RE: British Charter
British charter airlines, eh? I have flown with most of them from my local airport, which is Birmingham International.
I have seen that many charter carriers come and go over the past twenty years, it is sometimes difficult to see who is still in business and who is not!!
Do you remember Air Europe? This was a Gatwick based charter carrier who I flew several times with in the eighties and they were really quite a good charter carrier. They won several awards within the industry and had a good all round reputation. AE itself was doing very well by around 1989/90 and had many aircraft on order including Fokker 100s, Boeing 737s and Boeing 757s. AE was the launch customer for the RR Trent powered MD-11, which it was to use on it’s long haul routes. I read somewhere that by around 1995, AE would have had around 90 aircraft in its fleet. Most people thought the airline would be a potential world beater, as it was also starting up several succesful scheduled services from its Gatwick base.
Imagine my dismay when the airline ceased operations in March 1991. I was totally surprised by this, I thought it was a joke when someone first told me about it. AE was doing very well up until the day it ceased to be, but its parent company, the International Leisure Group was not, it would seem. ILG owned the tour operator Intasun, which also folded. Interestingly enough, AE was the only customer for the Trent powered MD-11, and the latter never materised.
My point here is that no matter how well a charter airline is doing, it is the actions and what happens to their owners which will ultimately decide their future. Take overs and mergers are very common within the charter industry too. Who remembers tour operator Horizon and their airline, Orion? Thomson took Horizon over and Orion was integrated into britannia airways. Flying Colours and Caledonian megered to form JMC as a result of their parents changing their business strategy. Losing the Flying Colours name was a big mistake.
How long before we see such famous names as Britannia and Monarch disappear I wonder. It was not long ago when Airtours and First Choice (who own Air 2000) were in the press regarding a possible merger, though this never did happen.
One final point, the service offered by charter airlines is quite good nowadays, but those darn seats in charter config are still way too cramped!!!
regards,
V1
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