An aviation engineer who has been awarded the MBE said it was "a privilege" to do the humanitarian work the fleet are engaged in.

Tom Ciesco, Atlas performance engineer for Airbus UK Ltd, was recognised in the King's Birthday Honours for his services to the RAF.

He said: "I am completely overwhelmed.

"The Atlas enterprise, comprising of military and civilian colleagues at Brize Norton is made up of extremely talented and dedicated people who deliver significant output for UK Defence and I’m a small part of that.

"I never expected to be given an honour but am grateful for the recognition for my work over the last nine years."

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Mr Ciesco, who is originally from Liverpool and now lives in Witney, grew up with a passion for aviation and joined the local Air Cadet squadron as soon as he could.

"This sewed the seed for a career in aerospace and a relationship with the RAF although I didn’t know it at the time," he said.

He graduated from Salford and Cranfield universities with aeronautical related degrees and a worked for a large UK holiday airline.

He moved to Oxfordshire in 2015 to begin working on the Airbus A400M Atlas where, he said, "it’s been a privilege to have contributed to the incredible humanitarian work the Atlas fleet has participated in".

"My role as an Aircraft Performance Engineer is a niche but critical function in any aircraft operation.

"It typically involves the analysis of airports and routes to assess the suitability of operations and designing safe procedures to be flown to safely depart or arrive at airports," he said.

The most challenging period of his career was during Operation Pitting, the UK’s evacuation of Kabul in 2021.

RAF Brize Norton is the country’s largest RAF station and the RAF’s Air Mobility Hub, whose aircraft and personnel were pivotal in the evacuation of around 15,000 people hoping to make a new life in the UK following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.

The evacuation was the largest airlift since Berlin in 1948.

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Running at the same time as other nation’s evacuation efforts, overall 122,000 people were flown out of Afghanistan by the end of August 2021.

Mr Ciesco said: "The work I and my team delivered significantly increased the lift capability of the aircraft, meaning a significant number of extra people could be evacuated to safety.

"Aside from this, to have contributed to the Atlas force and having worked with inspiring people who have had a hand in the fleet maturing in to a very capable aircraft has been a great journey and professional challenge."