Plane takes the region to new heights

29th June 2017

A plane promoting Yorkshire has now flown the equivalent of 32 times around the planet.

The Flybe plane decorated in the Welcome to Yorkshire livery has travelled over 800,000 miles in the last 12 months showcasing Yorkshire across 15 different countries. The eye catching purple aircraft which flies out of Doncaster Sheffield Airport has taken passengers to destinations across Europe and the UK including France, Holland, Portugal, Italy, Germany, the Channel Islands, Ireland, Scotland and Wales since its inaugural flight in March 2016. The initiative to promote Yorkshire was developed as part of a partnership between Doncaster Sheffield Airport and Welcome to Yorkshire and was launched when Flybe, Europe's largest regional airline, commenced operations from the Yorkshire airport just over a year ago. Steve Gill, chief executive of Doncaster Sheffield Airport said: -It has been fantastic to see exactly where our Welcome to Yorkshire branded Flybe plane has been promoting the region. -It's a really vibrant looking aircraft and we regularly receive pictures from people spotting a bit of Yorkshire across Europe. -We continue to work with Welcome to Yorkshire to promote the region, bringing in many thousands of international visitors every year. Sir Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire said: -It's fantastic to see how many people have now heard about Yorkshire after seeing this eye-catching Welcome to Yorkshire purple plane complete with its famous yellow bikes. Like the Tour de Yorkshire it showcases the county to the world and has helped us see a healthy increase in overseas visitors to the region with 1.36 million people heading into Yorkshire from abroad in 2016, some of the luckiest arriving into Doncaster Sheffield Airport on this striking Yorkshire plane. Vincent Hodder, chief revenue officer, Flybe said: -Our Yorkshire branded aircraft is certainly very eye-catching and because of the comprehensive selection of routes we serve, has been noticed in countries across Europe. Its livery is a great talking point and we are pleased that it has been able to promote Yorkshire in so many different high profile locations. -Flybe's network out of Doncaster Sheffield Airport includes routes to key European hub airports in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Dublin as well as sunshine flights to Alicante, Faro, Malaga and its newest route to Palma, as well as to Jersey and Newquay.-