Mary (99) flying high as she makes special return to NI by plane

A 99-YEAR-old high flyer has spoken of her excitement after she was surprised with a trip home to Belfast by British Airways just as the airline gets ready to celebrate its own centenary.

Born in Monaghan just 51 days after the First World War ended, Mary Parsons turns 100 years old on January 1, 2019.

When she was 18 years-old, she moved to England and become a nurse, settling in Malvern in Worcestershire.

British Airways Ambassador Derek Tennant surprised Mary at her ‘Friends of the Elderly’ care home in Davenham where he revealed he was taking her back to Belfast to see her family.

Given the VIP treatment and accompanied to Belfast City Airport by her carer Ellie Bannister, Mary was greeted by her nephew Ciaran and his wife Noelle, and niece Margaret and her husband Anthony before spending the weekend in Belfast.

Mary said: “It was a great adventure and beyond my wildest dreams. I had a truly wonderful time and meeting my family after all this time was the icing on the cake. It was fantastic to see them all again — we shared wonderful memories together Mary Parsons from Malvern in Worcestershire and it was like a trip down memory lane. I never thought I would get to do this aged 99 but it just shows that anything is possible.”

Carolina Martinoli, British Airways’ director of Brand and Customer Experience, said: “From one 99-year-old to another, we are so pleased we could help Mary see her family ahead of her 100th birthday.”

Ellen Bannister, Mary’s carer of six years, added: “It was absolutely amazing and I’m so glad that I could be a part of the adventure. It was really emotional watching Mary meet her family again. You could just tell by their expressions that they were delighted to see her, and they just couldn’t believe that she had flown over to meet them. They shared photos and exchanged memories, it was a beautiful day.”

August 25, 1919 was the day Aircraft Transport and Travel began the world’s first scheduled international air service from London to Paris.

Bankrupt the following year, that service was merged into the new Daimler Airway, which in turn merged with three airlines in 1924 to form Imperial Airways. In 1939 that airline was incorporated into the British Overseas Airways Corporation, which merged with British European Airways to form British Airways on March 31, 1974.