The friends poured themselves a glass of water and continued to chat. ‘The last flight I did before coming to see you guys was taking school children in Arnhem Land back home to their families for the Christmas holidays – can you imagine travelling to school by plane?’ said Alpha, excitedly.

‘Arnhem Land? Where is that exactly?’ Mike said curiously.

‘It’s at the very top of Australia, in a place called the Northern Territory. It is home of the indigenous people – called the Yolngu. It is a very, very large place to get around, and some communities (which they call homelands) are really remote,’ replied Alpha.

‘As the schools are so far away, every week, MAF takes over 30 secondary school students, and some teachers too, from around six homelands to one school where they are all taught together before they are flown home at the end of the week.’

‘How much time does flying with MAF save the children, instead of driving?’ asked Foxtrot.

‘Well, a 40-minute flight in MAF’s aircraft cuts across the vast wilderness of Australia’s Northern Territory and saves around 6 hours of overland travel!’

‘Let’s hope the children weren’t planning on using the journey time to do their homework!’ said Mike, triggering the trio to giggle.

‘It’s like the story of Jesus’ birth,’ said Mike. ‘His mother Mary wouldn’t have been able to travel to Bethlehem whilst pregnant if it wasn’t for the donkey she rode along the way. MAF planes are a bit like the donkey in the story!’

‘Exactly! MAF Arnhem Land’s Country Director Matthew said that lots of students from remote communities finish their schooling every year, which would be very difficult without MAF. Every graduation is a team effort and us pilots get excited when students complete their studies!’ said Alpha.