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Sainsbury's Sport Relief challenge gets off to a flyer in Coventry

Coventry Airport welcomed two high-profile guests as they prepared to jet-off on a charity flight mission.

Iron Maiden rocker and experienced pilot Bruce Dickinson teamed up with the chief executive of Sainsbury’s Justin King to take-off on a special Sainsbury’s Sport Relief challenge.

The one-day mission saw the pair stop-off in five different locations including Belfast, Edinburgh, Tyneside, Doncaster and Warrington, where King then completed a one-mile run to raise money and awareness for this month’s Sport Relief drive.

And they set off from Coventry Airport (Thursday, March 20) in the world’s newest eco-jet, the Eclipse, which is set to be exclusively distributed and marketed across Europe by Aeris Aviation, where Dickinson is also non-executive chairman.

King completed a total of 17 miles within four days for Sport Relief travelling to various locations across the UK before concluding with a run, swim and cycle at the flagship Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Sunday, March 23.

Sport Relief, which is supported by Sainsbury’s, is one of the UK’s biggest fundraising events and is held every two years to bring the nation together to get active, raise money and change lives.

The money raised from Sport Relief will go towards Comic Relief charities and will be spent helping some of the poorest and most disadvantaged people in the UK and around the world.

Dickinson said: “I had a fantastic day flying Justin around the country so that he could complete his Sport Relief challenge and it was terrific to be able to take to the sky in the world’s newest eco-friendly jet, the Eclipse.

“Sport Relief is such a great cause and Justin did a fantastic job throughout his fundraising drive – he really did run for the hills.”

Rob Sweeney, of Coventry Airport, was on the runway to help kick-off the event.

He said: “Private, charter and corporate jets form a large part of our business but this was a first for Coventry Airport and we were delighted to be able to play a part in a very unusual flight mission.

“It was great to see the pair set off in the spectacular new Eclipse eco-jet. Bruce was in control of the cock-pit throughout the journey and was more than happy to transport Justin on his latest Sport Relief mission – which was quite a challenge having to travel to five different locations in just one day!

“Sport Relief is such an important charitable drive which helps to support some of the poorest people around the world so we were more than happy to show our support and help to accommodate the challenge.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophie Marsden .