AUSTIN, Texas – Forty-one Central Texas World War II, Korean and Vietnam War veterans departed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018 for a special flight to Washington D.C. as part of Honor Flight Austin’s 52^nd flight to the nation’s capital. During their trip, the veterans will get to visit and experience the monuments and memorials built in their honor.

This was Honor Flight Austin’s third flight of 2018, with four more flights scheduled this year.

The flight was also selected to recognize ThunderCloud Subs and airport concessionaire Paradies-Lagardère for their outstanding support of Honor Flight Austin.

“As exemplified by the national success of our very own Treat Our Troops program, recognizing the sacrifices our veterans have made is important to Paradies Lagardère. I’m proud of our associates for donating their time to the Honor Flight Austin initiative,” said Gregg Paradies, president and CEO, Paradies Lagardère. “Our organization participates in a wide variety of events in communities throughout the year, and we’re always looking for new ways to make a positive difference in the lives of our employees, business partners and customers.”

Following a procession through the terminal led by the TSA Honor Guard and Austin Police Department Bag Pipes, the veterans of Honor Flight 52 departed Austin-Bergstrom at 12:30 p.m., and is scheduled to arrive at Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) at 4:25 p.m. The veterans are scheduled to return Saturday, Sept. 8, and arrive at AUS at approximately 6:30 p.m.

Join Honor Flight Austin for a welcome home greeting Saturday at about 6:30 p.m. upstairs in west ticketing.

The flight is operated by Southwest Airlines. The Hilton Austin Airport is a corporate sponsor of Honor Flight Austin. Lunch and refreshments are provided to veterans courtesy of ThunderCloud Subs. Trips on Honor Flight are made possible at no cost to the veterans through donations.

Honor Flight Austin is a non-profit organization created to honor veterans by transporting them to visit and reflect at their war memorials. Honor Flight Austin serves veterans residing within Bastrop, Bell, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Gillespie, Gonzales, Hays, Lee, Llano, Milam, Travis and Williamson Counties. To support Honor Flight Austin or to learn more about the organization go to www.honorflightaustin.org.

The airport of choice for Central Texas is Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS). New nonstop international flights include London Gatwick, United Kingdom (LGW) on Norwegian Air, www.norwegian.com/us, Guadalajara, Mexico (GDL) on Volaris, www.volaris.com, and Mexico City, Mexico (MEX) on AeroMexico, www.aeromexico.com. New for SXSW 2018: Delta to Amsterdam (AMS), www.delta.com, and SAS to Stockholm (ARN) www.flysas.com/en/us/.   Find all nonstop routes with the free interactive flight guide on www.abia.org. Connect with us on Twitter, @AUStinAirport, Facebook, www.facebook.com/abia and on Instagram, @AUSairport.