British Airways 'sorry' after support for England Rugby over Wales sparks backlash

British Airways has apologised after wishing England luck ahead of their Autumn Nations Cup fixture against Wales - sparking backlash on social media.

The airline, which has a sponsorship agreement with England Rugby, shared its support for the team on Twitter on Saturday morning.

It comes ahead of their Autumn Nations Cup clash with Wales in Llanelli.

The tweet, which was later deleted, read: "Good luck to the England Rugby team against Wales today."

It also contained a short video, reiterating the 'good luck England' message, but the sentiment has sparked numerous complaints.

Welsh health minister Vaughan Gething tweeted: "Good way to annoy 3m+ potential customers".

Labour MP Chris Bryant described the airline as "utter divots", asking: "How is this right?"

BBC News presenter Huw Edwards, who is from Bridgend, joked: "I love easyJet".

The tweet has also sparked renewed calls for Welsh independence, with YesCymru sharing one tweet that read: "British Airways wishing England luck against Wales in the rugby today is better than any other advert I've seen for Welsh independence."

The campaign group responded to British Airways: "To be clear, even when Wales becomes independent, it will still be a constituent part of the island of Britain."

The large amount of discussion caused the phrase 'English Airways' to trend on Twitter, as some users suggested the airline should be rebranded.

British Airways apologised for having "strayed offside" with the message.

A statement from the airline read: "We are proud sponsors of England Rugby but on this occasion we unintentionally strayed offside, for which we are sorry".

The incident comes after warnings of job cuts across the company - with more than 900 British Airways staff working in south Wales at risk of losing their jobs.