Ex-snooker pro who ditched planes for 36 years over fear of flying says easyJet course ‘unlocked world for me’

A former professional snooker player who ranked in the top 50 worldwide but missed out on international tours and only went on cruise holidays because he was too afraid to fly for 36 years, now “travels the world” after taking a course to help calm his nerves, saying: “I can’t get enough of it.”

Anthony Harris, 55, from Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, developed a fear of flying in 1986 after he won the English Amateur Championship and was invited to play snooker in New Zealand and South Africa.

The father-of-two had no trouble boarding the plane but began feeling “anxious and sweating” the moment it took off and, after returning to the UK, decided flying was no longer an option.

Instead, Anthony and his wife Tracey, 60, and their two children, Thomas, 25, and Eleanor, 23, who are not afraid of flying, went on holidays in the UK or took to the seas.

But Anthony has now overcome his fear of flying after completing a one-day Fearless Flyer course with British low-cost airline easyJet in November 2022.

Over the past 15 months Anthony has flown to nine countries and said flying is now a “pleasure” that he cannot “get enough of”, although he still enjoys cruises.

“It’s unlocked the world for me,” Anthony told PA Real Life.

“My bucket list is now rapidly diminishing.

“I’ve seen the northern lights and been to Auschwitz.

“It’s amazing.”

Anthony did not know he was terrified of flying before boarding his first flight in 1986.

He had just won the snooker English Amateur Championship and was invited to play in New Zealand, a 54-hour journey via Los Angeles and Hawaii.

“I had never flown before,” said Anthony, who owns a printing business called Mainstream Print, in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands.

“It wasn’t too bad getting on the plane, but as soon as it took off, I didn’t like it and was worried about coming home.

“You know, I was short of breath, sweating and feeling anxious – just generally tight all over really.”

A few months later he visited South Africa on an exhibition tour which involved taking many short, internal flights, each of which Anthony dreaded.

“Historically, the English amateur champion did a tour of South Africa,” he said.

“So we flew everywhere.”

After returning to the UK, Anthony decided that flying was out of the window.

“People always say it’s the safest form of travel but that didn’t do a lot for me really,” he said.

“Because my fear was that, if you have a car crash there’s a percentage of change you survive, but if you have a plane crash you’ve got no chance.”

He would not board another plane for 36 years, turning down international snooker tours in Latvia and Canada.

“From 1986 to 2022, I didn’t fly at all,” said Anthony.

“I turned down a number of invitations and it stopped me from going on holiday.”

Luckily, many of the important snooker tournaments take place in the UK and Anthony went on to become a pro player, ranked in the top 50 worldwide, without getting on a plane.

“I was on the main tour for 12 years, playing all the major tournaments in the UK, including the World Championships,” he said.

“[But] it was not like it is now.

“There were no real professional tournaments overseas, maybe just one or two.

“Now there are tournaments in China every other week and in places like Dubai.”

In 2011, he discovered easyJet’s Fearless Flyer course after his wife began researching solutions online.

Anthony attended the one-day course in Birmingham, but his nerves got the better of him and he left half way through.

“I did a runner at lunch time,” he said.

“We were going to have the training flight in the afternoon, but I left and went home.”

The couple decided that from then on, they would holiday in the UK or book cruises.

“We’ve done 20-odd cruises since then with my wife and kids,” he said.

“I love traveling and so that was an alternative way of doing it.

“It was great and I still love cruising now.”

Finally, in November 2022, Anthony decided to give the easyJet Fearless Flyer course another shot.

The course involves a virtual session which takes about two and half hours to complete and an optional “experience flight” which lasts up to an hour, with a pilot talking passengers through every step of the round trip and how the plane works.

Prices range from £89 to £315 depending on options and whether you wish to attend with a companion.

“I paid a little bit extra to be in a smaller group,” he said.

“I wanted to do it because I knew what it would unlock for me.

“It just reassured me because I was sat next to a retired BA pilot who explained everything about how safe it is.

“When you think about how many flights there are and that it’s like a one in 11 million chance of being killed in a plane cash, I’ll take those chances.”

Since completing the course Anthony has taken to flying like a duck to water and travelled to Iceland, the United States, Poland, Italy, Spain, Malta, Sweden, Scotland and Qatar.

“I’ve flown all over the world since,” he said.

“I was bit nervous on the first flight, but now I’ve done it so many times, it’s a pleasure.

“It’s been a good year, an expensive one, but a good one.”

Anthony still plays snooker in the English Senior Championship and is planning to attend tournaments in Belgium, Austria and Bahrain in the coming months.