facebook.com/britishairways

Pictures available at www.bagreatbritons.co.uk

]]> http://press.ba.com/?feed=rss2&p=2228 0 http://press.ba.com/?p=2211 http://press.ba.com/?p=2211#comments Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:30:54 +0000 consumer http://press.ba.com/?p=2211 Heston Blumenthal, Richard E Grant and Tracey Emin today (April 3, 2012) unveil projects inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, produced by rising British talent who they mentored over the past year in the BA Great Britons Programme.

British Airways customers will be able to enjoy a London 2012 Games inspired menu created by Michelin star chef Simon Hulstone, watch ‘BOY’ a short-film written by screenwriter Prasanna Puwanarajah and fly on a number of celebratory ‘dove’ aircraft by designer Pascal Anson.

Tens of thousands of customers travelling to Europe over the next year will have the chance to fly on one of nine celebratory ‘Dove’ aircrafts, created by artist-designer Pascal Anson from Brighton. His mentor, Turner-prize nominated artist Tracey Emin, unveiled the first Dove at British Airways engineering bay this morning.

His design is all encompassing of the livery, using the cockpit for its beak, fuselage and wings for its main body and wings, and the tailfin as its tail. The aircraft will be painted white with gold strokes of paint to represent the feathers. Doves are internationally recognised as a symbol of peace and social unity, and were also used in previous Olympic Games ceremonies, including the last London Games in 1948.

BA Great Britons mentor, Tracey Emin said: “The first time I saw Pascal’s design it made me smile. The plane is universal. Everyone will understand it. I like the way it brings back the excitement of travel too. I will constantly be looking up every time I hear a plane fly over – you never know, maybe I will turn into a plane spotter!”

In the food category, Simon’s menu reflects Blumenthal’s creative approach by taking inspiration from the airline’s menus dating back to 1948 – the last time the Games were held in London. Many of the original dishes have been reinvented for a modern day audience using ingredients rich in umami – otherwise known as the fifth taste, as well as locally sourced produce.

Working with Heston and his experimental team, Simon researched food in post war Britain, as well as the 1948 airline menus and discovered that indigenous and plentiful foods such as cuts of beef and fish played an important part of people’s diet during these austerity years.

Simon’s menu reflects these trends, and includes dishes such as; ‘Rillette of mackerel dressed on a pickled cucumber carpaccio with sour dough croutes’ and ‘Fish pie using sustainable sourced hake, dressed with parmesan pomme puree and a warm tartare sauce’ as well as ‘Potted braised beef, with a potato and horseradish topping served with hispy cabbage, baby carrots and roasted shallots with a rich jus’.

British Airways mentor Heston Blumenthal, said: “Simon has created an exciting, delicious and well-balanced menu that pays homage to the Games in a clever and subtle way. The dishes celebrate our rich history and British talent at its best. As a mentor, chef and friend I’m very proud of what he has achieved.”

Finally, premiering on board flights from today is short film ‘BOY’ written by scriptwriter Prasanna Puwanarajah from London, who was mentored by actor and director Richard E Grant.

The nine-minute film is a story about a carpenter (played by Timothy Spall), who maintains the track at the Velodrome in the London Olympic Park. The imminence of the Games forces him to deal with the loss of his son, a track cyclist. The bold and moving story takes you on a journey of loss, grief and triumph. The making of the film will also be shown at the pre-opening of the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. A trailer of the film can be viewed at www.youtube.com/flybritishairways

BA Great Britons mentor, Richard E Grant, said: “Prasanna’s moving story has materialised into a beautiful piece of work that is every bit as impactful as his script. The beauty about ‘BOY’ is that millions of people from all over the world will understand it, because there are no barriers with silent films, and Timothy Spall is utterly superb. It is a touching film that incorporates the London 2012 Games in a wonderful way.”

The BA Great Britons programme was launched last year to find rising British stars in food, film and art and provide them with career defining opportunities and a global platform to showcase their work in the run up to the Games. The journey of the Great Britons has been documented and will be shown exclusively on British Airways flights over the summer.

