MEXICO, Jamaica and Strabane - not three places you often see linked together in one sentence - took equal billing last week, as the small Co Tyrone town was honoured with a 'fly-past' during the launch of the new Thomson Airways 'Dreamliner'.
In a round-Ireland flight to celebrate the state-of-the-art Boeing aircraft which will fly Northern Ireland holidaymakers to Jamaica and Mexico from next year, pilot Captain John Murphy - also Thomson Airways managing director - said he would be making a point of heading to the cloudy skies over the somewhat less exotic Strabane.
This, he said, while warning passengers not to "put a scratch" on the £250 million new airplane, was in homage to his own family ancestry and also because it is the home town of Chris Browne, chief operating officer for the TUI Aviation Group which purchased the "revolutionary" new Dreamliner.
With 60 per cent less cabin noise, increased cabin oxygen, larger windows and wider seats with at least a 32-inch seat pitch for greater leg room, the Dreamliner certainly got off to a flying start with passengers booked on its inaugural flight from Dublin last Wednesday.
There wasn't much time to check out the modern in-flight entertainment system during the one-hour flight, but that won't be a problem for those flying long-haul to Montego Bay and Cancun next June who will have a choice of movies, games and music from on a nine-inch seatback TV screen in all 300 seats.
Showing off a range of features, Captain Murphy, who began his career flying jets with the RAF, also dimmed the cabin lights to red, green, blue, violet, yellow and pink - just another relaxing little 'extra' for passengers designed to induce a range of mood-enhancing ambiances.
Thankfully, though, he did not attempt a near-vertical take-off similar to that executed by a 787-9 test pilot at the recent Paris air show at which the latest Dreamliner model went through a series of aeronautical tricks more synonymous with the Red Devils than a commercial passenger jet.
Thomson Airways, the first UK airline to fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, will operate the aircraft on behalf of tour operators Falcon and Thomson, part of the TUI group, in direct flights to Mexico and Jamaia flying out of Dublin Airport from next June.
Welcoming the aircraft's first touch down on Irish soil, Chris Logan, Head of Ireland for Falcon and Thomson, said it was a "major milestone" in company efforts to modernise the holiday experience.
"The Dreamliner has revolutionised air travel, leaving holidaymakers more relaxed and refreshed than ever before, with comfort and wellbeing features on-board reducing the effects of jet-lag," he said.
"It can also fly much further distances than similar-sized aircraft, allowing it to reach far flung destinations such as Mexico and Jamaica without the need to refuel as it uses 20 per cent less fuel in the air."
Powered by lithium-ion batteries, the Dreamliner journey hasn't always been turbulence-free, however, with Strabane-born Chris Browne admitting early problems - resulting in the entire fleet being grounded on safety concerns - was one of the worst periods of her high-flown career.
"It was tough journey, getting to where we are today with the Dreamliner, but I am a determined Strabane woman with a fighting spirit and we worked our way through it," she said.
"In many ways, buying the Dreamliner was a bold leap of faith, but I always knew that it would be one of my 'best buys' - even though, at £250m, it is the most expensive thing I have ever bought."
Falcon and Thomson’s long haul programmes to Mexico and Jamaica are now available to book throughthe Falcon Travel Shop and travel agents oand will be available at a later date online at www.falconholidays.ie
