Thomas Cook Airlines is a British charter airline based in Manchester, England. It serves main holiday resorts in Europe (particularly the Mediterranean), North Africa, Asia, North America and the Caribbean from main bases at Manchester and London Gatwick.
The airline also operates services from smaller bases at Belfast International, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Glasgow-International, Leeds-Bradford, London Stansted and Newcastle.
The airline carried 8,315,327 passengers during 2008,[2] and will operate a fleet of 44 Boeing and Airbus aircraft during the summer 2009 season, making it one of the largest airlines in the UK.
Thomas Cook Airlines Limited holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.[3]
History
Following the merger between Thomas Cook AG & MyTravel Group PLC to form Thomas Cook Group PLC in June 2007, Thomas Cook Airlines was formed on 30 March 2008 by the merger of Thomas Cook Airlines UK Ltd and MyTravel Airways. The airline commenced operations in time for the summer 2008 season, with a fleet of Airbus A320, A321 and A330 aircraft along with Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft.
Thomas Cook Airlines UK Ltd
The original Thomas Cook Airlines was established on 1 September 1999 and started operations on 27 March 2000. It was created as JMC Airlines through the merger of Flying Colours Airlines and Caledonian Airways, following the integration of the Carlson Leisure group with Thomas Cook, which brought both airlines under common ownership in October 1999. Previously, in 1998, Flying Colours had also integrated Airworld Aviation Ltd into the airline. JMC Airlines was renamed as Thomas Cook Airlines UK on 31 March 2003.[4]
MyTravel Airways
MyTravel Airways was founded in 1990 as Airtours International Airways, which also acquired Inter European Airways in 1993 and Danish charter airline Premiair in 1996 prior to re-branding as MyTravel in 2002.
Operations
The airline operates worldwide charter flights to and from the United Kingdom for a number of tour operators; however, Thomas Cook Tour Operations is the main user of the airline.
Thomas Cook Airlines, with tour operator Canadian Affair, also offers scheduled flights to Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax, Montreal and Ottawa from Birmingham, Glasgow International, London Gatwick and Manchester airports in the United Kingdom. The flights to Eastern Canada are operated predominantly by re-configured Boeing 757-200 aircraft with 187 seats and 35" seat pitch, with some flights operated by Airbus A330 aircraft. The Western Canada flights are operated exclusively with Airbus A330 aircraft.
Fleet
Aircraft are normally leased out to other operators during the winter season.
Livery and interiors
All Thomas Cook aircraft are painted in white, with the blue and yellow Thomas Cook logo on the tail of each aircraft. A light blue covers the underbody of the aircraft. The aircraft cabins feature blue fabric or leather seats and carpets. The same applies on the Boeing 757 transatlantic aircraft, but the seats are leather with a greater seat pitch of 35", seating 187 passengers.
The longhaul fleet of Airbus A330 aircraft feature an all-leather seat configuration with either 45 premium and 278 economy seats or 49 premium and 274 economy seats, and a seat pitch of 33" in economy. The Airbus A330 aircraft also feature seat-back entertainment in both cabins.
Awards
- Silver Award - Most Environmentally Responsible Airline 2008 [8]
- FlightOnTime.info Runner-Up UK Charter Airline for Punctuality - Summer 2006
- FlightOnTime.info Most Punctual UK Charter Airline - Summer 2002 & Summer 2003
- FlightOnTime.info Most Punctual UK Charter Airline - Winter 2002/03 & Winter 2003/04
External links
References
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Thomas Cook Group |
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Thomas Cook Holidays · Airtours · Direct Holidays · Panorama · Manos · Style Holidays · Sunset · Flexible Trips · Club 18-30 · Neilson Holidays · Cresta · Cruise Thomas Cook · hotels4u.com · MyTravel · Sentido Hotels and Resorts · Swiss Travel Service · The Cruise Store · Thomas Cook Signature · Thomas Cook Sports · Tradewinds · Elegant Resorts
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| Airlines |
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| High Street Travel Agents |
Going Places · Thomas Cook
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| Key People |
Thomas Cook (founder) · Thomas Middelhoff (chairman) · Micheal Beckett (Deputy Chairman) · Manny Fontenla-Novoa (CEO)
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| Website |
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