Iron Maiden to charter Ed Force One yet again

According to Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood, the band will yet again take to their very own jet, the Ed Force One, for a 2010 world tour.

Writing in Iron Maiden's Fan Club magazine, Smallwood said:

"I'm starting to get my head round what we're going to do next summer. It hasn't been decided yet but we'll do something, so I've got to speak to promoters and agents.

"Now we know the plane works, by Christmas we'll have the pattern set. We'll probably be going for the plane and getting that held for us. We'll be doing some new places on the next tour. I won't tell you where they are - they're not finalised yet, but some work has been done. One place we can't play that we'd like to is Bolivia - the altitude is just too high for the type of physical performance the guys do. It's a shame."

Smallwood also said that the bands main priority at the moment is completing their 15th studio album...

"At the moment, the album's the key thing on the agenda. The guys will be getting together shortly and they're probably starting to get their heads round new ideas for songs individually. Some of them may meet up before we formally get together.

"We'll spend a period writing, we'll take Christmas off and then we'll get into recording. We'll finish the album in time for it to be out next year and I'm just getting my head round what we want to do touring-wise."