First Choice Airways
| First Choice Airways | |
|---|---|
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| IATA code : | DP |
| ICAO code : | FCA |
| Call sign : | JETSET |
| Founding: | 1987 |
| Operation stopped: | 2008 |
| Seat: |
Manchester , UK
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| Home airport : | Manchester , Gatwick |
| Fleet size: | 24 |
| Aims: | international |
| First Choice Airways ceased operations in 2008. The information in italics refer to the last status before the end of operation. | |
First Choice Airways (originally Air 2000 ) was a British charter airline based in Manchester and a subsidiary of the tour operator TUI Travel . It was merged with Thomsonfly in 2008 to form today's TUI Airways .
history
The airline was founded in the first quarter of 1987 and began operations under the name Air2000 with two Boeing 757s on April 1, 1987. A year later, the fleet was doubled and an aircraft was stationed in Glasgow and a subsidiary called Air 2000 Airline Ltd. founded in Canada. However, this only lasted a few days because the Canadian government revoked her license. But one dared a new attempt with the Canada 3000 , which was promptly more successful. It was the first time that Airbus took over aircraft. Canada 3000 was the first airline to operate the A330.
In 1988 long-haul flights to Mombasa in Kenya were taken up for the first time , and after the Boeing 757 was converted from 1989, destinations in the United States were also included in the flight plan. The first scheduled flights were flown between London Gatwick and Paphos in Cyprus from 1992 , after having received the official license for this in the same year. In 1996 flights from Dublin were carried out for the first time, in June 1998 Air UK Leisure was integrated; The four Airbus A330-200s ordered by this airline were canceled, however, and Boeing 767-300s continued to float instead. In March 2000 the company was renamed from air 2000 to First Choice Airways .
As a first customer, the company ordered six Boeing 787-8s with GEnx engines from General Electric in February 2005 .
A curious incident occurred on November 23, 2006. After a Boeing 757 made a stopover at Dakar airport, the plane was not allowed to take off again because the airport fees had not been paid. The claim amounted to two million CFA Francs (approx. 3,000 euros). First, the captain John Lawrence tried to pay the amount with his credit card, the first officer also had to help out. However, the redeemed traveler checks were not enough because it was getting dark and the slope lighting cost extra. In order not to have to rely on donations from the passengers, the captain finally resorted to the airline's drinks till to settle the bill.
In September 2007, the former parent company First Choice Holidays and the travel division of TUI merged to form TUI Travel PLC. The two airlines Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways operated a joint fleet since May 1, 2008, which has been operating under the Thomson Airways brand since May 1, 2009 . The company's own flight operations were handed over to Thomson Airways on November 1st.
Destinations
First Choice Airways operated flights to touristically interesting areas: continental areas were Salzburg or Innsbruck in Austria , Dubrovnik in Croatia or Funchal in Madeira ( Portugal ). There were intercontinental flights to São Salvador in Brazil , Orlando in USA , Cancun in Mexico and Porlamar in Venezuela.
fleet
As of April 2008, the First Choice Airways fleet consisted of 24 aircraft with an average age of 10.2 years:
- Orders
- 12 Boeing 787-8 (delivery planned from 2009)
See also
Web links
- Official website of First Choice Airways (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ timesonline.co.uk: " Trolley cash funds airline flight to Britain " (23 November 2006)
- ↑ ch-aviation.ch: First Choice Airways fleet ( Memento of the original dated September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. April 7, 2008
- ↑ airfleets.net: First Choice Airways fleet member April 28, 2008
- ^ Boeing: Orders from First Choice Airways April 22, 2008
Airlines from the United Kingdom , British Overseas Territories and the Crown possessions of the British Crown
