London – One hundred-year-old Captain Sir Tom Moore and family members touched down in Barbados a short while ago on board a British Airways flight.
Sir Tom had been invited to Barbados by former Minister of Tourism Kerrie Symmonds after he raised millions for Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) to assist with fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
He was greeted with a salute by the Zouave band of the Barbados Defence Force at Grantley Adams International Airport today.
Sir Tom was accompanied on the flight by five members of his family and director of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.’s UK office Cheryl Carter.
The group will be quarantined according to Barbados’ COVID-19 protocols before he begins his schedule of activities which were planned by tourism authorities.
Sir Tom’s complementary flight on British Airways received extensive coverage by the British media.
According to the Daily Mail, the centenarian smiled as he sat in a plane seat emblazoned with his name in a picture shared to his official Twitter page as he revealed he has ticked an item “off his bucket list”.
Sir Tom raised millions for the NHS at the height of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic by walking laps of his garden.
His efforts earned him a Knighthood and a promotion to honorary Colonel, and he was last month named GQ’s Inspiration of the Year 2020.
Sir Tom said the support he has been shown has given him “renewed energy” ahead of the trip.
He said: ‘I never thought that, at the age of 100, I would get to travel again. I’m so grateful to everyone who has made this possible.
‘The support I have been shown in 2020 has given me renewed energy and today I get to tick something off my bucket list.’
BA’s official Twitter account read: ‘We are honoured to be flying you and your family Captain Sir Tom, to one of our favourite destinations.”
Last month, Sir Tom gave a rare insight into his personal life after becoming GQ magazine’s oldest ever cover star. (GC)
