The firm will partner with Delta Air Lines and Best Defense Foundation for the fifth year of the Normandy Legacy Flight

Telford-based aircraft boarding ramp manufacturer Aviramp will once again partner with Delta Air Lines and US charity Best Defense Foundation to help welcome World War II veterans back to Normandy this summer.

The Normandy Legacy Flight, now in its fifth year, will see around 25 veterans disembark by wheelchair from Delta’s non-stop charter flight from Atlanta this Wednesday, June 3, marking the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day landings.

A dedicated Aviramp team will travel to Deauville to manage the ground handling and disembarkation.

Among the guests of honour will be Aviramp owners Graham and Lisa Corfield, who donated a step-free International ramp to Deauville Airport last year.

Graham said: “What they did on those beaches 82 years ago shaped the future of Europe and the rest of the world. To be able to help the surviving veterans return to commemorate the landings, remember their colleagues and honour the fallen is the greatest privilege for this company.”

Carrying history with dignity

Virginie Durr, head of the Normandy Legacy Flight programme for Delta, said: “Every time I see a veteran step off the aircraft, I’m reminded that we are carrying so much more than passengers. We are carrying history. Aviramp’s gift allows us to care for them during their first moments back in Normandy safely and with the dignity they deserve.”

Delta chief executive Ed Bastian said the mission “embodies Delta’s values of service and connection and pays tribute to our history and the heroes whose sacrifices made global connection possible.”

Donnie Edwards, president and co-founder of Best Defense Foundation, said the trip represented “a homecoming to the place where their courage changed the course of history.”

Best Defense Foundation provides one-to-one caregivers for each veteran throughout the trip. Aviramp is the global leader in its sector, with more than 950 ramps in use worldwide.