Media Release
Cochin, Nov 15: AI 2010, a special flight for the differently abled children named “Fly with Dreams” took off from Kochi Intl Airport at 12.00 noon on Sunday November 14 with a total of 423 passengers, of which 350 were children. The young passengers boarded the flight in very high spirits.
The flight was a Boeing 747 – 400 jumbo aircraft with a total Capacity of 423 seats. Air India in association with Rotary club of Cochin Airport and Rotary club of Alwaye, co sponsored by CIAL, HPCL, CAFS, IAAI, KERA (UAE) and SBT organized the flight AI 2010. All expenses such as fuel, catering, landing parking charges and gifts were sponsored by the above mentioned organizations and Rotary Clubs.
The children were from different orphanages and special schools in Ernakulam, Kottayam, Trissur and Idduki districts. The children accompanied by their attendants arrived at the Air Port and went through the Check In procedure, as done by a normal passenger. Later they went into the security hold area after completing all security checks where they were served snacks and a magic xhow was conducted by Prof K N Kutty which the children enjoyed.
Yezdi Irani, deputy manager Air India in the attire of Maharaja also entertained the children and made them very comfortable.
The children were also accompanied by minister for education M A Baby and movie stars Mamta Mohandas, Suraj Venjaramood, Sukumari, Nadir Shah and Gayathri.
AI 2010 headed for Kanyakumari over flying Trivandrum Airport and the altitude was maintained at a level so that the children could get a glimpse of the coastal scenic belt of Kerala.
On reaching above Kanyakumari which was after about 30 Minutes the Aircraft circled above the Vivekananda Rock giving the children a bird’s eve view of the Rock and the Thriveni Sangamam.
The one-hour flight was packed up with in-flight entertainment by the magician and the movie stars, the children had a wonderful time interacting with the movie stars.
AI 2010 landed back into Kochi and the children were enthralled by this unique and memorable experience followed by a photo session. The photos were given as mementos.
Capt V Durga dattan and the First Officer Capt Manish Subramanian along with the In Flights supervisor Ms. CR Irani and her Team who operated the flight were flown in the previous day for this special flight. They interacted with the children before and also on board the flight. Capt Durga dattan who hails from Kerala, made all en route announcements in Malayalam giving a brief detail about where they were flying over.
Air India Kochi, had organized similar flights in the year 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007 and for the Fifth time in 2010. All these flights were done in association with the Rotary Club. In the year 2002 Air India entered the Limca Book of Records for having carried the maximum number of differently abled children by a commercial airline.
The flight also had onboard Rotary District Governor G Viswanathan and Air India station manager M V Joseph amoong others. The children were seen off with a bagful of toys, a sumptuous lunch, gifts and lots of memories to cherish with on the special children’s day of 2010.