Leighton Buzzard's Fly a Flight is here to stay

A Leighton Buzzard business is keen to tell customers it is here to stay after news broke that there will be a consultation on the future of Leighton Buzzard Garden Centre land.

Fly a Flight, Hockliffe Road, says it will remain firmly grounded, continuing to soar its customers into the virtual skies with its Boeing 737, Spitfire, and Messerschmitt simulators.

Last week we reported that the garden centre land and an adjoining plot had been sold by Martin and Stuart Hammond to developers Logic Land and Thrive Homes who are intending to consult the community in the coming weeks to establish their needs and priorities before finalising detailed development proposals.

Residents were worried that the pilot experience would be moving, too. However, we can confirm that the Fly a Flight is staying put, as, along with a number of other businesses, it is on the part of site still retained by the Hammonds.

Fly a Flight owner, Mark Lowen, told the LBO: "We're still here. We're staying here. On the left hand side all the businesses are safe; they have not sold that.

"That's [still] in the hands of the Hammonds so we will carry on for the foreseeable future - hopefully, we are here for good!

"I have known Martin and Stuart for a long time and we will carry on the same as we are."

In June last year the LBO featured Fly a Flight as EastEnders star Danny Dyer visited the business for a day out with his father.

The TV personality hasn't ventured back since - "although you never know!" laughs Mark - and trade has been picking up ever since.

Mark said: "It's going the right way. It's getting busier and busier!

"We've got a lot more confidence now and can see the light at the tunnel at the end of Covid."

The Flight a Flight team would love to plan an event with wartime pilots in attendance, and may look at organising an event for Remembrance Day.

Mark added: "People always like to fly the aircraft to get an insight into what the pilots were going through.

"They always say [afterwards] that they have even greater respect for the pilots as they have a better understanding of what it was like to be involved in combat."

In the meantime, the business is looking to expand, and will also be acquiring a new simulator which no-one in the country has.

Indeed, people travel from all over the world to visit Fly a Flight!

Mark concluded: "Thank you to everyone who visited us during these Covid times. It was a big decision to take, whether to come out or not.

"I would also like to say thank you to every one of my staff."