CBS announced today that production has started on CHRISTMAS TAKES FLIGHT, a new holiday movie scheduled to air on the Network later this year.

Filming in British Columbia, Canada, CHRISTMAS TAKES FLIGHT features a holiday battle of wills between pilot Jenny Beckett (Katie Lowes, CBS’ new midseason comedy SMALLWOOD, “Scandal”), and Matt Connor (Evan Williams, “Versailles”), a number-crunching CEO who purchases Jenny’s family-owned, regional airline. Matt’s cost-cutting initiatives threaten Christmas when he cancels the airline’s annual holiday charitable benefit for underserved children. Determined to show Matt that the sweetest things in life are worth any price, Jenny rallies the community to help save the event and unexpectedly finds herself falling for the magnate in the process.

The movie also stars Andrew Airlie, Kyra Leroux, Erik Gow and Keisha Haines. Brad Krevoy, Eric Jarboe, Amanda Phillips and Amy Krell are executive producers for Motion Picture Corporation of America. Nancy Bennett, Susanne Belzberg and Doran S. Chandler also executive produce. Supervising producers are Michael Robinson, Jonathan Shore and Catherine Kretz. Kevin Leslie produces and Brenda Painter serves as associate producer.

CHRISTMAS TAKES FLIGHT and the previously announced A CHRISTMAS PROPOSAL will be the first original television movies to air on CBS since 2012. They are the newest additions to CBS’ longstanding holiday programming slate, which includes family-favorite standouts, such as “The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS” and the annual broadcasts of beloved animated classics, including “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman.”