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British Airways apologized after upsetting Welsh rugby fans by wishing England luck in this weekend’s match between the two teams.
The airline, which has a sponsorship deal with England Rugby, sent luck to England via Twitter on Saturday morning ahead of its Fall Nations Cup match against Wales in Llanelli later that day.
The tweet, which was later removed, read: “Good luck to the England rugby team against Wales today”, and contained a short video.
In response, Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething tweeted: “Good way to annoy over 3 million potential customers.”
Labor MP Chris Bryant described the airline as “absolute divots”, adding: “How is this correct?” And BBC Wales news anchor Huw Edwards joked: “I love easyJet.”
Meanwhile, the phrase “English Airways” was trending on Twitter when some fans in Wales suggested that the airline should rebrand.
YesCymru, the campaign for the independence of Wales, tweeted: “To be clear, even when Wales becomes independent, it will remain a constituent part of the island of Great Britain. Its brand is not ‘UK Airways’, it is ‘British Airways’. Regardless, we’ve had enough of this uneven and broken ‘union’. “
BA, England Rugby’s official partner airline, apologized for being ‘lost’ with the message.
A statement from the airline read: “We are proud sponsors of England Rugby, but this time we unintentionally strayed from offside so we are sorry.”
However, others tried to downplay the scandal. “Are people really upset that British Airways wished England rugby good luck in its game?” one tweeted. “They sponsor England, they are not trying to destroy the union and change its name to English Airways. BT sponsors rugby in Scotland, but that will not change its name to Scottish Telecom. “
Earlier this month, a YouGov poll of more than 1,000 adults of voting age in Wales suggested that support for independence had reached its highest level. When asked how they would vote if a referendum were held the next day, 33% of those with an opinion said they would vote for independence.
Thousands of people have marched in Wales in support of independence over the past 18 months in a series of demonstrations.
A September report by the nationalist Plaid Cymru party setting out a possible roadmap to independence argued that only independence could bring a fundamental improvement to the country’s economy, stating that it struggles not because it is too small or poor but because it is “trapped. “within an economy shaped in the interest of the City of London.
