British Airways and One Direction to Host High Flying Dinner Date

HARMONDSWORTH, England, July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

British Airways has announced that One Direction, one of the world's biggest bands, is to host the ultimate high-flying dinner date on BA jet.

The fab five, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik, will take to the skies to help raise funds for Comic Relief.

The charter flight will be given the original flight number BA1D.

They will be joined on the exclusive sky-high date by eight lucky fans who will have the chance to win tickets in a competition which has been launched on social media sites including the British Airways Facebook page.

At least half of the proceeds from the text-to-win competition will go to Flying Start, British Airways' global charity partnership with Comic Relief, and there is also a free-to-enter competition.

Each of the eight winners will be able to take two guests on the hour-long flight, enjoy lunch on board, chat with the band and have photographs taken with them. At least one passenger in the group must be 18 years of age or older.

The flight plan is a closely guarded secret and winners will be met in central London and taken to an undisclosed airport to board the aircraft. They will be taken back to the meeting point after the flight.

Mary Barry, British Airways community investment manager, said: "We are absolutely thrilled to team up with One Direction for this fantastic competition and we're so grateful to them for giving us this chance to raise lots of money for Flying Start.  

"This really is a money-can't-buy opportunity and a dream come true for eight very lucky fans."

Money raised from the competition will be spent by Comic Relief to help children living unimaginably tough lives both here in the UK and across the world's poorest countries.

The competition closing date is July 11, 2012. Please see http://www.ba-flyingstart.com for full terms and conditions.

Flying Start is a partnership between British Airways and Comic Relief, registered charity 326568 (England & Wales); SC039730 (Scotland).

About British Airways:

British Airways plc offers a wide range of worldwide destinations - including holidays in Tampa, holidays in Italy, and hotels, flights, car rental with Avis and experiences. Customers can save time and money with ba.com when booking ATOL protected holiday packages, ATOL number is 5985. Passengers are offered added peace of mind to their holiday plans and the security of travelling with British Airways. British Airways plc constantly seeks to exceed customers' expectations, both in terms of the value for money and quality of the service provided.

Press Contact:
Susan Redmond
Waterside
PO Box 365
Harmondsworth
Middlesex
UB7 0GB
+44(0)2087385100
http://www.ba.com