{"id":11311,"date":"2015-01-27T02:34:29","date_gmt":"2015-01-27T02:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/?p=11311"},"modified":"2015-01-27T02:34:29","modified_gmt":"2015-01-27T02:34:29","slug":"special-flight-to-turkey-for-anzac-centenary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/?p=11311","title":{"rendered":"Special flight to Turkey for ANZAC Centenary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
Tuesday, 27 January 2015<\/td>\nVA002<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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The Australian Government and Qantas today announced a collaboration to support ANZAC Centenary activities marking the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.<\/h1>\n

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\u00a0Minister for Veterans\u2019 Affairs and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC, Senator the Hon. Michael Ronaldson made the announcement alongside Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce at the airline\u2019s Sydney Jetbase.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Anzac Centenary is a milestone of special significance to all Australians as the First World War played such an important role in defining us as a nation and as a people\u201d Senator Ronaldson said.<\/p>\n

The Government appreciates the generous contribution of Qantas in supporting this significant period of commemoration and ensuring that more Australians can travel to Turkey for the services.<\/p>\n

Qantas has added a special flight for Australians travelling to Turkey for Anzac Day \u2013 the Boeing 747 seats 364 people and will depart Sydney for Istanbul on 21 April, via Perth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis additional flight is a great initiative by Qantas, and will provide the opportunity for many Australians who received a ticket in the ballot to travel to this historic Anzac Day commemoration,\u201d Senator Ronaldson said.<\/p>\n

Qantas has a strong connection to Gallipoli where two of its founders served, Sir William Hudson Fysh KBE DFC (1894 \u2013 1974) and Paul McGinness DFC DCM (1896-1952).<\/p>\n

Qantas has agreed to provide return flights for the widows of Australian First World War veterans travelling to Turkey for Anzac Day commemorations at Gallipoli. The widows, aged in their seventies to early nineties, will attend the commemorations as official guests of the Australian Government and will travel as part of an official mission party.<\/p>\n

The widows will each be accompanied by a carer and support staff from the Department of Veterans\u2019 Affairs (DVA), including nurses and an Australian Defence Force doctor.<\/p>\n

Following an expression of interest process undertaken last year, DVA is continuing to work with the widows and their carers to ensure their fitness for international travel in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cQantas is proud to be working with the Australian Government and the Department of Veterans\u2019 Affairs to support the Centenary of ANZAC events,\u201d said Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are honoured to be carrying war widows and their carers to Turkey so they can attend commemorative services at Gallipoli.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo of Qantas\u2019 founders, Paul McGinness and Hudson Fysh both served with distinction in the First World War and today, their legacies remain strong as do our ties with the services of the Australian Defence Forces.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senator Ronaldson said that while Anzac Day 2015 in Gallipoli will be a key commemorative event in the Anzac Centenary Programme, the programme will extend until November 2018 when the 100th anniversary of the armistice will be observed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose without attendance passes for Anzac Day 2015 may consider visiting Gallipoli on 6 August 2015 for the Battle of Lone Pine commemoration service.\u00a0 Australians can also attend a Dawn Service in Australia or watch the television broadcast of the Gallipoli and Villers-Bretonneux services on the ABC\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The ballot for attendance at Anzac Centenary commemorations at Gallipoli is now complete. A waitlist, for those who were unsuccessful in previous allocations, is open until 31 March 2015 to reallocate places that become available. Only those with a ballot attendance pass can attend the official Anzac Day commemorations at Gallipoli in 2015.<\/p>\n

For more information on Anzac Day commemorations at Gallipoli in 2015 visit www.gallipoli2015.dva.gov.au<\/a> or visit www.anzaccentenary.gov.au<\/a> for information on the Anzac Centenary Programme.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday, 27 January 2015 VA002   The Australian Government and Qantas today announced a collaboration to support ANZAC Centenary activities marking the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.   \u00a0Minister for Veterans\u2019 Affairs and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11311"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11313,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11311\/revisions\/11313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fffaif.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}