On April 1 UTair Aviation and Vnukovo International Airport have arranged a tour of the airport for the young patients of the Dima Rogachev Centre of Pediatric Hematology and the Russian Children’s Clinical Hospital. The tour was co-organized by Gift of Life charity fund.
Representatives of UTair and Vnukovo met the young visitors near the UTair check-in desks located in the airport departure area. After a welcome speech and a brief introduction to the airport, the tour group proceeded to the domestic departures hall.
Through glass walls of Terminal A the children had an excellent view of activity on the apron: towing of aircraft, fuelling and anti-icing operations. The children and accompanying adults watched closely as aircraft were serviced.
Yet the most exciting part of the trip was still ahead. Guests entered the apron through the Briefing, an area restricted to common passengers where aircrews prepare for the upcoming flights. A short trip on an apron bus took the children to the highlight of the trip: a tour of one of UTair flagships, a Boeing 767-200 aircraft in economy and business class configuration. At the end of the trip patients of Gift of Life fund were given souvenirs from Vnukovo airport.
“Each of young participants gets to fly during their treatment, so their lively interest in aviation is natural: boys want to see the cockpit, while girls like to listen about the job of a flight attendant,” said UTair-Passenger Airlines President Oleg Semenov. “We are glad that we could cheer children up by telling them about our aircraft, about aviation history and the advanced ground handling technologies we use and by letting them to sit in the pilot’s chair. I’m sure that the whole group has joined the ranks of aviation enthusiasts.”
“We use every opportunity we have to comfort and distract the children from their difficult treatment, so trips like these are always welcomed with a wave of enthusiasm,” said Gift of Life director Yekaterina Chistyakova. “Positive emotions are essential for recovery of our patients, and we are grateful to everyone who brings joy to the children.”
The Gift of Life fund has been one of the leading UTair partners for social responsibility for many years. Since engaging in cooperation, more than 1,500 children and their parents have flown at special rates to receive treatment at medical facilities. In 2014 alone UTair transported Gift of Life fund patients and their chaperones from Fergana, Makhachkala, Mineralnye Vody, Yoshkar-Ola, Vladikavkaz, Kurgan, Nizhnevartovsk, Dushanbe, Novosibirsk, Nalchik, Magas, Belgorod, Ulyanovsk and Lviv.
