Passengers on board LIFT flight GE131 from Johannesburg to Cape Town received an exclusive first glimpse into author Jo Watson’s new book, Love at First Flight, when they were surprised with a spontaneous book launch in the sky this morning. A few book enthusiasts were lucky enough to receive a signed copy of the new book from Watson herself.
Jonathan Ball Publishers and LIFT collaborated to arrange the launch in the spirit of the month of love, as Watson’s new book aptly involves the story of an air-traffic controller who meets a pilot, culminating in a fake dating pact, with their communications resulting in the unexpected.
Jo Watson is an award-winning author of over ten books, with her book, Love To Hate You becoming an overnight bestseller, reaching #9 on the Amazon UK charts. To date, her stories have accumulated more than 60 million reads on the platform with over 119, 000 followers.
“We’re proud to celebrate our local talent, so when we were approached to launch a book with Jo at 36 000ft, our immediate response was ‘let’s do it!’. Providing a platform to Jo, an award-winning South African author, was only a pleasure, as we continue to collaborate and support SA artists and creatives. We’re passionate about uplifting local talent where we can, as well as providing our travellers with an elevated experience, which they have come to know and love LIFT for,” says LIFT CEO, Jonathan Ayache.
LIFT has now hosted several inflight performances much to the delight of their travellers. Cape Town Opera performed on board a flight during their national tour of Mozart’s, Le Nozze di Figaro. Artist Divine Mahara launched his first album at 36 000 ft with the first ever LIFT Silent Disco, and the airline had Schalk Bezuidenhout do a comedy skit on board a LIFT flight. Most recently Zolani Mahola, “The One Who Sings”, joined LIFT to treat travellers to their second Silent Disco performance in the sky.
A graduate of the South African arts and media school AFDA, Watson has also worked as a scriptwriter, director, producer, and copywriter before deciding to publish her stories. Her stories have been translated into seven different languages.
For more on Jo Watson, visit her website www.jowatsonwrites.co.uk and follow her on Facebook, X, and Instagram: @JoWatsonWrites
About LIFT
LIFT is operated by Global Aviation Operations (Pty) LTD trading as LIFT. LIFT flights currently operate between Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban. Global Aviation Operations has been a provider of ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) services to airlines, locally and internationally since 2001 and is the largest dedicated ACMI specialist in South and Sub-Saharan Africa.
LIFT operates a fleet of Airbus A320 Aircraft, state-of-the-art 4th generation with fly-by-wire control systems, Flight Envelope safety protection and 3B Auto-land certification that allows for safe landings in poor visibility conditions.
