Around the World with Santa: Prologue

If you are like me, you have probably wondered at some point: how does Santa Claus cope with the ever-increasing numbers of children at Christmas? I did some checking around with various unnamed sources, and I have found some very surprising answers. It turns out that Santa has had to modernize his gift distribution network over the years to keep up.

How, you might ask? Well, it turns out that Santa has a global logistical network that puts both Amazon.com and UPS to shame. In fact, I have learned that Santa now has secret distribution centers all over the world! You see, if Santa had to trek back up to the North Pole to reload the sleigh after every trip, he would still be delivering gifts from five years ago this Christmas. So, in the weeks leading up to Christmas, he stocks up all his secret regional sites with goodies ahead of time. Sure, when Christmas Eve rolls around, Santa still continues the tradition of hitching Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer up to the sleigh and delivering gifts to all the good boys and girls. However, rather than wasting valuable time zipping back to the North Pole to reload the sleigh on Christmas Eve, Santa can simply zip over to the nearest secret site to tank up and keep going.

As you might expect, Santa and the elves have to rent some planes to get the goodies out from the workshop out to all the sites ahead of the big day. And let me tell you, Santa doesn't mess around! He charters 747-400 freighters like this one:



The liveries on Santa's planes tend to be similarly nondescript. Santa doesn't like to attract unnecessary attention before the big day, after all.

Now it turns out that different regions of the world have slightly different beliefs when it comes to Santa. For example, in much of Europe, Santa is known variously as Father Christmas, Papa (or Pere) Noel, Sinterklaas, or various other names. Many Europeans believe that Santa's operations are located in Lapland, rather than the North Pole. People connected with Santa's operations have assured us that these are just different franchises of the same operation, and everything is connected.

In a Pretend Flyer exclusive, Santa has agreed to let us tag along on some of his pre-Christmas gift delivery flights this holiday season! We will ride along in the jumpseat of one of Santa's 747s as they stage gifts in various locales ahead of the big day. We will even visit the European operations of the world's largest gift-giving organization along the way. Keep watching this space as we document the daily travels of Santa's flying elves.