UK air charter broker Chapman Freeborn has flown the Olympic Flame around the world aboard two Boeing 747s, which had been specially chartered for the project.

Darren Banham was responsible for the project and his bid – submitted on behalf of Chapman Freeborn – to fly the flame around the world in 45 days was accepted at the end of 2003.

Banham’s team included ground station manager Nick Yeadon and Barry Sargeant, operations manager of the company’s 24 hour operations division, Paragon Global, which managed the operations of the trip.

The aircraft, operated by Iceland’s Air Atlanta, were named Zeus and Hera and were modified to accommodate the torch. They were also given a new livery to ensure they were instantly recognisable

on the trip.

The team visited every destination on the route of the torch relay, which began on June 1 in Athens, flying to Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, Delhi, Cairo and finally to Cape Town. The 747s then crossed the Atlantic Ocean, flying to Rio di Janeiro, Mexico City, Los Angeles, St Louis, Atlanta, New York and Montreal.

They then made their way back across the Atlantic to Antwerp, Brussels, Amsterdam, Geneva, Lausanne, Paris, London, Barcelona, Rome, Munich, Berlin, Stockholm and Helsinki.

The final leg of the mammoth journey carried the torch to Moscow, Kiev, Istanbul and Sofia before the home stretch between Heraklion and Athens, where the flame has been since July 9.

“For Chapman Freeborn this has been a logistical exercise quite unlike any other we’ve undertaken,” said md Carol Norman. “I’ve had some of my key staff on three continents at the same time just chasing down problems.”

Nick Yeadon commented: “It was an amazing project in every sense. The welcome we received at each location on the route was something I will never forget, and it is very bizarre to have a digital camera filled with pictures of the Sydney Opera House, Tianenmen Square, the Pyramids, the Empire State Building and the Parthenon, all from one trip!”