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Thomson Airways

Thomson Airways
Thomson Holidays logo.svg
IATA ICAO Callsign
BY TOM TOMSON
Founded 1962
as Britannia Airways
Commenced operations 1 November 2008
as Thomson Airways
AOC # 294
Operating bases
Alliance TUI Airlines
Fleet size 55
Destinations 96
Parent company TUI Group
Headquarters Registered office: Crawley
Head office: Luton
Key people John Murphy Managing director
Website thomson.co.uk

Thomson Airways Limited, often referred to as Thomson, is the world's largest charter airline, offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland to destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. The airline carried 10.6 million passengers in 2015, making it the third-largest UK airline by total passengers, after EasyJet and British Airways.

The registered office is at the TUI Travel House in Crawley, West Sussex but its head office is located in Wigmore House in Luton, Bedfordshire. Thomson Airways Limited holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Type A Operating Licence permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.

The airline was formed following the merger of the travel division of TUI AG and First Choice Holidays plc in September 2007 to form TUI Travel. The two companies' respective airlines, Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways, were merged under the former's Air Operator's Certificate in May 2008, and were rebranded as Thomson Airways on 1 November 2008. TUI Travel merged with TUI AG to form TUI Group in December 2014.

Thomson Airways will start to change its brand name to TUI fly sometime during 2017 in line with its already renamed sister companies TUI fly Belgium, TUI fly Deutschland, TUI fly Netherlands and TUI fly Nordic.

Thomson Airways has its origins in several predecessor airlines. Euravia, an airline which was founded in January 1962 was renamed Britannia Airways in December 1964.Orion Airways, founded in 1979 by Horizon Holidays and later owned by the large brewing firm Bass Brewery and InterContinental Hotels Group, was sold and merged into Britannia Airways in 1989. Britannia Airways was rebranded as Thomsonfly in May 2005. Finally, Air 2000 was founded in 1987, and which integrated the operations of Leisure International Airways in 1998, became First Choice Airways in 2004.


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