Twenty-year-old, David Brannagan will join 14 other apprentices from British Airways engineering as they set off on an expedition to Mount Fuji in Japan.

The 'apprentice challenge' will see David, of Dumbuie Road in the town, and colleagues complete a 12,000 round trip to the Land of the Rising Sun with the goal of climbing Japan’s highest mountain, the 12,400ft high Mount Fuji.

And after several months of training, the apprentices completed a practice climb on Ben Lomond last month – but, at at just over 3,000ft, the climb is merely quarter the height of the extinct Japanese volcano.

The intrepid climbers will face tortuous conditions to raise money for the airline’s charity initiative, Flying Start.

The British Airways Maintenance Glasgow workers are part of the modern apprenticeship programme based at Glasgow Airport. The four year course of academic and practical work will see David and othe rapprentices graduate as licensed aircraft engineers.

The expedition will start with a flight from Glasgow to London Heathrow, before grabbing a connecting long-haul flight Narita Airport in Japan. After that, there's the small matter of a three-hour journey by road at which point the group will reach the foothills of Mount Fuji.

After establishing base camp and preparing for what is expected to be an arduous eight-hour climb, the group will set off in the dark on Saturday morning, aiming to reach the 12,400ft high summit and have their heads, literally, in the clouds.  Then, it’s back down the mountain, another road trip back to Narita and a 14-hour flight back home before going back to work. And all this done in the space of four days – phew.

Laura Phillips, British Airways community investment co-ordinator, says that the trip is intended to achieve two important goals.

She told the Reporter: “It's a great opportunity to raise even more money to add to the remarkable £8.3 million we have raised since the partnership began back in 2010.

“But secondly, it gives these young men a chance to take part in something exceptional that most of them, before they joined British Airways, would never have had the opportunity to do.”