Having lots of tickets, the airmen flew endlessly (6)

I believe the answer is:

raffle

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'having lots of tickets' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'airmen flew endlessly' is the wordplay.
'airmen' becomes 'RAF' (Royal Air Force).
'endlessly' means to remove the last letter.
'flew' with its final letter removed is 'fle'.
'raf'+'fle'='RAFFLE'

'the' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for raffle that I've seen before include "Form of lottery" , "Prize draw" , "Lotto" , "Charity lottery" , "Type of lottery" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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