Article from BTNews 13 JUNE 2016
CityJet’s SSJ100 mission
The hopes of the Irish were carried into Europe on Wednesday when CityJet, the official airline partner of the Football Association of Ireland, used the inaugural flight of its new Superjet SSJ100 to Paris to carry the national football team to Euro16 (see BTN 6 June).
Ireland manager Martin O’Neill, assistant manager Roy Keane, 23 squad members and a back-up team flew to Paris Le Bourget.
CityJet executive chairman Pat Byrne said: “We were thrilled with the prospect of flying our boys in green to France for the tournament. Fingers crossed it will be some time before we have to make the return journey.
“The inaugural highlights the fact CityJet is a pan-European airline with services across the continent, ranging from the Nordic regions down to Italy and a major operation in France, so it is wonderful working with the Football Association of Ireland at a time when the world of football focuses on Europe."
The SSJ100 that made the flight is one of three the airline welcomes to its fleet this year and arrived in Dublin only a week before the inaugural last Thursday. The soccer special was its first scheduled flight in CityJet colours.
OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)
All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum