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© LHR NewsFrequent flyer: The Bin Laden boarding pass from LHR News
British Airways was embroiled in fresh controversy yesterday after an in-house magazine promoted an iPhone boarding pass service showing a ticket belonging to Osama Bin Laden.

The sample ticket included Bin Laden's frequent flyer number, suggesting he is a regular passenger with the airline.

LHR News - a staff magazine covering Heathrow Airport - carried the image on its front page.

The picture is of a smiling passenger holding the embarrassing ticket up to the camera as a check-in steward looks on.

Worse still, Bin Laden's seat number - 7C - suggests he is in for a comfortable ride in a first class seat.

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© LHR NewsThe front cover photo listed a first class ticket as belonging to Osama Bin Laden
There were suggestions yesterday that the image could have been 'sabotaged' by a dissatisfied staff member, with the airline currently locked in a standoff with cabin crew that has led to mass strikes.

'It looks as if BA has been sabotaged most successfully by an internal source,' Tory MP Patrick Mercer, who has served on a Commons anti-terrorism sub-committee, told The Express.

'While this may be light-hearted, it is worth looking at the serious security implications. It does focus the mind on how much easier our enemies might find it to get a legitimate boarding pass under a system using mobile phones.

'And as the flight on the boarding pass is going to Washington, I have no doubt that this will awaken some extremely painful memories'.

A BA spokesman said: 'A mistake has been made in this internal publication. We are working to find out how this occurred.'