London - Burger King Corporation and Welcome Break, the largest independent British highway service area operator, has opened the world's first “Fly Thru” restaurant allowing helicopter passengers to stop off for a taste of their favorite flame-broiled WHOPPER(R) sandwich.
With advice from the British Aviation Authority, Welcome Break installed the 19-1/2-foot “Whopper Chopper” landing pad at its London Gateway location, to allow high flying fast food fans to get their world famous WHOPPER(R) sandwiches to go. The “Fly Thru” Burger King(R) restaurant will work like a drive thru restaurant but will be for helicopters only. Pilots will touch- down on the landing pad and place their order with the waiters and waitresses who will then deliver straight to the pilot. Created by Welcome Break and Burger King Corporation, the “Fly Thru” was developed to meet the demands of passing pilots. Sara Fernandez, Marketing Director for Welcome Break, said, “High flying burger lovers are traveling by helicopter for speed and convenience. We rose to the challenge of creating a 'Fly Thru' restaurant as it was one of the more unusual requests received from our customers.”
Pilot Mark Barry-Jackson, of Aeromega LTD, is excited at the news of the new “Fly Thru.” “Businessmen and celebrities are using helicopters more as it is a convenient and flexible way to travel -- however finding suitable places to stop and refuel passengers has always been difficult, so I think this is a great idea.”
The “Fly Thru” site will remain at London Gateway for a period of time and operate on a trial basis. Following this initial trial, Welcome Break and Burger King will be gauging interest in the concept before announcing future plans for the “Fly Thru.” With so much traffic in the air as well as on the roadways it may just take off! Burger King Corporation and its franchisees operate more than 9,800 restaurants in all 50 states and 55 countries and international territories around the world. Since the company's founding in 1954, BURGER KING(R) has become recognized for its great flame-broiled taste and HAVE IT YOUR WAY(R) food customization process. In fiscal year 1998 Burger King had system- wide sales of $10.3 billion. Burger King is a subsidiary of Diageo plc, one of the world's leading branded consumer products businesses.
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