KQ flies Comic relief team

Kenya (SANEPR.com) March 17, 2009 -- Kenya Airways on Friday 27th February, had the honour of ferrying 4 A-list Celebrities on KQ101 from London as they jetted out to Tanzania to embark on the first leg of The BT Red Nose Climb to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. The group is undertaking the climb of a lifetime to raise as much cash as possible for this year’s Red Nose Day Campaign. Kenya Airways in honour of their VIP passengers had a red nose painted on the end of the aircraft.

The A-list celebrities, comprising of Cheryl Cole (wife to footballer Ashley Cole), Chris Moyles, Denise Van Outen, Fearne Cotton, Gary Barlow, Kimberley Walsh and Ronan Keating, boarded a Kenya Airways flight from Heathrow Terminal 4 for the eight and a half hour journey to Africa. Alesha Dixon and Ben Shephard flew out ahead of the other climbers to see how Comic Relief money is being spent in Tanzania.

Gary, sat next to Chris in Premier World seats 3D and 3E respectively, said “We’ve been planning to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for so long, it’s only now that we’re boarding the plane that it’s really dawned on me just how tough this could be! Worse still I’ve drawn the short straw so I get to sit next to Moyles for nearly nine hours!”

Support from the Great British public has already been phenomenal with over £680,000 raised so far. Mount Kilimanjaro stands at a whopping 19,340 feet above sea level; is the tallest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. It will take the celebrity climbers an exhausting 8-day trek to reach the summit.

Each gruelling moment will be captured for a documentary, recording every bump, slip and trip from the base camp to the summit. The documentary will be broadcast during the week leading up to Red Nose Day.

Red Nose day aims to help people in the UK and Africa. This is a very popular event in the UK with the whole of BBC One devoted to Red Nose Day on Friday March 13th featuring celebrities visiting sponsored charities in Africa and the UK and an evening of entertainment the main film this year being the celebrities climbing Mt Kilimanjaro. The whole of the UK join in with charity raising events wearing a red nose and raising money.