Fury erupts as BA calls Falklands capital by Argentinian name in 'disgraceful' blunder

British Airways has provoked a storm among army veterans (Image: Getty)

British Airways has provoked a furious reaction from army veterans after it referred to the Falkland Islands' capital by its Argentinian name on in-flight entertainment screens. The displays showed Puerto Argentino instead of Port Stanley in a blunder that has been slammed as "disgraceful" by furious former soldiers. 

The British name for the capital is relegated to a set of brackets underneath. The mistake was spotted by a journalist working at The Spectator magazine. Ed West wrote: "Curious wording for a British Airways in-flight map.”

BA referred to Port Stanley by its Argentinian name (Image: Getty)

The embarrassing blunder comes just days before Saturday, the 43rd anniversary of Britain's victory in the Falklands War.

BA has promised to investigate, as Falklands war veterans described the error as “ludicrous” and “insulting.”

Lord West, whose HMS Ardent was sunk by Argentine forces, called it a "disgrace.

He told The Sun: “Everyone on the Falkland Islands calls it Port Stanley.

“They should change it back as soon as possible. This is insulting to the population of Port Stanley.”

Argentina still claims sovereignty over the islands and has stepped up calls on the British government to return them in the wake of the recent Chagos Island deal.

In a provocative move in 2017, Argentina's senate voted to rename Port Stanley as Puerto Argentino and celebrate Sovereignty Day there once the islands are under the control of Buenos Aires.

BA's in-flight map shows only the names of world capitals and not countries’ names.

It means BA does not reference the Falklands by its Argentinian name Islas Malvinas.

A BA spokeswoman said: “We are grateful this has been brought to our attention.

“We’ll be reviewing it with the third party supplier that provides the in-flight map service.”