These Sisters Met for the First Time Thanks to British Airways

Courtesy of British Airways

Airlines have always been in the business of connecting people and places. British Airways is taking that to the next level, reuniting three sisters in a new video.

Mandy Shore was born in Britain during World War II, and she has spent years searching for information about her mother and father. She found her father, an American soldier, in the AncestryDNA database and traced his journey across the ocean and back to the United States.

She discovered she has two half-sisters, Lynn Garner and Ann Burrage, who live in Texas.

British Airways found out about the sisters’ story and offered Garner and Burrage free flights to England so they could reunite with their sister in London.

Rather than wait for the plane to arrive at Heathrow Airport, Shore surprised her Texan sisters on the flight. The entire, uplifting moment was captured on film.

Ancestry and British Airways are giving other families “the chance to have the trip of a lifetime” in a contest for three pairs of round-trip Business Class seats on British Airways to London. Winners will also enjoy a four night stay at the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane Hotel.

They’re not, unfortunately, promising that you’ll find any forgotten relatives when you arrive in the United Kingdom.

Melanie Lieberman is the Assistant Digital Editor at Travel + Leisure. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @melanietaryn.