World War II veterans have made an emotional return to France for D-Day thanks to a partnership between Delta Air Lines, US charity Best Defense Foundation and Aviramp.

Aviramp answered the call from Normandy native Virginie Durr, Delta Air Lines Enterprise Sales Manager and Project Lead in supporting the Normandy Legacy Flight, which brings US veterans back to Normandy for D-Day commemorations in partnership with Best Defense Foundation.

Since 2022, these veterans with increasingly reduced mobility had been using stairs and ambulifts to disembark off the B767-300. With the majority of them now being more than 100 years old, a solution was needed to ensure a safe and dignified deplaning.

Aviramp’s solution was not only to manufacture one of its step-free International ramps in half the usual lead time, but also to loan it to the Aéroport Deauville airport.

Aviramp CEO Graham Corfield and his wife Lisa were special VIPs on the tarmac at Deauville airport on Sunday to see all 23 veterans wheeled safely down the Aviramp.

Former Kansas City Chiefs footballer Donnie Edwards, who heads up Best Defense Foundation with his wife, Kathryn, launched the legacy flights in 2022.

Virginie said the ramp manufactured by the team in Telford had now changed the dynamics of disembarkation from the flight – safe, dignified and much faster!

Mr Corfield joined US Embassy, US Army and Deauville dignitaries on stage for the welcome ceremony before heading to a gala dinner.

“During my speech, I told the veterans that it was the whole Aviramp team who had made this happen. When Delta asked for our help, there was only one answer we would ever have given.

“But it takes more than intent – we needed to make the biggest Aviramp we make in record time. But we did it for these heroes, so they could travel back to where they fought so bravely and disembark with dignity to meet the cheering crowds.”

Delta Air Lines’ Virginie Durr, publicly thanked Aviramp for its generosity in donating the ramp, calling it a ‘gamechanger’ for deplaning veterans safely.

Members of the Aviramp team also welcoming veterans included assembler Stephen Kemp, a UK armed forces veteran and bugler, who greeted the flight with a traditional Reveille.