‘The Spirit Of Doncaster’ Will Reach New Heights For The Borough

04.05.2005 At 6 p.m. yesterday evening Doncaster celebrated the launch of its very own named Thomsonfly aircraft ‘The Spirit Of Doncaster’. The naming of the aircraft was timed to mark the arrival of French delegates for the high profile conference, French Connect, which this year is hosted by the South Yorkshire region. The specially chartered flight carrying the delegates into Robin Hood Airport was the first flight for the newly named aircraft.

The aircraft officially named for the Borough was a Boeing 737-300 capable of carrying over 850 passengers every day on three flight rotations. The aircraft will now begin its schedule to all the Thomsonfly holiday destinations including, Faro, Palma, Malaga and Alicante.

‘The Spirit Of Doncaster’ will be the name used throughout the aircraft’s lifespan, which is expected to be several years. Over the space of a year more than 306,000 people will have flown on the ‘Spirit of Doncaster’.

Doncaster’s Mayor Martin Winter explains, “We hope ‘The Spirit Of Doncaster’ will help spread the Doncaster name far and wide as we are exceptionally proud of our borough and all it has to offer. Robin Hood Airport is already bringing major change to the town’s economic activity and will work as a catalyst for the region’s regeneration. Having the ‘Spirit of Doncaster’ flying from our airport and helping to promote the Borough is a great opportunity.”

Robin Hood Airport has already had amazing success so far with airlines having sold over 1.3 million tickets for the first year alone.

Alex Hunter, Chief Commercial Officer for Thomsonfly.com, said, "Thomsonfly.com is firmly committed to supporting the new airport and is working with Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council to encourage as many people as possible to visit South Yorkshire from all over Europe. The name of the new aircraft is a great way to spread awareness of the region and Thomsonfly.com is pleased to be able to be a part of this event."

French Connect is a major conference designed to bring together French airports and UK low cost carriers. Thomsonfly, Flybe, Ryanair, easyjet and Bmibaby are just some of the famous organisations taking part in the conference.