Thomas Cook Airlines

IATA ICAO Callsign MT TCX THOMAS COOK
Founded	1 September 1999 (1999-09-01) (as JMC Air) April 2003 (2003-04) (as Thomas Cook Airlines)
Ceased operations	23 September 2019 (2019-09-23)
AOC #	549
Operating bases	Belfast–International Birmingham Bristol Cardiff East Midlands Glasgow London–Gatwick London–Stansted Manchester Newcastle upon Tyne
Destinations	82 (at demise)
Parent company	Thomas Cook Group
Headquarters	Manchester, England
Key people	Peter Fankhauser (CEO) Christoph Debus (MD)
Net income	£103.06 million (2018)

Thomas Cook Airlines Limited was a British charter and scheduled airline headquartered in Manchester, England. It was founded in 2007 from the merger of Thomas Cook Group and MyTravel Group, and was part of the Thomas Cook Group Airlines. It served leisure destinations worldwide from its main bases at Manchester Airport and Gatwick Airport on a scheduled and charter basis. It also operated services from eight other bases around the United Kingdom. Thomas Cook Group and all UK entities including Thomas Cook Airlines entered compulsory liquidation on 23 September 2019.

History

The airline was created on 1 September 1999 as JMC Air Limited through the merger of Flying Colours Airlines and Caledonian Airways.^[1] following the purchase of Thomas Cook & Son by the Carlson Leisure Group. It started operations on 27 March 2000, operating flights from 6 bases in the UK, offering seat-only bookings and bookings via Thomas Cook Tour Operations. In 2001, the airline became the first UK operator of the stretched Boeing 757-300. In April 2003, Thomas Cook AG rebranded its airlines under the Thomas Cook name brand.^[1][2][3][4]

In June 2007, following the merger between Thomas Cook AG and MyTravel Group to form Thomas Cook Group, on 30 March 2008, MyTravel Airways was merged with Thomas Cook Airlines.^[5]

In 2013, Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium, Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia and Condor merged into a single operating segment of a group named the Thomas Cook Group Airlines.^[6][7] Thomas Cook Airlines carried around 6.4 million passengers during 2015, a six per cent increase compared with 2014.^[8]

Collapse

The airline fell into liquidation on 23 September 2019.^[9][10] Airlines around the world took part in ferrying stranded passengers back to the UK, using their aircraft. The repatriation effort covered 165,000 passengers, the largest in UK history, and 65,000 more passengers than the collapse of Monarch Airlines in 2017.^[11] The last flight to depart was MT2643, Registration G-MLJL (Airbus A330-243) from Orlando to Manchester.^[12] The airline's AOC was revoked on 7 November 2019.

Corporate affairs

Overview

Thomas Cook Airlines was part of the airline division of the Thomas Cook Group, which consisted of three more sister airlines, all of which had a joint fleet management: Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia, German-based Condor and Thomas Cook Airlines Balearics. The airline held 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.^[13]

Profits

Business figures

Year	Total passengers	Total flights	Load factor	Passenger change YoY
2005*	9,320,817	47,287	89.9%
2006*	8,441,276	42,182	89.0%	009.4%
2007*	8,528,655	43,013	87.9%	001.0%
2008	8,315,327	42,410	90.0%	002.5%
2009	8,202,534	38,849	92.0%	001.4%
2010	8,120,815	37,571	93.1%	001.0%
2011	7,969,693	36,103	93.3%	001.9%
2012	6,783,661	32,109	94.1%	014.9%
2013	6,084,315	28,438	93.1%	010.3%
2014	6,043,480	28,858	91.4%	000.7%
2015	6,395,623	30,601	91.8%	005.8%
2016	6,623,564	32,208	89.8%	003.6%
2017	7,319,546	35,553	90.2%	10.5%
2018	8,092,208	39,512	90.5%	10.6%
* Data for 2005 to 2007 includes MyTravel Airways Source: United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority [8]

Fleet

Final active fleet

At the time of closure, the Thomas Cook Airlines fleet consisted of the following aircraft:^[15]

Historical fleet

As JMC Air, the airline has previously operated the following aircraft:^[16][17]

Callsigns

The airline has used a number of callsigns:

Cabin

Long haul

Premium economy

Thomas Cook offered 'Premium Class' on most long-haul flights on board their Airbus A330 aircraft.^[21] The cabin offered extra legroom, wider seats with more recline, personal entertainment, complimentary hot meal and drinks.^[21]

Economy Thomas Cook's long-haul 'Economy Class' was offered on all Airbus A330 aircraft. It offered a standard 31-inch of seat-pitch, seat-back entertainment, and complimentary hot meal.^[21] Drinks and additional snacks were available to purchase.^[21]

Short and medium haul

Economy Thomas Cook's short and medium-haul economy cabin on their fleet of A321 aircraft offered a standard seat-pitch of between 28-30-inch at 6-abreast. Drinks and snacks were available to purchase on board or to pre-order and inflight entertainment was available.^[22]

In 2017, the company introduced Economy PLUS, an upgraded economy class package on short and medium-haul flights.^[23] This package included a priority security lane and check-in, an additional 4 kg of hand luggage, inflight drinks and food, access to in-flight entertainment and an option to reserve their seat.^[23]