Families were urged to look out for Santa Claus tonight after his flight plan was shared with airline authorities.

Father Christmas and his reindeer were expected to cover thousands of miles across the skies with a little bit of magic that would see him complete his journey by midnight.

The epic trek will allow the generous gift-giver to deliver presents to well-behaved boys and girls all over the world.

British Airways was among the airlines that received an early peek at the flight plan for December 24, which meant its pilots would be prepared to look out for Rudolph’s beaming red nose.

The detailed chart showed the approach for landing Santa’s sleigh back at the North Pole, having completed deliveries around the world.

It showed that on approach to the destination, the sled will descend to 2,500ft on a track of true North between Santa and Claus. The sky-borne mode of transport will make its way towards ground on the final stages of its approach from Comng to Townn.

However, if conditions are too poor to land then Santa will climb back to an altitude of 2,500ft before turning right at Mslto.

That will lead to Kssng where he will hold until the weather improves. Rudolph’s nose will help steer the festive team to a safe landing.

The plan warns that reindeer and elves will be on the runway and that reindeer games could slow down ground operations.

Other aircraft pilots were advised to look out for the blinding red nose.

British Airways were handing over the rights to the call-sign SANTA1 today to Santa Claus and his sleigh.

His route via the North Pole is 14,930 nautical miles and on the airline’s jumbo Boeing 747s, that would take around 32 hours.

Thanks to Santa’s magic, however, he was expected to complete the journey just before midnight.

Simon Brooks, British Airways’ senior vice-president sales, North America, said: “We’ll be cheering on Santa and his reindeer on December 24 as he flies around the world.

“He has priority over the skies that night so customers travelling should look for the sleigh and wave to Santa.”