As if Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson isn't busy enough, he's decided to take his love of flying to the next level by starting his own small airline. Bruce Dickinson has spent his life singing in the legendary band Iron Maiden. Now, the frontman is working on an altogether different type of metal: airplanes.

Dickinson just finished a three-year world tour with Iron Maiden, but he's also been a pilot for 25 years, and is now focusing on a new solo act. He set up last year a company that mixes airline leasing, plane maintenance and pilot training ? all in the Welsh valleys. The business, Cardiff Aviation, plans to build an airline fleet of up to 10 aircraft within a few years and fill a market niche from its 132,000-square-foot hangar in St. Athan, Wales, Dickinson says speaking to The Wall Street Journal.





Having clocked more than 7,000 hours flying time working part time as an airline pilot for British World Airlines and Astraeus Airlines, Bruce Dickinson also occasionally flew his band around the world for gigs. In 2008, Iron Maiden decorated an Astraeus Boeing 757 in their own branded livery and flew it on a world tour.

At Cardiff Aviation's hangar, he sells maintenance and repair services to aircraft-leasing companies and airlines. Dickinson also aims to convince leasing companies to turn over their old, unused and unloved planes. He'll refurbish them, sublease them, and use his pilots to fly them, to help bolster airlines' fleets in busy periods, like the summer holidays.

Source:	online.wsj.com
Band profile:	Iron Maiden