CONQUER YOUR OWN FEAR AND WIN FREE FLIGHTS

If an aversion to flying is keeping you from visiting loved ones or making the trip of your dreams, Telegraph Travel has an answer.

We have teamed up with British Airways to offer one of our readers a place on its Flying with Confidence course to help you overcome your phobia. The winner will also be offered two return economy class tickets with British Airways to fly anywhere in the world (bar Australia). It’s a chance to make the trip you have always wanted but have felt too frightened to undertake.

The prize will go to a reader who has a particularly compelling reason to travel, so we are asking entrants to answer the question: “Why do you need to cure your fear of flying?” The answer must be in English and no more than

200 words long.

A panel of judges, including Hugh Morris and Captain Steve Allright, will select the winner. Hugh will interview them before and after their Flying with Confidence course and report back in Telegraph Travel.

Your entry should focus both on your reasons for wanting to make the trip, and why you are afraid to fly. Please give the year when you last flew, or specify that you have not flown before. Send your entry to fearofflying@ telegraph.co.uk and include a phone number in your email. Entrants must be happy for their interview and their photograph to appear in the Travel section. Full details plus terms and conditions of the competition are at telegraph.co. uk/tt-fear. Entries must be received by Jan 20, 2020, and the winner will be contacted by

Feb 21, 2020.

BA Flight 7039 from Manchester to Manchester was on the board with the usual services to Paris, Malaga and Ibiza. But some nerves began to show; one of our number, face wet with tears, was struggling to face their fear. I caught the eyes of another chap and he returned a nervous smile.

On the Embraer 190, there was a ratio of roughly one BA staffer for every 15 passengers. Captain Allright was on the speaker system, talking us through each and every pre-flight check, even as the engines roared into action. There were last-minute words of encouragement from crew, hands were wrung, armrests gripped and knuckles turned white. The sun began to set, and its ebbing rays cast a golden light across the plane as it climbed into the south Manchester skies.

I looked around the cabin at new-found friends, laughing nervously and reassuring each other while excitedly pointing out the Peak District moors below. I’d never seen so many selfies taken on a flight.

Allright explained each rise and fall in altitude, each turn, bank, whirr and buzz as we made our final approach. We landed with a kiss, and applause erupted around the cabin. A woman a few rows ahead of me burst into tears of joy and was joined by a member of the cabin crew, while the 60-year-old man across the aisle who had never flown before exclaimed: “Marvellous

– I wish I’d done it years ago.”

At the start of the day Allright said he wanted his love of flying to rub off on everyone. In the most extraordinary circumstances and against all odds, it looked like it really had.

British Airways Flying with Confidence operates at several UK airports and costs from £235 (flyingwithconfidence.com).