Canadian-Based WestJet Shows its Disney Side; New, Custom-Painted Aircraft (Featuring Sorcerer Mickey) Made its Inaugural Landing Tuesday at Orlando International Airport

ORLANDO, Florida (Dec. 3, 2013) – Calgary-based airline WestJet has teamed with Walt Disney Parks & Resorts (Canada) to create a visually-stunning, custom-painted Boeing Next-Generation 737-800 series aircraft featuring Mickey Mouse in his most famous role, Sorcerer Mickey.

The WestJet aircraft with its new Disney look completed its inaugural flight Tuesday from Calgary to Orlando, home of Walt Disney World Resort. The historic flight marked the first time a Walt Disney World-themed plane touched down at Orlando International Airport.

Known in the social media world as the #MagicPlane, the aircraft carried members of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada. The youngsters with their chaperones are traveling to Orlando for three days of fun and educational activities at Walt Disney World Resort.

Arrival of the Magic Plane Tuesday followed by one day an unveiling ceremony in Calgary. WestJet, WestJet Vacations and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts (Canada) first forged a relationship in 2004 based on a shared vision of creating memorable experiences for their guests.  Following the flight, the Magic Plane will fly throughout WestJet’s domestic, trans-border and international network.

Fun facts about the Magic Plane:

• The two sides of the aircraft are mirror images of each other in all aspects but one. We’ll leave it to guests to decide what that is.
• There are a total of 36 different paint colors on the aircraft
• It took a team of 26 people 24 days working around the clock to paint the Magic Plane
• The painting crew consumed more than 150 doughnuts over the 24 days
• The cookies to be served on board are a special treat in the shape of Disney characters
• Over the next five years, the Magic Plane will fly more than 400,000 guests a total of nearly eight million kilometers.
• It took a team of 26 people 24 days working around the clock to paint the Magic Plane

WestJet serves Orlando, home of Walt Disney World Resort, with a total of 39 flights per week during peak winter months from Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton, London, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, Moncton and St. John’s, Nfld.