First Choice Airways

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First Choice Airways
IATA
DP		 ICAO
FCA		 Callsign
JETSET
Founded 1987
Hubs Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Dublin, East Midlands, Exeter, Glasgow, London Gatwick, London Luton, London Stansted, Manchester
Focus cities Cardiff, Cork, Edinburgh, Humberside, Leeds-Bradford, Norwich
Fleet size 28
Destinations 45-70 (dependent on season)
Parent company TUI Travel PLC
Headquarters Crawley, England, United Kingdom
Key people Chris(tine) Browne - Managing Director
Website: http://www.firstchoice.co.uk/flights
Boeing 757-200 lands at Bristol International Airport, England
Boeing 757-200 lands at Bristol International Airport, England

First Choice Airways is a charter airline of European tour operator TUI Travel PLC, based in Crawley, England. It flies to more than 60 destinations worldwide from 14 UK and Irish airports.[1] 70% of the airline's services are operated for its parent company, rising to 85% in the summer season, with the remainder on behalf of some 120 other tour operators. It also operates scheduled year-round leisure routes to Cyprus and the resorts of Spain and Portugal. Its main bases are Manchester Airport and London Gatwick Airport, with its main hub being Manchester Airport. The long haul services are sold only by internal companies such as First Choice Holidays, Eclipse Direct, Sunsail, Sovereign, Hayes and Jarvis and Unijet. The company also operates luxury 'Around The World' flights each winter on behalf of TCS Expeditions.[citation needed]

The company holds a Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

The airline started operations on 11 April 1987 under the name Air 2000 with two Boeing 757 aircraft and a flight from Manchester to Málaga.[1] The fleet doubled a year later, with one aircraft being based at Glasgow International Airport. In the same year, the airline set up a subsidiary in Canada, to be called Air 2000 Airline Ltd. This subsidiary lasted only a few days before the Canadian government suspended its licence. The second attempt was more successful and became Canada 3000.

An Airbus A321 with the previous Air 2000 titles. Aircraft now display 'First Choice' with this livery
An Airbus A321 with the previous Air 2000 titles. Aircraft now display 'First Choice' with this livery

Long haul services to Mombasa in Kenya were introduced during the 1988/89 season. The 757s were re-equipped for extended range and flights to the United States began in 1989. The airline was granted a licence for scheduled operations by the CAA in 1992, which commenced in 1993, initially between London Gatwick and Paphos, in Cyprus.

Expansion saw new bases in the UK established, with Dublin becoming the airline's first overseas hub in 1996. Leisure International Airways was fully integrated after the acquisition by First Choice of Unijet in June 1998.[1] This included the entire fleet of aircraft, and an order for four Airbus A330-200 aircraft, which First Choice immediately cancelled in favour of the company's Boeing 767-300 aircraft. Air 2000 received a new colour scheme which is still in use, however in March 2004 the Air 2000 branding was removed and First Choice Airways branding added.

The airline carried 6.5 million passengers during 2002. The 2005 total was 6.0 million - fifth highest passenger figures of any UK airline. In 2004 it announced plans to refurbish another six Boeing 767-300 aircraft to expand its long haul operations. The airline was the first in the UK to use the Boeing 777-style interior on their 767 fleet. The company now has six aircraft flying long haul in 2007, in a two class layout, 63 Premium, 195 Economy. All seats feature Panasonic seat back entertainment and mood lighting in Star Class Premier.

On 23 April 2007, First Choice confirmed it is to close its bases at London Luton Airport and Cardiff from 1 November 2007, however due to the merger with Thomsonfly who also operate from these bases, the combined airline will still operate from these bases. First Choice Airways is to establish a new permanent base at Exeter Airport.

Airbus A320 at Manchester Airport
Airbus A320 at Manchester Airport

In September 2007, First Choice and the tourism arm of TUI merged to form TUI Travel PLC. By summer 2009 the airlines Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways will be rebranded. It is still unknown what the name will be.

[edit] Destinations

Short Haul

  • Austria - Innsbruck, Salzburg
  • Bulgaria - Plovdiv, Sofia, Varna, Bourgas
  • Cyprus - Larnaca, Paphos
  • Egypt - Hurgarda, Luxor, Sharm-El-Sheikh, Taba
  • Finland - Kittilä, Rovaniemi
  • France - Grenoble, Toulouse
  • Gambia - Banjul
  • Greece - Chania, Corfu, Heraklion, Kefallonia, Kos, Mytilini, Preveza, Rhodes, Santorini, Skiathos, Thessalonika, Zakynthos
  • Italy - Bergamo, Naples, Turin, Venice, Verona
  • Israel - Tel-Aviv
  • Malta - Luqa
  • Morocco - Agadir
  • Portugal - Faro, Funchal
  • Slovenia - Ljubljana
  • Spain - Alicante, Almería, Arrecife, Fuerteventura, Ibiza, La Palma, Las Palmas, Mahón, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Reus, Tenerife South
  • Switzerland - Geneva
  • Tunisia - Monastir
  • Turkey - Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman, Izmir, Istanbul
Boeing 757-200 takes off
Boeing 757-200 takes off

Worldwide

[edit] Fleet

The First Choice Airways fleet includes the following aircraft (at May 2008):[3]

First Choice Airways Fleet
Aircraft In Service On Order Notes
Airbus A320-200 5 0 +1 to be leased from Skyservice summer 2008
Airbus A321-200 3 0
Boeing 757-200 14 0
Boeing 767-300 6 0
Boeing 787-8 0 12 Deliveries from 2010 to 2012
Total 28 12

As of May 2008 the average fleet age is 10.2 years.[4]

[edit] Aircraft orders

The airline will be UK launch customer for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The airline placed a firm order for six aircraft in February 2005, with an option for a further six. The airline will be the first UK company to receive the B787. In December 2006, the airline announced the purchase of a further two 787 Dreamliners, taking its order to eight aircraft. In March 2007 First Choice Airways announced it was converting all four remaining options to orders, bringing the total to 12 aircraft.

Although planned to enter service in summer 2009, delays to the Boeing 787 programme mean that First Choice Airways will not be able to introduce the aircraft to the fleet until summer 2010.[5]

Each B787-8 will replace a B767-300 on long haul routes as they are delivered. The deliveries are expected to take around two years. Moreover, it is expected that 6 aircraft will be based at Manchester Airport, and the other remaining 6 will be based at London Gatwick Airport.[1]

[edit] Facts

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Aircraft G-OOBI and G-OOOX, both Boeing 757-200s, appeared in a modified livery from February 2007 onwards, promoting Red Nose Day, a charity fund-raising day organised by Comic Relief.
  • The airline has an exclusive agreement with Disney to offer Disney themed flights to Orlando Sanford International Airport. [2]
  • Some long haul crew (those operating on the routes to Orlando Sanford airport) are trained experts on Disney and Walt Disney World.
  • The Microsoft Flight Simulator add-on "FS2Crew: Level-D 767 Edition" features First Choice Airways' operating procedures.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International, 2007-04-03, p. 82. 
  2. ^ Operating Licence
  3. ^ Civil Aviation Authority Aircraft Register
  4. ^ First Choice Airways Fleet Age
  5. ^ First Choice faces another 787 delay
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Airlines of the United Kingdom
Civil Air Ensign of the United Kingdom