The Evening Standard claim that, while no agreement has yet been reached, the national carrier is thought to be on the verge of becoming a "tier one" sponsor with an announcement due as early as next month.

The Standard said that two other contenders for the airline category, Virgin and Emirates, are no longer in the running.

The newspaper claimed that LOCOG are eager to sign up an airline before the end of the year as they need to arrange more than 1,000 flights for Team GB athletes and officials to next summer's Beijing Olympics.

 

These would be provided free as part of the deal.

Planes from the official 2012 airline will also be used to fly inspectors from the International Olympic Committee into London for their regular visits over the next five years.

In return, the official airline will be able to use the London Olympics logo on all its planes for the next five years.

 

Strict rules on use of the Olympic rings mean that a modest sized logo will appear next to the cockpit and not be plastered over the tail-fin.

Unlike the existing sponsors, the official airline will be able to use the London logo abroad.

If BA are confirmed as a 2012 sponsor, it would avert a potential public relations issue as so far two of the three deals have gone to foreign-owned firms.

The airline was a £1 million "premier partner" during the bid stage and provided free flights to Singapore for the 2012 vote in July 2005.

Last week BA announced it was spending almost £7 billion on a new fleet of A380 superjumbos.

 

The doubledecker aircraft will come into service in 2012, the year of the London Olympics.

A BA spokesman said: "British Airways was one of the top sponsors of the London 2012 bid to bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games to London and was delighted when the bid team won the contest.

 

"We are always interested in such opportunities but no decision has been made on the airline's involvement with the Games in 2012."

A spokeswoman for London 2012 said: "No deal has been done - the sponsorship category is still open."

 

London 2012 aims to raise £625 million of its target £2 billion revenue from its commercial partners.

 

The remainder will come from broadcast revenues, licensing and tickets.

 

The full article can be read at http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23414585-details/BA tipped to be official 2012 Olympics airline/article.do.