easyJet Commemorates Birmingham Icons: Unveiling Vibrant Airport Mural
- Ozzy Osbourne, Benjamin Zephaniah and local heroes honoured in a new artwork celebrating the best of Birmingham and the West Midlands
- Installation in Birmingham Airport celebrates easyJet and easyJet Holidays new base launch
- Local street artist Gent 48 unveils vibrant artwork capturing the culture, traditions and icons of Birmingham
- Ozzy Osbourne, Benjamin Zephaniah and an 11-year-old fundraising hero are among those who have been honoured
- The mural has been commissioned by easyJet and easyJet Holidays to celebrate the launch of the airline’s new airport base, which is supporting over 1200 local jobs*
- Unique installation draws inspiration from Birmingham’s iconic culture including its famous ‘curry mile’, its manufacturing history, and vibrant arts scene
(IN SHORT) In a celebration of Birmingham’s rich cultural tapestry, a captivating mural has been unveiled at Birmingham Airport, featuring renowned figures like Ozzy Osbourne and Benjamin Zephaniah alongside local heroes. Created by esteemed street artist Gent 48, the mural encapsulates the essence of Birmingham’s diverse communities and traditions. Sponsored by easyJet and easyJet Holidays, the artwork marks the airline’s new base at the airport, underscoring its commitment to the region’s connectivity and prosperity. Among the honored individuals are an inspiring 11-year-old fundraiser and a football coach dedicated to steering youth away from violence. The mural, a visual ode to Birmingham’s heritage and vitality, will grace the airport before finding a permanent home in the local community.
(PRESS RELEASE) London, UK, 2024-Mar-19— /Travel PR News/ — Musician Ozzy Osbourne, late poet Benjamin Zephaniah and an 11-year-old fundraising hero are among those who have been honoured in a new mural unveiled at Birmingham airport.
The artwork celebrates the best of Birmingham, capturing the many cultures, traditions and icons of Britain’s ‘second city.’
It was created by local street artist Gent 48, aka Josh Billingham, who ranks among the most talented and prolific street artists in Birmingham.
The installation has been commissioned by easyJet and easyJet Holidays to mark the opening of the airline’s new base at the airport and ninth base in the UK, which is supporting over 1200 jobs and providing greater choice and connectivity for the region.
The mural which welcomes those departing and arriving into the city, also recognises local heroes who have made significant contributions to the neighbouring community.
Amongst those present at the mural’s unveiling was 11-year-old Ryan Hulance who turns waste into charitable food donations, by collecting empty tin cans from businesses and locals and selling the scrap metal to purchase items for food banks.
Football coach Asha Rage has also been honoured in the mural. The inspiring local woman has harnessed the sport to keep young people away from gang violence and build bridges in the community.
Asha and Ryan were presented with a package holiday of their choice from Birmingham by easyJet Holidays, in recognition of the work they do in the community.
Birmingham based easyJet cabin crew member and community volunteer Kieron Sparkes is also celebrated in the mural for his work supporting The Mary Stevens Hospice for six years, raising awareness of the local charity, even when he travels.
The unique installation also draws inspiration from Birmingham’s iconic culture including its famous ‘curry mile’, its manufacturing history, and energetic arts scene. Poetry from Benjamin Zephaniah also features, with permission from the late poet’s brother.
Artist Gent 48 spent 120 hours creating the piece, which measures 2.4 metres tall and 4.8 metres wide, occupying 62 square feet of the airport terminal.
Gent 48 is a celebrated art figure in the city, having previously created other notable works, including a mural that paid tribute to Birmingham’s NHS workers during the Covid 19 pandemic.
European landmarks that easyJet will connect Birmingham to including La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and the Eiffel Tower in Paris also feature.
The mural will be at Birmingham airport until next week for visitors to enjoy, before being donated to a community group in the local area.
Johan Lundgren, easyJet CEO said:
“It has been a fantastic opportunity to work with Gent 48 to mark our new home in Birmingham, celebrating all that is unique and iconic in the city and bringing to life what is special about the area and those who live here.
“The artwork is a wonderful tribute to the opening of our new base and what we are proud to provide the region, with more connectivity and choice which enables more people the opportunity to explore and enjoy more places this world has to offer. We can’t wait to welcome them onboard.”
