Iron Maiden’s Private Plane Used to Transport Tourists

Iron Maiden's customized Boeing 757, known as Ed Force One and piloted by vocalist Bruce Dickinson, was recently used in a different capacity. The plane, which is decorated with the flight number 666 and the Maiden logo when the band tours, was borrowed by an outside airline to transport tourists from Scotland to Greece and Turkey after another jet suffered mechanical problems. Ed Force One to the rescue!

The Iron Maiden plane is owned by Astraeus Airlines, where Dickinson is registered as a licensed commercial pilot. The plane often flies the friendly skies as a commercial plane when Maiden is not touring, after the band's logo and identifiers have been temporarily removed. However, this time Thomson Airways needed to borrow the jet from Astraeus ASAP, so there was no time remove the Maiden logo.

"Normally, our planes are always plain white so they can operate for any airline," an Astraeus rep told The Scotsman. "Iron Maiden have just finished the overseas leg of their world tour and the plane has gone straight into use, as a plane being used by Thomson Airways had some mechanical difficulties and has been taken away for repairs. That's why we haven't had a chance to take the logo off."

"It has been quite interesting for them, definitely," a Thompson Airways rep said. "It's a little different to what you normally see on the tarmac. We will be using it for the next few days on short-haul flights to destinations such as Paphos in Greece, and Dalaman in Turkey."