Inside the incredible flight that brought the real Olympic flag – not Tom Cruise’s fake – to Los Angeles, with gold medal-winning athletes on board and the historic box where the flag lives

This week, the real Olympic flag – not the fake Tom Cruise flag from the ceremony – was raised from Paris to Los Angeles, where the next Games will be held in 2028.

It was a flight worthy of champions, with a fascinating Instagram video from Nicky Kelvin, editor-in-chief at The points manwhich shows why.

He was given a seat on board and filmed the extraordinary experience, which began Monday with a farewell party at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, attended by medal-winning athletes from the U.S. team and Olympic dignitaries.

Delta is the official airline of the LA Olympics, so fittingly enough, the plane was a Delta Airbus A350. But it was brand new.

In fact, the trip was only the third ever made by the plane. And more importantly, it was ‘dressed for the occasion’, Nicky explains in the video.

This week, the real Olympic flag – not the fake Tom Cruise flag from the ceremony – was flown from Paris to Los Angeles, where the next Games will be held in 2028. Delta is the official airline of the LA Olympics, so fittingly enough the plane was a Delta Airbus A350 (above)

Nicky Kelvin from The Points Guy got a seat on board and filmed the whole extraordinary experience. He is pictured here with gold medal winning fellow passenger – rower Liam Corrigan

On the outside, it was branded with an ‘LA28’ livery. And on the inside, each seat had a headrest cover that read ‘Au Revoir Paris, Hello Los Angeles’.

Nicky was in economy class and the travel guru said that ‘every seat had an exclusive cap and pin for the LA Games’.

And in his economy class seat was the real Olympic flag, hung on a partition behind the last row.

After takeoff, Nicky is treated to a “delicious” lunch and gets the chance to chat with a number of American athletes, including rowing champion Liam Corrigan and Olympic diver Delaney Schnell in the video.

Nicky then takes part in a lottery with a number of ‘fancy prizes’ and is allowed to enjoy a number of ‘nice extras’, including a bright yellow macaron from the Delta brand.

Then comes an exciting moment when Nicky gets to see ‘the real box in which the Olympic flag lives’.

Nicky sat in economy (left). Each seat had a headrest cover with the text ‘Au Revoir Paris, Hello Los Angeles’

Nicky enjoyed ‘nice extras’ such as a bright yellow Delta macaron during his flight

The journey was only the third trip the plane ever made

As you can see in the video, this is a wooden box with logos from previous Olympic Games, including Sydney 2000 and Rio 2016.

Nicky says there was a “huge welcome” for the flight in Los Angeles.

After saying goodbye to the amazing crew, Nicky gets to ‘watch the Olympic flag being walked off the plane’.

The athletes on board then have their picture taken with the flag to welcome it to LA for the next Games.

From that moment on, according to Nicky, it’s ‘food, drinks and snacks galore’ at a party at LAX Airport.

Nicky gets a glimpse of the official Olympic flag box, decorated with logos from previous Olympic Games including Sydney 2000 and Rio 2016

With Nicky in economy class, the real Olympic flag hung on a partition wall behind the last row

He added: ‘It was a chance for the athletes to let loose after Paris and look forward to the Games in Los Angeles.

‘With four years to go until the next Games, LA is already excited. And so are we.’

For more from The Points Guy visit thepointsguy.com/uk-travel.

The flag is lowered from the Delta A350 at LAX in preparation for the LA 2028 Games