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Singer in operation to rescue stranded British vacationers

Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson flew to the rescue of holidaymakers left stranded abroad after Britain’s third-largest tour operator collapsed, newspapers reported yesterday.

The heavy metal hero is also a Boeing 757 pilot and flew a specially chartered Monarch Airlines flight from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt to London Gatwick Airport.

XL Leisure Group went into administration on Friday, leaving some 85,000 British holidaymakers stranded abroad.

Since then almost 12,000 people have been brought back as part of an airlift mission conducted by the aviation regulator.

“I was just doing my job. I was called out like a lot of other pilots,” the Mail on Sunday newspaper quoted rocker Dickinson as saying.

Dickinson, 50, said he was off to the Greek island of Kos next to rescue more holidaymakers. The Iron Maiden frontman is a captain with Astraeus as has worked for the British charter airline for nine years.

XL Leisure Group grounded all flights on Friday, blaming the global economic downturn and fuel prices for its sudden collapse.

Risk consultancy and administrator Kroll said there would be significant but unspecified job losses at XL, while chairman Phil Wyatt said all 1,700 staff in Britain were at risk.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said many tourists would be allowed to complete their holidays and fly back on special flights arranged by the CAA, although 10,000 people who booked just flights with XL must pay for a new ticket home.

Spain’s Futura International and Zoom airlines, a discount carrier, both collapsed in recent weeks. British Airways chairman Willie Walsh predicted on Friday that 30 more airlines could go bust in the next four months.
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