How have I possibly missed this over the last decade during my several visits to London? British Airways has an amazing interactive billboard that shows what flight is overhead.
British Airways Interactive Billboard
We began our summer holiday with a couple days in London to visit Heidi’s sister and as you walk though London you certainly do see and hear airplanes flying overhead very frequently.
Apparently since 2013, British Airways has had an electronic billboard in London’s Piccadilly Circus (and also one in Chiswick) that tracks:
- flight number
- destination
- the lowest fares currently available to that destination from London
Each time a BA flight roars overhead, a little boy gets up and points to the flight, with the flight info then displayed.
I love innovation and I am frankly surprised these billboards first launched 10 years ago and I only heard about them because the following video popped up in my Instagram feed:
View this post on Instagram
How does this work? Apparently, a GPS was installed on the billboard that reads the incoming planes call signs, then relays the data to a computer where the British Airways flights are filtered. Here’s a video about it:
So I guess I’m late to the party…10 years late…but I find this a really cool concept.
Speaking of that, my son and I use FlightRadar24 frequently to track aircraft that fly over my home in the Los Angeles area. Air Traffic is pretty busy during the day. Recently, a NASA DC-8 flew rather low over our house, which was cool:
A @NASA DC-8 just flew low over my house. So cool!
Flight from Palmdale to Palmdalehttps://t.co/ghOZc2dXCL pic.twitter.com/FP7xsVkgxy
— Matthew Klint – Live And Let's Fly (@LiveandLetsFly) June 28, 2023
CONCLUSION
10 years ago, British Airways installed a cool flight tracking feature on a pari of electronic billboards. I only got the memo a decade late…
But this is still a very cool concept which I think would work well in other cities as well.
Anyone know where the one in Chiswick is? I’ve live there and don’t think I’ve ever seen it.
You could see it from M4 eastbound. It was a girl on the billboard (a boy on Piccadilly Circus). As others said, it was there only for a few weeks at the end of 2013, so that’s probably why you never seen it.
(I thought this article was from 2013 the way it’s written)
Wow, I’m an aviation geek and am in London frequently. I had no idea and will now have to check this out. Love flightradar24 too.
Bring a time travel machine with you if you want to check it out.
Whilst looking at that , a pedestrian is likely to walk into a lamp post .
Things you won’t read on the billboard
= how late the flight is
= how many passengers were left behind at LHR due to BA’s punitive attitude to latecomers (must pass security 35m ahead of the scheduled departure or you get offloaded)
= what happened to the checked baggage
@harry hv: ROFL! You almost made me spill my morning coffee.
The global ad agency I worked at back then designed and built that campaign (they also did a little TV commercial for an upstart computer company named Apple in 1984 which you might have scene). I used the BA campaign all the time working with intern in the marketing department where I now work to show the blending of technology and creativity.
Wish it would be refreshed and come back.
British ads are often well written.
and often cheeky
As an Av geek who is in London every month I’m completely in shock. I never saw this! I’ll probably get arrested next time for loitering on the street corner there for hours!
Saw Concorde flying overhead when I was in London back in 1992. Very cool. Also saw it taking off when I was at Heathrow in 1996. The engine roar was incredible.
Firstly, the campaign is not active and hasn’t been for almost a decade – so you won’t find the billboards like that today.
Secondly, I would expect someone using FlightRadar24 to know how it actually works. Saying that “GPS was installed on the billboard that reads the incoming planes call signs” is a complete nonsense. GPS doesn’t read any planes call signs, ever. The billboard had ADS-B antenna/receiver reading data from the incoming planes (nothing to do with a GPS on the billboard).
Firstly, the campaign launched less than a decade ago, so I cannot imagine it has been gone for a decade.
Secondly, I’m a blogger (and lawyer), not an engineer. While reading about it, that description was given. Thank you for clarifying the technology.
Yes, it launched less than a decade ago but was active only for a couple of WEEKS and that’s why I said “ALMOST a decade ago”.
As a blogger (and lawyer) you should know about the importance of facts and accurate blogging. Writing in present tense about something which hasn’t been reality for a number of years is, let’s say, misleading. You do not have to be an engineer to be able to listen to the linked video where they talk about the technology. The video clearly says what they installed on the building (hint, it wasn’t a GPS).
Brilliant billboard/marketing. A shame about the airline,which persists with underprovisioning catering, not cleaning or maintaining their cabins, zero working customer service channels online,by phone or in person and takes EVERY opportunity to nickel and dime those unfortunate enough to use them.
Not in reality British but the UK brand of a Spanish registered multinational,they’re Best Avoided