Leading global airline, British Airways has thrown open a challenge to anyone who thinks they can win a race against its newly acquired Airbus A380. The challenge comes after South African rugby legend, Bryan Habana’s sprint against the aircraft grabbed global attention to become one of the top 10 most-watched YouTube videos of 2013.
Anyone, anywhere in the world can enter the #Man vs. Plane challenge. Five winners will be selected to fly to Durban in February and get the chance to pit their physical prowess against British Airways’ largest and most modern aircraft.
The runner with the quickest time will win two return tickets in Club World (business class) on one of British Airways’A380 services. Johannesburg to London is just the third of these services to be announced. The other two are London/ Los Angeles and London/ Hong Kong.
“Last year I accepted the challenge to race the A380 and won, but it was not easy,” says Bryan Habana, the Springbok winger and top try scorer. “To take this on you will have to be physically fit and have plenty of strength, stamina and speed.”
Kola Olayinka, British Airways’ Regional Commercial Manager for West Africa, says the runaway success of the video prompted the airline to offer the donation.
“We were slightly taken by surprise by how well the video has done, so we thought we’d ask Bryan if we could make a gesture to acknowledge the huge following it had garnered. We’re thrilled that what started out as a bit of fun has enabled us to help and organisation doing such important work,” he said.
British Airways is the UK’s largest international airline with a worldwide route network that covers more than 150 destinations in 75 countries.
