Wish upon a star with Monarch this month

Award winning airline Monarch is delighted to once again be supporting When You Wish Upon A Star’s fundraising efforts this month. The airline will be operating a series of specially charted flights to Lapland on behalf of the charity who are taking scores of children and their families out to the snowy wilderness in a quest to search for Father Christmas.

For the past 18 years, When You Wish Upon A Star has been granting the wishes of children across the UK aged between 2 and 16 years old, all of whom have a life threatening illness. The highlight of the charity’s year is to take over 300 children to Lapland each Christmas, where the intrepid young explorers can experience reindeer rides, husky dog rides and toboggan rides before visiting Santa’s secret village to meet Father Christmas and his elves.

Monarch, who have been supporting When You Wish Upon A Star for the past 8 years, will be operating 5 flights to Rovaniemi Airport (Lapland) on behalf of the charity this month, with flights departing from Manchester, East Midlands, Prestwick and Humberside airports.

Commenting on When You Wish Upon A Star’s Lapland flights, Head of Private Charter Sales for Monarch, John Romo said, "Monarch are delighted that When you Wish upon a Star have once again selected us as their airline partner for Lapland flights this year. Christmas really is about the children and nowhere is it more evident than on these trips. No-one could fail to be moved as they watch the children, who for just one day, forget about their pain and suffering in the excitement of meeting Father Christmas.

"The support of all our staff, and that of our handling agents in Manchester, Swissport, who have wavered their charges for the flight and who’s staff are giving up their free time to help get the flight away on time is much appreciated. This support helps to ensure that in addition to providing a once in a lifetime experience for the children on the trip, When you Wish upon a Star raise as much money as possible to help grant many more wishes for children in the future."

"Monarch currently operates a fleet of 30 aircraft, serving over 100 destinations world-wide. Services are split between scheduled and charter flights, with the airline carrying over 7 million passengers per year.”

Full details on all Monarch services can be found on Monarch.co.uk. Full details on When You Wish Upon A Star and their Lapland day trips can be found on Whenyouwishuponastar.org.uk.