As Britain and the Commonwealth look forward to celebrating the Coronation of His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen Consort this weekend, British Airways will be celebrating with customers and colleagues both on the ground and at 35,000 feet.

As the United Kingdom welcomes visitors from across the world for a weekend of celebrations, British Airways and VisitBritain have partnered to give visitors a ‘a royal welcome’ with a mural painted on the London Heathrow flight path. The piece of art is 47m by 64m and is located in Thornbury Park in Hounslow. Customers landing into London Heathrow runway 27L will be able to see it on the right-hand side of the aircraft just before touching down at the London hub. The flowers on the artwork were designed by children at a local holiday club, Fun Fest Hounslow. The two young artists, sisters Jasmine Prajapati and Raya Prajapati, aged 9 and 12 respectively, sketched the designs around the theme of ’a natural world’ which is a passion of the King’s and a key theme of the King’s Coronation emblem.

Celebratory flight crewed by colleagues called Charles and Camilla
Elsewhere on Friday 5 May, the BA059 from Heathrow to Cape Town, a commonwealth member state, will be crewed by colleagues with variants of the name Charles and Camilla. Customers on board this unique flight will be looked after by a team of 10 cabin crew included three people called Camilla, five called Charles, a Kamila and a Millie. The 777-200 aircraft will be flown by three pilots called Charles.

Royal treatment for customers
On the day of the Coronation itself, British Airways will be offering customers with surnames ‘King’ and ‘Queen’ travelling from Gatwick and Heathrow the chance to kick off their trip in style with lounge access prior to their flights. Customers at Heathrow will be invited to use the First Wing and First Lounge, at Gatwick, customers will be invited to use the First Lounge.

At 35,000 feet, the airline will be marking the historic occasion on 6 May by offering customers across all cabins travelling from Heathrow and Gatwick, Joe&Seph’s Eton Mess bespoke popcorn designed exclusively for British Airways. The airline has worked with its caterers to design Coronation-themed desserts which will feature on board flights from Heathrow and Gatwick. The special desserts include a bespoke lemon and white chocolate Coronation tart, an afternoon tea with a trio of royal desserts and a lemon and white chocolate mousse topped with a chocolate crown, inspired by King Charles’ well-known love of lemon cream. Customers will be able to enjoy these royal treats while watching a live stream of the Coronation on board, which is free to access through customers’ personal electronic devices and available to all customers travelling with British Airways on WiFi enabled aircraft.

Lisa Tremble, British Airways’ Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, said “We are excited to be able to celebrate this significant moment in history. As Britain’s flag carrier, we are proud to be welcoming visitors to our home and celebrating with our customers on board, offering a selection of Coronation-themed surprises to mark the occasion. We are also celebrating with our fantastic colleagues across our airports and offices and crewing a flight full of colleagues called Charles and Camilla, so it will definitely be a weekend we won’t forget!”

The Big Help Out and Prince’s Trust
Elsewhere, British Airways is proud to be an official business sponsor of The Big Help Out, a voluntary initiative aimed at raising awareness and providing volunteering opportunities for people throughout the UK. The airline will be encouraging its colleagues to volunteer to help some of the incredible charities The Big Help Out supports.

Last month, as part of British Airways’ partnership with The Prince’s Trust, the airline ran a three week ‘Get into Aviation Programme’, a course aimed at helping young people improve their employability skills and gain practical first-hand experience of the workplace. The airline’s programme focused on encouraging 18-30 year olds from disadvantaged backgrounds to consider a career in aviation. A number of young adults joined the scheme, which included confidence-building sessions and work experience days in their chosen area and following the completion of the programme, 11 young people were offered a space on one of British Airways apprenticeship schemes.