IRON MAIDEN - Ed Force One "Pressed Into Service"
May 4, 2011, 13 years ago
According to Gareth Edwards from Scotsman.com, the jet used by legendary rockers IRON MAIDEN - along with the flight number 666 - is being used by Thomson Airways to shuttle holidaymakers from Edinburgh Airport.
Nicknamed Ed Force One after the band's long-term mascot Eddie, the plane was even the subject of a critically-acclaimed rockumentary, Iron Maiden: Flight 666.
The plane is regularly used for commercial flights when not in use by Iron Maiden, but usually the band's distinctive livery is removed first.
It is owned by Gatwick-based company Astreaus airline, which counts Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson as one of its pilots, and first leased the Boeing 757-200 to the band for their Somewhere Back In Time tour in 2007.
A spokesman for Astraeus airlines said the plane had been pressed into service due to a mechanical problem with another plane - but assured travellers that its flight number had been changed.
"Normally our planes are always plain white so they can operate for any airline," he said. "Iron Maiden have just finished the overseas leg of their world tour and the plane has gone straight into use, as a plane being used by Thomson Airways had some mechanical difficulties and has been taken away for repairs. That's why we haven't had a chance to take the logo off."A spokesman for Thomson Airways admitted the plane had been "quite a talking point" for passengers. "It has been quite interesting for them, definitely," he said. "It's a little different to what you normally see on the Tarmac.
"We will be using it for the next few days on short-haul flights to destinations such as Paphos in Greece, and Dalaman in Turkey."Read the entire report here.
