British Airways Announces Smile High Gig, Sets New Guinness World Record

CRAWLEY, England, March 17, 2011 - British Airways has set a new Guinness World Records title with comedians
Dara O Briain, Jack Whitehall and Jon Richardson, for hosting the 'highest
stand-up comedy gig in the world'.

The smile high gig, which took place on March 12, 2011 as part of the
airline's partnership with Comic Relief, raised almost GBP100,000 for Red
Nose Day.

The comedians performed for 45 minutes at 35,000ft to a crowd of 180
guests and prize winners to set the new world record. The comedy gig was
hosted on flight BA9230c on a dedicated British Airways A321 aircraft. The
flight took off from London Heathrow's Terminal 5 and flew over the UK for
two and a half hours.

Keeping the crowd in high spirits, Jack Whitehall joked: "I was looking
forward to today - after all it's the only gig where people can't walk out.
If you want to heckle you'll have to press the call button."

Dara O Briain, who was last to perform, said: "I told the Captain I'd
bang twice on the locker like this when I was on - so he can take the
aircraft to 37,000ft and beat Jack and Jon's record!"

Since the partnership launched in June 2010, the airline has raised in
excess of GBP700,000* for 'Flying Start' - the airline's charity partnership
with Comic Relief, which aims to transform the lives of vulnerable and
disadvantaged children in the UK and around the world.

British Airways Captain Brian Connolly, said: "It was an honour to
Captain this very special flight today. I'm proud to be able to say that I'm
a Guinness World Records holder and, of course, a member of the Smile High
Club!"

Footage from the event will be made available shortly at:
www.youtube.com/britishairways

Further information can be found at
www.facebook.com/britishairways.

Notes to Editors:

*figure accurate as of March 10, 2011

- British Airways would like to thank everyone who supported this flight,
including BA customers, the comedians - Dara, Jack and Jon, the Guinness
World Records and Q8 for donating the fuel

- The event was adjudicated by Guinness World Records editor-in-chief
Craig Glenday

- Fundraising was achieved through a text competition to win a place on
board

- As of March 10, 2011 the airline had raised GBP95,800 from the 'highest
stand up gig' event. The final sum will be confirmed on Red Nose Day and is
expected to reach GBP100,000.

About British Airways:

British Airways plc offers a wide range of flights to worldwide
destinations - including flights to Glasgow (
www.britishairways.com/travel/flights-to-glasgow/public/en_gb) and
Dubai flights (
www.britishairways.com/travel/flights-to-dubai/public/en_gb). The
company also offers a number of holiday destinations such as holidays in
Italy (www.britishairways.com/travel/holidays-in-italy/public/en_gb),
Dubai holidays (
www.britishairways.com/travel/holidays-in-dubai/public/en_gb) and
Paris holidays (
www.britishairways.com/travel/holidays-in-paris/public/en_gb), as well
as hotels and car rental. 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:
    Katja Cooper
    Astral Towers
    Betts Way
    London Road
    Crawley
    RH10 9XA
    +44(0)1293-722513

www.ba.com

Press Contact: Katja Cooper, Astral Towers, Betts Way, London Road, Crawley, RH10 9XA, +44(0)1293-722513