Paddington Bear or Heathrow Bear?

Posted November 4, 2008 by Jaklien VanMelick

After 50 years of roaming around Paddington train station in London, the quintessentially English Paddington Bear is broadening his horizons and trying his luck in the sky. The mischievous, but well-mannered bear from darkest Peru is the new face of the children’s fun pack on all of British Airways' international long-haul flights.

Pretty much everyone in, and possibly outside of the U.K. who has been a child in the last 50 years, is familiar with the story of the orphaned bear who travelled all the way from South America to England. He was found by the Brown family in a quiet corner at Paddington railway station,which is of course how he got his name. The Browns adopted him and took him to their home in Notting Hill where Paddington got into all kinds of trouble.

Since last October, British Airways have been offering their young passengers between the ages of three and five Paddington-themed activity packs on those long-range flights. On flights from the U.K., the pack will hold a Paddington Bear case including an activity book, stickers and crayons. On flights to the U.K., children can entertain themselves with another activity book, finger puppets and more crayons--all in a Paddington backpack.

Now hopefully your kids will not get any naughty ideas from the furry troublemaker. Otherwise those already-very-long transatlantic flights could get even longer.

(Photo: TeddyBearFriends.co.uk)

Categories: British Airways