The 75-year-old star’s aircraft has been spotted at various airports in recent weeks.
Legendary musician Sir Elton John is currently playing his Farewell Yellow Brick Road world tour which, due to a COVID-induced hiatus, will last more than five years, taking in over 300 shows across nine legs. This has required a considerable amount of travel, but, luckily, the famous singer and pianist has just the jet for the job.
Elton John ranks among the best-selling music artists of all time, and his style and flamboyance have made him a hit with countless fans all over the world. As such, it is unsurprising that, for his current tour, and indeed on previous outings, he has traveled in style, making use of an exclusive private jet to fly between locations.
As seen below, the aircraft in question is a Bombardier Global Express which, in tribute to the initials of his family members, bears the registration M-EDZE. According to data from FlightRadar24.com, this large-cabin business jet is 21 years old. It is instantly recognizable as Elton John's thanks to the 'E' at the front.
The Global Express is a private jet family consisting of four different variants. These range in size from the 13-passenger Global 5000 and 6000 to the larger Global 6500 version, which can accommodate 17 passengers and four crew members. This particular aircraft is an example of the 29.5-meter-long Global 6000 version.
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The most recent leg of Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour has seen him play to adoring crowds throughout Europe. After two nights at the Telenor Arena in Fornebu, Norway, we can see from FlightRadar24's data that the aircraft made a late-night flight from Oslo to Nice on May 22nd. Its next sector took it from Nice to Frankfurt, where there was a show at Deutsche Bank Park on May 27th.
Just two days later, the tour stopped in Leipzig. However, while this is another German destination, it appears that the aircraft returned to Nice in between, before flying to Leipzig on the day of the concert (May 29th). It seems that Nice served as a base for the mainland dates, as M-EDZE also made corresponding round trips to Bern, Milan, Billund, and Rotterdam.
However, it didn't return to Nice after the tour's two nights in Paris, but instead continued north to London Luton. This helped position the aircraft ahead of a run of shows in the UK, which began in Norwich on June 15th, where the Evening News reported that he landed on the afternoon of the show just before 15:00 local time.
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After leaving Norwich on the night of the show, the aircraft flew to London Luton before continuing to Farnborough the following day. Farnborough has been the origin of multiple round trips that correspond to tour dates, having seen departures to Liverpool (June 17th) and Newcastle (June 19th, for a show in Sunderland).
Interestingly, we can see from FlightRadar24's tracking data that the aircraft didn't fly straight back to Farnborough after the Sunderland concert. Instead, it first went to RAF Brize Norton that night, before continuing to Farnborough the next day. At the time of writing, this was M-EDZE's last flight. However, with many more tour dates still to come, it will surely be back in the skies before long.
Source: Norwich Evening News
Journalist – A graduate in German, Jake has a passion for aviation history, and enjoys sampling new carriers and aircraft even if doing so demands an unorthodox itinerary. A keen amateur photographer, he also recently reached the milestone of flying his 100th sector as a passenger. Based in Norwich, UK.