Earlier this month the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) released details surrounding the lighting of the Olympic Flame on 10 May and its arrival into the UK on 18 May. For the next 70 days, the Flame will travel around the UK on the Olympic Torch Relay from 19 May to 27 July.

The Olympic Flame will be lit using the sun’s rays at the Temple of Hera in Olympia, Greece on 10 May among the historic ruins of the home of the ancient Games.

From this traditional ceremony, organised by the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC), the Flame will embark on an eight-day relay around the Greek mainland and islands before arriving at the Panathenaic Stadium on 17 May for the official Olympic Flame Handover Ceremony.

The Olympic Flame will be handed over to a London 2012 representative during the early-evening ceremony, and it will then be transported to the UK on 18 May. The aircraft bringing the flame to Britain, which will also transport the official delegation of UK representatives to and from the Athens Handover Ceremony, will land at RNAS Culdrose, near Helston in Cornwall and the starting point of the Torch Relay at Land’s End.

Sebastian Coe, Chair of LOCOG said: “It gives me great pleasure to confirm 10 May as the Flame lighting date and RNAS Culdrose as the Olympic Flame’s arrival point into the UK.”

The arrival at RNAS Culdrose acknowledges the vital contribution that maritime and coastal search and rescue services undertake for the island nation.