To celebrate the launch of the Great Britons projects, the airline is launching an exclusive airline themed pop-up venue – ‘Flight BA2012’, celebrating the best in British talent in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Open on selected weekdays between April 4 and 17 (from 6-11pm), the three-in-one art gallery, cinema and dining lounge will showcase the works of the BA Great Britons. Entry to the gallery and cinema is free. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/britishairways

Notes to Editors:

• Images and air-to-air footage of the aircraft in flight are available for download at www.bagreatbritons.co.uk
• The Dove aircraft will be rolled out from today and in operation for a year
• Prasanna’s short film will be shown on all long-haul British Airways flights from today until September.
• Simon’s menus will be on board from July until September on all long-haul flights departing London Heathrow, except routes with special dietary requirements (India and Japan). He has produced a three-course menu for First and Club cabins, and a main dish for World Traveller Plus and World Traveller cabins. Customers can still choose from regular British Airways dishes.
• The airline worked with LOCOG, BAFTA, The Fat Duck Experimental team and the Royal Academy of Arts on the judging panels and throughout the process.
• Simon will also work with Heston to produce a menu for the BOA Ball on May 11.
• BOAC was the airline in operation in 1948 – the last time London hosted the Games, this was a predecessor airline to British Airways and forms part of the airline’s proud history.

A trailer of the film can be viewed at www.youtube.com/flybritishairways

Written by 31-year-old Prasanna from London, the nine-minute film is a story about a carpenter (played by Timothy Spall), who maintains the track at the Velodrome in the London Olympic Park. The imminence of the Games forces him to deal with the loss of his son, a track cyclist. The bold and moving story takes you on a journey of loss, grief and triumph. The film uses strong cinematography by the Oscar-nominated Danny Cohen and a stunning score by Alex Heffes, which allows the film to unfold with grace and delicacy.

BA Great Britons mentor, Richard E Grant, said: “Prasanna’s moving story has materialised into a beautiful piece of work that is every bit as impactful as his script. The beauty about BOY is that millions of people from all over the world will understand it, because there are no barriers with silent films, and Timothy Spall is utterly superb. It is a touching film that incorporates the London 2012 Games in a wonderful way.”

The film was produced by Barnaby Spurrier with Justin Chadwick as the director and Danny Cohen as the cinematographer. Filming took place at the Velodrome in the London 2012 Games Olympic Park, as well other locations around the capital.

BA Great Britons Prasanna said: “I hope audiences will be surprised and moved by BOY. I wanted to create something that anyone could watch and feel emotionally connected to, wherever they see it in the world. It has been fantastic working with Richard E Grant and I’ve been blessed with a team of incredible creatives, especially our producer Barnaby Spurrier from Tomboy Films, and director Justin Chadwick.”

Richard E Grant spent the past year mentoring Prasanna, as part of the BA Great Britons Programme, which provided a global platform for up and coming British talent in food, art and film in the run up to the Games.

In the art category Pascal Anson has worked with Tracey Emin to create ‘the dove’ for a number of celebratory aircraft and in the food category, Simon Hulstone has created a bold British menu with support from fellow Michelin star chef Heston Blumenthal.

To celebrate the launch of the Great Britons projects, the airline is launching an exclusive airline themed pop-up venue – ‘Flight BA2012’, celebrating the best in British talent in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.  Open on select weekdays from April 4-17, the three-in-one art gallery, cinema and dining lounge will showcase the works of the BA Great Britons. Tickets are available at www.facebook.com/britishairways

A rising star in the industry, Prasanna is a writer, director and actor. Most recently he was a runner-up in the JMK’s for a Young Theatre Directors Award in 2011 and he wrote his debut play ‘Nightwatchman’ for the National Theatre last year. His short film ‘The Half-Light’ starring David Haig, Henry Goodman and Harry Lloyd appeared recently at the London Short Film Festival.

British Airways is the official airline of the London 2012 Games. For further information, please visit facebook.com/britishairways