Dave Springer, brother of Benjamin Zephaniah said:
“Our family are incredibly proud that Benjamin’s tireless fight for justice and social change, still resonates, not just in Birmingham but globally and that his cultural iconic status cements a lasting legacy of hope.”
Artist Gent 48 said:
“There is far more to Birmingham than meets the eye. I hope that my latest work inspires visitors to look more closely at the incredible people and culture the city has to offer.”
From today (March 18th) easyJet’s new base at Birmingham Airport will see the launching of 16 new routes for the summer season including Antalya, Barcelona and Corfu meaning the airline now offers 28 routes from the UK’s ‘second city’ to destinations across Europe, as well as thousands of package holidays. This summer easyJet will operate its biggest ever UK flying programme and its biggest ever summer for easyJet Holidays.
easyJet was founded in the UK launching operations from London Luton airport nearly 30 years ago and since then has flown over 800 million customers to and from the UK, having grown to serve 21 UK airports, offering 536 routes to 137 destinations in 29 countries across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Notes to editors
*Each UK-based aircraft directly supports 400 jobs and £27m UK GVA considering direct, indirect and induced impacts according to an independent assessment commissioned by Airlines UK.
About easyJet
easyJet is Europe’s leading airline offering a unique and winning combination of the best route network connecting Europe’s primary airports with great value fares and friendly service.easyJet flies on more of Europe’s most popular routes than any other airline and carried more than 82 million passengers in 2023 with more than 11.3 million travelling for business. The airline has over 300 aircraft flying on nearly 1000 routes to more than 155 airports across 35 countries. Over 300 million Europeans live within one hour’s drive of an easyJet airport.
easyJet aims to be a good corporate citizen, employing people on local contracts in eight countries across Europe in full compliance with national laws and recognising their trade unions. The airline supports several local charities and has a corporate partnership with UNICEF which has raised nearly £17m for the most vulnerable children since it was established in 2012.
In 2022, easyJet published its roadmap to net zero by 2050. The roadmap, which also features a combination of fleet renewal, operational efficiencies, airspace modernisation, Sustainable Aviation Fuel and carbon removal technology, has set an ambitious interim carbon emissions intensity reduction target of 35% by 2035 which is validated by the Science-based targets initiative (SBTi). The airline’s ultimate aim is to fully transition its fleet to zero carbon emission technology, which it will achieve through a number of strategic partnerships including with Airbus, Rolls-Royce and GKN Aerospace Solutions. Since 2000, the airline has successfully reduced its carbon emissions per passenger, per kilometre by one-third. Innovation is in easyJet’s DNA – since launching nearly 30 years ago, easyJet changed the way people fly to the present day where the airline leads the industry in digital and operational innovations to make travel more easy and affordable for its passengers. In 2023 easyJet was named by TIME as one of the World’s Best Companies and a Leader in Diversity 2024 by The Financial Times.
About easyJet Holidays
easyJet Holidays, which launched in 2019 is the UK’s fastest growing tour operator, having taken almost 2 million people away in 2023. Named Rising Brand of the Year by Travolution It offers great-value beach, city and lakes holidays to over 5000 hotels, in more than 100 destinations across Europe, directly through its website and through over 5000 travel agent partners. The ATOL-protected holidays can be secured with a deposit of just £60 per person, including flights, hotel, 23kg luggage and transfers on beach holidays. easyJet Holidays is a member of ABTA, and all packages are covered by its Ultimate Flexibility, offering freedom to change a booking, a refund guarantee, and best price guarantee. In 2024 the holiday provider will also start operating from Switzerland, France and Germany.
Winners of the Sustainable Future Award at the Globe Travel Awards, easyJet Holidays has a sustainability strategy focusing on three key pillars – create better holiday choices which is about making sustainable travel affordable and accessible to everyone; keep our holidays special which is maximising the benefits and minimising the negative impacts of travel and tourism, and transform travel for everyone which means embedding sustainability into business decisions and behaviours and driving meaningful change in the industry. The tour operator has partnered with the UNWTO to help develop the first environmental, social and governance (ESG) framework for tourism businesses, co-designing a measurement tool that is meaningful and feasible for better monitoring how tourism businesses impact, and depend on, people, planet and prosperity. easyJet Holidays has been named one of the Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2023 – being called out as one of the most loved employers and highly commended as a great place to work for LGBTQIA+ employees, as well as being named one of the Best Workplaces in Travel 2023.
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Source: easyJet
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