My first flight? It was a flight from Toulon to Paris, when I was a student, without my parents. To fly is to be free. Flying alone when you're young gives you an even greater sense of freedom, it's a bit exhilarating. The first time, the- re's that exciting, anxiety-inducing fee- ling of the plane starting up, picking up speed and soaring. And suddenly, as if by magic, from one second to the next, you're above the houses and the Mediterranean Sea. My best flight memory? It's more of a transit memory. I met my wife at an air- port. That's my most moving memory.
door, it was -30°C and I had the impression that everything insi- de the cabin suddenly froze.
A difficult memory? My first flight as a pilot, a solo flight, over 20 years ago now. I was lucky enough to take flying lessons with ENAC at Muret, south-west of Toulouse, in excellent conditions, with planes maintained by professional mechanics and great instructors. After a few hours of dual, my instructor said to me: "That's it, you can go solo". He landed, got out of the plane at the control tower and I took off again straight away. After the climb, the tower instructor asked me if everything was OK, but... I didn't have a radio! I couldn't report to him, couldn't answer him. It's springtime in Toulouse and the weather's starting to warm up, but suddenly I find it's much too hot and I'm sweating profusely! I don't believe it. Is this a joke? I tried everything, changed frequencies, nothing happened: that's a lot for a first solo flight. In the end, I stayed in my circuit. The controller tells me that he can see I'm having trouble communicating, that I'm on my own and that I can finish off peacefully. I landed, still a little worried. The instructor himself doesn't get it: he could still communicate the moment before my solo departure! After that, light aviation is full of good memories, but this one is perhaps a bit more memorable, because you quickly build up stress in this kind of situation.
Florian Ritter Von Klier
We were both on a business trip. I was flying Air France and she was flying to Asia. It was in Delhi and we spent 15 minutes toge- ther: it was love at first sight! We exchanged business cards. Two months later I asked her to marry me and she came to live with me in Paris! What an impact that had on our destinies, our lives ! The story doesn't end there, there's something else that's just as disturbing, and just as incredible. Fifteen minutes before we met, my future wife was reading a book in the taxi that was taking her to the airport: the autobiography of an Australian woman who falls in love with a Frenchman. She left everything behind to join him in Paris. The book was closed on page 101, and she hadn't had time to open it since we met. So here we are at home, and she resumes her reading, page 101: description of the Parisian district where the Australian settles. This is my neighbourhood! This is where we live. Life is a novel. One of my best memories of flying? I worked for Emirates for 5 years. I have an excellent memory of a flight in first class, in an A380, where I was able to take a sho- wer at an altitude of 30,000 feet.
Florian Ritter Von Klier is Executive Director of Global Innovations & Solutions at SIXT.
Florian Ritter Von Klier: I owe my first memories of air trans- port to my father. He used to come back from his business trips on Lufthansa and bring me boxes of his meals. I used to wait for my dad and when he came home he'd bring me the meals pre- pared for him on board the planes! I was always very excited because I loved these dishes: for me, it was the opening onto the world of the grown-ups, you know. My first flight? I must have been six or seven, and I flew from Munich to the island of Elba with my grandmother. I loved it, but I got airsick, so it wasn't a great experience. It was exciting, but I didn't feel well. The return flight was fantastic, yes. My best memory of a flight? Hard to answer, I spend a lot of time sitting in planes: I made over 80 plane trips in 2019, before the covid. Best experience? I'd have to say a Munich-Miami flight in business class working for six hours straight, even doing visual Zoom meetings. It was a perfect office from that point of view. When you travel more than 80 times a year, it's day-to-day work. It can still be a plea- sure, when mobility remains fluid and easy at airports. After that, if you're going to Mauritius with your family for a holiday, of course it's a pleasure. You're looking forward to having a good time and discovering new countries that you can't get to by car. On that basis, my most moving experience was flying for the first time from old Bavaria to the Fiji Islands: a lot of excite- ment and emotion, looking back on that trip!
Pierre-Hugues Schmit is Sales and Operations Director at Vinci Airports.
Pierre-Hugues Schmit: As my father worked in the aerospace industry, I was sometimes lucky enough to go to the chalet, at the International Paris Air Show (SIAE) at Le Bourget, so I had a front row seat: I remember my brother and I putting both hands over our ears to listen to the incredible noise made by the Mirage F1s and other F16s at the time. My best flight? It was on board the A310 Air Zero G, with Jean- François Clervoy, Chairman of Novespace. There were also other astronauts from the European Space Agency (ESA), who came to experience something exceptional for me, in terms of sensations, which is this succession of para- bolas in micro-gravity that allow you to feel the conditions of weightlessness. These flights are essentially scientific by nature, but this was obviously a fun experience. An experience to be had one day. Another flight that left a lasting impression on me was aboard a Falcon 900 bound for Kazakhstan. When we landed, it was already not very warm in the cabin, but when we opened the
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