Historically the festive period is a cause for celebration for British Airways, as a surge of passengers board flights to travel home for Christmas. Unfortunately, this Christmas will be very different for the airline, exacerbated by the current travel restrictions affecting UK travelers. With this in mind, we decided to look back at British Airways in Christmases past.
An alarming number of Brussels Sprouts
Typically British Airways serves Christmas dinner onboard its flights in the days running up to the 25th. This has seen the airline needing an alarming number of Brussels sprouts that continues to climb each year. In 2016, the airline served just 300,000 Brussels sprouts. However, in only three years, the number grew by half to 450,000 sprouts.
It’s not just the sprouts that are served in alarming quantities by the airline in the run-up to Christmas. Last year, the airline also served an estimated 360,000 roast potatoes and 11,000 kg of turkey. Some 135,000 mince pies accompanied this.
A trip to Paris?
Last year, Paris was British Airways’ number one short-haul destination, with many passengers opting to travel to the French capital for Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. This year things are likely to be very different. Having banned flights earlier in the week, France has now allowed them again, albeit with a pre-flight test. In 2018, the airline’s top Christmas destination was Geneva.
It goes without saying that a considerable number of bags accompany those flying for Christmas. After all, those Christmas presents that aren’t delivered by Santa himself won’t get to their destination on their own. In the days from December 15th to December 27th last year, British Airways estimates that it carried 1.5 million pieces of baggage across its network.
A Christmas delivery
In years gone by, British Airways crew have gone the extra mile to make December delivery flights extra special. In 1994 when G-CIVD was delivered to the airline from Seattle, it carried 14 accountants and three flight attendants.
Rather than just operating the flight, the crew, Gilly Conway, Robin Williams, and Malcolm Reeves, went the extra mile to make the flight a special one. The three decorated the cabin with Christmas decorations and a welcome poster. To top off the look, they also donned Christmas jumpers for their departure from Seattle.
Christmas this year
British Airways still has some flights scheduled on Christmas day this year. However, the airline is currently operating a modified service due to fluid schedule changes. This includes presently three flights to Dubai, a destination that has a travel corridor with the UK.
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