Celebrities including Gordon Ramsay, Rob Brydon, Sir Ian McKellen and Thandie Newton are to appear in a new British Airways pre-flight safety video.
The new film, which debuts in September, has been designed to help passengers absorb important safety messages, while boosting fund-raising for the ‘Flying Start’, charity partnership between the airline and Comic Relief.
Ten celebrities are seen auditioning in humorous sketches in front of comedian Asim Chaudhry, as his People Just Do Nothing character Chabuddy G, for a coveted part in the safety video, while simultaneously demonstrating the safety features and procedures on the aircraft.
At the end of the video, Rowan Atkinson fumbles around his seat for loose change to place in a Flying Start envelope, which are available to customers on flights to enable them to make donations to Comic Relief.
Other stars involved include Gillian Anderson, Jess Glynne, Jim Broadbent and Warwick Davis.
it has raised a total of £16.5 million has been raised since BA’s partnership with Comic Relief began in 2010. The airline aims to raise £20 million by 2020.
BA chairman and chief executive Alex Cruz said: “It’s extremely important to us that customers engage with our safety video, and involving some of the nation’s most well-known personalities has given us the chance to create something fun that we hope people will watch from start to finish – and remember.
“We’ve worked with Comic Relief since 2010 and our customers have already helped us generate £16.5 million for great causes. We hope the new video will enable us to exceed our goal of raising £20 million by 2020.”