Astraeus, which is managing and operating a Boeing 757 passenger-cargo combination privately for rock supergroup Iron Maiden, reports increasing interest from other groups and companies in making a similar arrangement. Shaun Monnery of Astraeus says the combination for Iron Maiden, whose lead singer Bruce Dickinson is a pilot for the airline, is currently the only one of its type.

Capt. Dickinson will fly the band and support crew in the 757 on some of the tour sectors. The aircraft has been painted up in "Iron Maiden - Somewhere back in time World Tour 2008" livery. It has also undergone a certificated interior modification, which Monnery says has major significance for the worldwide logistics and events industry.

"There has always been an issue with flying passengers and cargo in the same part of an aircraft, however, we worked closely with Bruce and Iron Maiden, and we have created the world's first and only Boeing 757 'combi'." Monnery adds: "On the Iron Maiden tour it will feature 20 business class seats, 54 premium economy seats - and a cargo area where the last ten rows of seats would have been in the rear compartment of the aircraft.

"This cuts days off the turnaround time between concerts on this tour, because the band, crew and essential equipment - up to 12 tons of it - can all travel together, meaning a two day road or sea trip can be dispatched in hours or even minutes." The tour visits India, the Far East, Australasia, the Americas and Europe in February and March 2008.

"The conversion is designed such that we can convert the aircraft one way or the other from combi to 100 per cent passenger aircraft in three days," says Monnery. "That opens up a whole new area of opportunity for other touring bands, as well as orchestras, for product launches, company events and conferences - and in many cases will massively cut travelling and down-time costs."

Iron Maiden played in Mumbai on February 1, and then travelled to Perth in Australia for a show on February 4. "The band was able to plan on the basis of hours between locations, not days. That meant they could rehearse, refine the show - or relax between gigs, with much of the pressures of deadlines completely eradicated."

UK independent airline Astraeus, which began operations in 2002, employs more then 300 people and operates a fleet of Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft from a number of UK airports. Iron Maiden has a fan base that spans countries including France, Italy, Sweden, Spain, New Zealand, Denmark, Finland and Germany. The band's DVD 'Live After Death' went straight into the UK music DVD charts at number one after its February release.