A special British Airways flight bound for Disneyland Paris took off from Manchester Airport today.
On-Board were families that have been affected by the cowardly attack on concertgoers at the Manchester Arena earlier this year.
Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright met with passengers before the flight that was organised by British Airways and Disneyland Paris. Guests were also joined on the flight by comedian, John Bishop.
The trip is part of British Airways’ celebrations to mark the airline reaching a landmark £17 million raised for Flying Start, its global charity partnership with Comic Relief since 2010. The money raised has helped Comic Relief fund projects in the UK and around the world, including the Youth Factory Zone in Manchester who sent 10 youngsters on the trip.
Mary Barry, British Airways’ community investment manager, said: “We wanted to give some of the families a Christmas day out, to have fun and meet some of our celebrity ambassadors. We are very grateful to Disney for agreeing to work with us once again and to all the celebrities for giving their time to come with us.”
Julian Carr, Manchester Airport’s Aviation Director, said: “We are delighted to see British Airways undertake its first Christmas charter flight from Manchester Airport, for such a worthwhile cause.
“The arena attack touched so many people back in May and everyone at Manchester Airport hopes the families have an incredible day at Disneyland Paris.”
British Airways and Disneyland Paris have been working with the Red Cross and Love Manchester to identify which families to take on the trip.