British Airways apologises for offensive tweet

The airline's @British_Airways account has 211,609 followers. On Saturday it re-tweeted a message that used the racist term "g***" and the phrase "f**k off back to where you came from," according to reports.

Consumers re-tweeted the message and British Airways deleted it quickly.

The airline then issued an apology to its followers, which said: "We apologise for the offence caused. We are currently investigating how this happened."

The apology was then retweeted by over 160 followers.

The original message was sent by a user called Jae Jang Ladd, who tweeted: "@British_Airways F*** you. F***** cancelling my flight! #bunchofc****".

Another Twitter user called Asian Ronaldo re-tweeted Ladd’s original message, adding the offensive statement: "go back to your f****** country you g***". This was the message re-tweeted by British Airways.

It is thought that British Airways officials are now investigating the possibility that the account had been hacked.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk