Flights OF FANCY
We asked the cadets for their dream spots to fly to in the future
Maya Ghazal “I’d love to have my
family on board – they never thought one of their relatives would be a pilot. In a few years’ time, when it’s safe to do so, I’d like to fly back to Syria.”
Matt Williamson “As a kid, I used to
go on holiday to Palma every year, and I’d ask the cabin crew if I could go to the flight deck to meet the pilots. Landing there as a pilot would be so surreal.”
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Jack Raybould “Innsbruck would be
an incredibly challenging, but rewarding, approach. When you’re landing between two snowy mountains, especially on a crisp blue day, it’s incredible.”
Stephanie Schultz “I’ve been going to
2024 World’s Best Leisure Airline
Available to book in GDS
Tenerife since I was little, and I really want [to fly] that approach into Tenerife. When you see your descent on a clear day, Mount Teide is right next to you.”
46 7 NOVEMBER 2024
“The training includes five phases,” explains Ed Burford, MPL lead instructor. “The first is six months of theoretical training, before we bring them to Oxford for three to four months of flying light aircraft. Then they go to Gatwick for the simulator phase. The last couple of phases are done together, where trainees learn how to fly a Boeing 737 in the way that Tui requires us to operate it.”
Most cadets have never been at the
controls of an aircraft before, but they’ve got Tui’s best and brightest as co-pilots; Burford is an experienced Tui captain, and another trainer, captain Brenda Riepsaame Wassink, went viral in 2017 for landing a plane sideways in strong winds.
FLYING THE FLAG The programme attracts cadets from all walks of life. I meet four of them, each with a fascinating story to tell. First is Maya Ghazal, who arrived in the UK as a refugee from Syria in 2015. In addition to working as a goodwill ambassador for the UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency), she is on track to become the first-ever female Syrian refugee pilot. “I tried flying because my mum had
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