On February 17th, hundreds of fans turned up at Cardiff Airport in Wales to witness Iron Maiden's jumbo jet arrive. The plane, dubbed Ed Force One, after the rock band's famous mascot, will carry the group on what will be one of the biggest selling tours this year. The Boeing 747 will be piloted by Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson. A four-minute report courtesy of Made In Cardiff TV can be seen below.

Iron Maiden landed their 747 jumbo jet at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Friday, February 18th. The jet, Ed Force One, was piloted from the band's home city of London by vocalist Bruce Dickinson, who is a fully licensed commercial airline pilot. The clip below features Ed Force One's full final approach and landing in Fort Lauderdale.

In addition, the clip below features Ed Force One landing at Cardiff Airport (CWL) on February 17th. Following is a message from the band:

"Ed Force One, our new 747 jumbo, is all branded-up, ready to go and Bruce has his shiny new 747 type rating so he can fly the plane.

"As we initially announced, we'll be using Ed Force One right around the world as usual but also including the first few shows in Europe this time, making this the first time EF1 has visited Europe on tour. However, after the Swedish show at Gothenburg Ullvei Stadium on June 17th, we'll be reverting to our traditional truck and bus touring methods as logistically this makes much more sense considering the lesser distances involved and airport parameters."

Check out the photo gallery of the landing here.

Iron Maiden’s The Book Of Souls World Tour will open in the US in late February with Ed Force One flying in for three shows before, in early March, heading into Central America visiting Mexico, followed by a much anticipated first ever concert in El Salvador and a return to Costa Rica. Ed Force One then proceeds into South America for concerts in Argentina, Chile and a number of shows in Brazil before flying back to the USA at the end of March for ten more cities covering the USA and, of course, Canada in the first two weeks of April.

A long awaited return to Japan follows later in April, and then the band are delighted to be playing their first ever shows in China before heading to New Zealand and Australia for a comprehensive tour during the first half of May. Shows in South Africa, Maiden’s first visit there with Bruce, will be the last port of call before Ed Force One heads to Europe for a very extensive tour starting in late May and finishing in early August. This will the first time Ed Force One has ever been used on any European Tour dates (other than Bruce’s Fan Club trips to shows) and will provide transport there for at least for the first few weeks.

Dates announced so far can be found here (with ticket links).