British Airways vs Norwegian: Why a profile picture sparked an airline social media feud

Dubai: Football fans had another rivalry to entertain them. Over the weekend, British Airways and Norwegian entered a fun social media spat. No boarding passes were harmed. But there was a clear winner.

It started innocently enough. A cheeky tag. A throwaway question. But within hours, two of Europe’s biggest airlines were locked in a full-blown Instagram standoff, with their logos, their pride, and their comment sections all on the line.

Rival carriers circled like planes waiting for a runway slot, popcorn emojis at the ready. Nobody quite knew where this was going.

What started as banter quickly built into one of the tournament’s most-watched sideshows, playing out in real time for a global audience glued to their phones as much as the pitch.

The whole thing started five days before England met Norway in the World Cup quarter-final at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami. Norwegian Air Shuttle, posting as flynorwegian, tagged British Airways, or BA, and asked if they fancied a bet.

BA didn't blink. It fired back with a line dripping in confidence: "Don't make bets you can't win."

That was the opening whistle. Within minutes, other accounts piled onto the pitch. Swiss carrier flyswiss joined in, saying there was "no time for popcorn" because it had to prepare for Lionel Messi, a nod to Switzerland’s own quarter-final against Argentina. Argentina won that one, so the popcorn comment aged rather well for them.

Planemaker Airbus couldn’t resist either, chiming in with popcorn GIFs of its own. Even Riyadh Air pulled up a virtual seat, ready with popcorn, while Qatar Airways cheekily offered to send both airlines live updates from the pitch.

Malaysia Airlines and Austrian Airlines got involved too, turning a two-airline wager into a full aviation industry gossip. "You two fight over the logo," Austrian Airlines wrote. "We'll bring the Schnitzel."

BA finally steps up to the plate

After a bit of radio silence, presumably while BA's social team plotted their comeback, British Airways finally accepted the challenge. It came in the form of a Zoom-in picture quiz.

Followers had to guess what image was hiding behind the blur. When the camera finally reached the aircraft’s tail, up popped English football’s most iconic battle cry: "It's coming home."

The terms were set. Instagram profile pictures were officially on the line, contingent on the result of England versus Norway in Miami.

Then came the handshake. Norwegian's video featured cabin crew holding a tiny tea cup and saucer, a cheeky nod to Britain’s undying love of a proper cuppa. The gesture was, quite literally, delivered to British Airways headquarters on the eve of the match.

England won 2-1, coming from behind to book their spot in the semi-final against defending champions Argentina. For Norway, the loss ended a landmark World Cup run. This was their first appearance at the tournament since 1998, and their first-ever run to the quarter-finals.

Their previous best had been Round of 16 finishes in 1938 and 1998, along with a group-stage exit in 1994. Not a bad campaign, even with the final whistle going against them.

True to its word, Norwegian Air changed its Instagram profile picture to British Airways' logo for 24 hours on Sunday.

Alongside the swap, it wrote: "While the tournament is over for us, this friendly bet will forever live in all our hearts. We wish England and British Airways all the best in the semi-final, and we sincerely hope you'll get to bring football home!"

British Airways couldn't resist a parting jab, commenting underneath: "We love this new look on you.”  

But like Erling Haaland chasing down a lost cause, Norwegian bounced back. The airline turned its defeat into a flash sale across all Norwegian destinations, inviting fans to use the code FBALLCOMINGHOME. By Monday, its own logo was back where it belonged.

"Our logo is back … until our social media team gets another idea," the airline wrote, much to the amusement of its followers. BA had one last word of its own, replying: "Enjoy some well earned rest – we can't wait for you come visit us in the UK."

For Norwegian, the whole stunt worked out better than expected. Speaking about the campaign, spokesperson Eivind Hammer Myhre told Business Insider, "What wager is fun without risk? And we thought, what's the most visible thing we can bet? Our logo."

He added: "We would never in a million years have anticipated this kind of reception. I think the most important thing is that every single comment and feedback has been positive."

Myhre also praised British Airways for playing along so graciously, saying the exchange had "almost gone from a wager to being a collaboration between two airlines and what seems like the entire internet."

Betting platforms including DraftKings, Polymarket and Kalshi had tipped England as favourites heading into the match.

But by leaning on the star power of Harry Kane and Erling Haaland, both airlines managed to fly their brands straight into the middle of a global conversation, no boarding pass required.

Britain may have won the match. But Norwegian took the social media battle home and won the respect of aviation geeks everywhere. With a global audience watching, its mix of corporate wit, aviation in-jokes and culturally sharp humour landed the point perfectly, popcorn and all. Isn’t this kind of banter what football is supposed to be all about?