United is offering free flights to the ‘North Pole’ for children in need this Christmas: ‘Once in a lifetime event’

It’s a Christmas miracle.

United Airlines is spreading holiday cheer by offering “Flight of Fantasy” flights to the “North Pole” to children in need.

The flights – which will depart from 13 cities around the world this month – will see children and their carers board a plane that will briefly take to the skies and circle around before landing at a gate decorated to look like Santa’s workshop.

One such “Flight of Fantasy” happened in Honolulu this week, bringing a few smiles to those in need.

“Santa has invited us to Christmas Island and all his elves are waiting for us on the ground,” the pilot of Flight 3894 announced over the phone, USA Today reports.

Indeed, the 125 pre-selected passengers — usually families who have children with cancer or who are grieving the loss of someone who died on active duty, according to USA Today — were aboard a short flight that went up to Maui just for to turn and go down. right where they started.

But after leaving the plane, the children were transported to “Christmas Island”, the home of the “North Pole”.

They were whisked off to a festive airport hanger made to look like the North Pole thanks to the help of more than 150 United staff and volunteers.

There they received a gift from their Christmas wish list, played games, participated in activities and enjoyed a nice meal with their families.

“For some, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Alex Wereszczynskyj, director of development at HUGS Hawaii, told USA Today.

The organization, which provides support to families whose child has been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, partnered with United for the event.

“A lot of our families are financially challenged because of medical bills, things like that, so they may not be able to take a trip this year,” he continued. “But this kind of fills that void, and who doesn’t want to go to the North Pole and see Santa?”

Lena Wong, a United customer service agent who has worked at Fantasy Flights for seven years, told USA Today that many of the children at the event “have never even been on a plane.”

“They are very impressed with the ride,” she said. “So many of the kids we impact, it’s amazing, they’re so strong.”

Tony Mailo, his wife Leslie Ann and their son Amadeus, who was diagnosed with cancer, were invited by HUGS to be on the flight, which Leslie Ann described as “amazing” and “magical”.

She praised the detailed decor, saying that “there was a lot of thought behind it, it was just beautiful. We are very grateful.”

“There’s a lot of logistics that go into it, and a lot of volunteers and man hours,” Wong explained.

“We are very fortunate to have so many wonderful volunteers who gave so much time and also their money to help organize this event.”

This month, Fantasy Flights will depart from a dozen cities around the globe: Chicago, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, Houston, Virginia, Tokyo, Guam and London.