Seven things you need to know about our latest TV ads
This month, we’re taking you behind the scenes of our newest TV ads to reveal surprising details about them, from the soundtrack to the set design
19/11/2025
Words: Qin Xie
Our award-winning Club Suites are the stars of our latest ad campaign, which stylishly reveals some of the perks of travelling business class with us. Based on the theme of ‘A World to Yourself’, where the viewer is immersed in the Club Suite experience through a dream-like sequence, three short films showcase the different premium aspects of Club World across social media, YouTube and video-on-demand channels.
When it comes to sleep and relaxation, Doors closed. Lights out focuses on some of the comfiest (and most private) lie-flat seats at 35,000 feet. To highlight thoughtfully procured premium food and beverages, Menu chosen. Table laid zooms in on our high-quality dining experience, with no awkward elbows in sight. And to show the range of entertainment available on board, Your cinema above the clouds spotlights our impressive and immersive variety of films, TV, music, podcasts and more. We caught up with the crew that made the films to reveal the behind-the-scenes details you may not be aware of. Read on, then watch the ads again with a fresh eye.
1. It was a six-month project
The films may be less than 20 seconds long, but the whole project took six months from start to finish. We had to audition for actors, build the set and, of course, film them. All of the filming was done over three days, with a London studio and Bromley Town Hall serving as the backdrops.
2. We had to build a special plane
We had the prototype of our Club Suite seat ready to go but, to recreate the in-flight experience, our set designer had to build the ‘cabin’ around it, accommodating the camera and lighting. The cabin walls and windows you see in the ads were entirely built from scratch and the shades were fully functional. During filming, a string was attached to the screen door of the Suite so it could slide open or shut in sync with the movement of the camera.
3. The dining experience is unlike any other
In Menu chosen. Table laid, Bromley Town Hall was used as the restaurant at the start of the film, the addition of tables with reflective surfaces added to the atmosphere. We also featured dishes from the actual Club World menu that you might enjoy on your next flight. For filming, a food stylist recreated the dishes to allow for the long hours and the strong lighting in the studio.
4. We created our own fluffy clouds
You’ve probably guessed that CGI was used to create some of the clouds in Doors closed. Lights out. Our set designer also covered giant balloons with fluffy stuffing material to mimic the lightness of the clouds and scattered these around the sleeping actor. What you might have missed is that we had the window shades lowered for this film. Instead of seeing the clouds from the windows, as in the other shorts, you get a glimpse of them on our in-flight entertainment system.
5. Our lighting travelled from day to night
We wanted to show off the Club Suite at different times of the day, so changing the lighting was crucial. In each of the films, we adjusted the position of the shades and the hue of the light that came through the windows. It’s most obvious in Your cinema above the clouds, where we had a dreamy sunset shot. We used a green screen to create the backdrop and had a giant LED screen over the actors so we could get the lighting to match the scene.
6. The music was the same, but different
Once you’ve seen all three films, you’ll realise there’s something remarkably familiar about them. The lighting is a part of it, of course, but it’s the music that pulls them together. The melody is actually the same across all three films, but we used different instruments to capture the different moods. Doors closed. Lights out is dreamier, for example, while Your cinema above the clouds is more cinematic. And you won’t find the melody elsewhere – it was composed exclusively for British Airways for this campaign.
7. Cabin crew took a starring role
We featured real cabin crew in these films because they’re central to the Club World experience. Just like professional actors, they had to send in audition tapes that they filmed themselves as part of the selection process. But while we would normally call back professional actors for auditions in person, our crew were flying all over the world as part of their day job. It meant the second stage of the auditioning process had to be done over Zoom rather than in person.
