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With the Beijing Olympics just over a week away, British Airways World Cargo staff have begun the marathon challenge of loading kit for Team GB’s Chinese capital bound athletes. Over 700 separate items – ranging from 12ft long canoes to table tennis balls – have to be specially packed and stored for the ten hour trip to the Chinese capital ahead of the 29thOlympiad. As the official airline to the British Olympic team and the British Paralympic Association, British Airways – the UK’s flagship carrier which operates 49 weekly services from the GCC to London Heathrow – has been working behind the scenes to ensure athletes and their kit arrive in Beijing fully prepared for the Games.
 
Months of careful planning by a team of BA experts working in conjunction with individual sports teams and the British Olympic Association and British Paralympic Association has taken place to ensure each piece of kit is delivered on time for the athletes to prepare for the events. Canoes, javelins, shot puts and pole-vaults will be carefully packed by hand and transported in bespoke cargo containers and special protective wrapping onboard British Airways flights.Among the more unusual items being transported are five rifle cases, two prosthetic legs, kayaks, sabres and nearly 200 wheelchairs.

BA will be setting its own Olympic record by flying around 80 wheelchairs, the largest number ever carried on a single flight, the day after the handover ceremony takes place at the Paralympic Games on September 18^th.
Mark Gardiner, BA General Manager, London Operations Cargo said: “Making sure equipment arrives and returns in peak condition is essential, from the simplest kit bag to the music speakers for the synchronised swimming team.  

“This has been a real team effort by everyone concerned and British Airways is proud to play it’s part to help Team GB and Paralympics GB be the most successful ever to take part in the Olympics and Paralympics.”

British Airways will begin the delicate process on July 25 and will work with the Chinese authorities throughout August and September (Paralympics) to return all the items to the UK.

The list of items flying to Beijing includes: 80 bikes, 29 bike bags, 14 bow boxes, six javelins, six sails, four canoes, four shot puts, three defibrillators, three pole vaults, two rifles, two air pistols and prosthetic legs.
British Airways operates daily services to London’s principal airport from Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Abu Dhabi, as well as twice daily services from Dubai. All Middle East services currently operate out of Heathrow’s Terminal 4. Travellers from the Middle East will get their first taste of Terminal 5 later this year.

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