First Choice Airways Limited was a British
charter airline
Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline).
Regulation
Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights r ...
of European tour operator
TUI Travel PLC, based in
Crawley
Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...
, England until its merger with
Thomsonfly
Thomsonfly was a British charter and scheduled airline. Thomsonfly was the first stage of TUI AG's plans to expand its business within TUI UK prior to September 2007. After TUI UK merged with First Choice Holidays in September 2007, it beca ...
to form Thomson Airways (now
TUI Airways
TUI Airways Limited (formerly Thomsonfly and Thomson Airways) is a British charter airline, offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom and Ireland to destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America.
The airline is t ...
) in 2008. It flew to more than 60 destinations worldwide from 14 UK and Irish airports.
70% of the airline's services were 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 operated scheduled year-round leisure routes to
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
and the resorts of Spain and
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal:
:* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...
.
Its hubs were
Birmingham Airport
Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Boroug ...
,
London Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after ...
(primary hub), and
Manchester Airport
Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those ...
. The long haul services were sold only by internal companies such as First Choice Holidays, Eclipse Direct, Sunsail, Sovereign, Hayes and Jarvis and Unijet. The airline also operated luxury 'Around The World' flights each winter on behalf of
TCS Expeditions.
The company held a
United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the statutory corporation which oversees and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the United Kingdom. Its areas of responsibility include:
* Supervising the issuing of pilots' licences, testing of ...
Type A Operating Licence, permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.
History
Air 2000
The airline started operations on 11 April 1987, launched by the Owners Abroad Group under the name Air 2000, with two
Boeing 757-200
The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978.
The prototype completed its maid ...
s and a flight from Manchester to
Málaga.
The 757s were re-equipped for extended range and flights to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
began in 1989. Their fleet doubled a year later, with one aircraft being based at
Glasgow Airport
Glasgow Airport, also known as Glasgow International Airport (), formerly ''Abbotsinch Airport'', is an international airport in Scotland. It is located in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley, Renfrewshire, west of Glasgow city centre. In 2019, the ai ...
. In the same year, the airline set up a subsidiary in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
, 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
Canada 3000 Airlines Inc. was a Canadian discount charter airline offering domestic and international flights. It was the largest charter airline in the world at the time of its operation, with over 90 destinations worldwide, although it changed ...
.
Long haul services to
Mombasa
Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...
in
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
were introduced during the 1988/89 season. The airline was granted a licence for scheduled operations by the
CAA in 1992, which commenced in 1993, initially between London-Gatwick and
Paphos
Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos.
The current city of ...
, Cyprus. Scheduled services were distinguished by the use of the 'DP' identifier with the flight number, while purely-charter flights used the 'AMM' identifier. Over the next few years scheduled routes to Cyprus from Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle were introduced.
Expansion saw new bases in the UK established, with
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...
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.
This included the entire fleet of aircraft, and an order for four
Airbus A330-200
The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus.
Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 ...
s, which First Choice immediately cancelled in favor of the rival
Boeing 767-300ER
The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified o ...
. In 2000, additional scheduled services were introduced from eight UK airports to six major Spanish and Portuguese holiday destinations. Air 2000 received a new colour scheme which, by March 2004, the ''Air 2000'' branding was removed and ''First Choice Airways'' branding added.
First Choice
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
The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet.
The 777 was designed to bridge the gap b ...
-style interior on their 767 fleet. The company had six aircraft flying long haul in 2007, in a two class layout, 63 Premium, 195 Economy. All seats featured 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
London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, situated east of the town centre, and north of Central London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL), a company wholly owned by ...
and
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...
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.
Merger with Thomsonfly
In March 2008, the tourism division of the airline's parent group
TUI AG
TUI Group is a German leisure, travel and tourism company. TUI is an acronym for ''Touristik Union International'' ("Tourism Union International"). TUI AG was known as Preussag AG until 1997 when the company changed its activities from mining to ...
, merged with
First Choice Holidays PLC
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
, forming the new company
TUI Travel
Tui or TUI may refer to:
Places
* Tui, Pontevedra, Spain
* Tui, Iran, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran
* Tui, North Khorasan, North Khorasan Province, Iran
* Tui Province, Burkina Faso
* Tuis District, Costa Rica
* Tui railway station, New Zealand ...
. Both Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways would be merged as Thomson Airways.
Thomsonfly Limited changed its name to Thomson Airways Limited in November 2008 and the Thomsonfly operating certificate was changed to Thomson Airways with effect from 1 November 2008. On that date,
Thomsonfly
Thomsonfly was a British charter and scheduled airline. Thomsonfly was the first stage of TUI AG's plans to expand its business within TUI UK prior to September 2007. After TUI UK merged with First Choice Holidays in September 2007, it beca ...
and First Choice Airways both rebranded their operations to
Thomson Airways Thomson may refer to:
Names
* Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin
* Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson
Businesses and organizations
* SGS-Thomson M ...
, merging with a fleet of 75 aircraft. There is however an order of 12 new Boeing 787 aircraft which will make the fleet 75 once more.
As of 2 October 2017, Thomson Airways began operating under
TUI Airways
TUI Airways Limited (formerly Thomsonfly and Thomson Airways) is a British charter airline, offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom and Ireland to destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America.
The airline is t ...
, leaving any vestige of UK travel heritage behind.
Corporate affairs

The head office was located in the First Choice House in
Crawley
Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...
,
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an a ...
. When First Choice was an independent airline, 450 employees worked there. After the merger with
Thomsonfly
Thomsonfly was a British charter and scheduled airline. Thomsonfly was the first stage of TUI AG's plans to expand its business within TUI UK prior to September 2007. After TUI UK merged with First Choice Holidays in September 2007, it beca ...
, TUI moved employees out. The final 70-80 employees were relocated to the former
Air 2000
First Choice Airways Limited was a British charter airline of European tour operator TUI Travel PLC, based in Crawley, England until its merger with Thomsonfly to form Thomson Airways (now TUI Airways) in 2008. It flew to more than 60 destinat ...
offices at
Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after ...
.
Destinations
Fleet
Final fleet

The First Choice fleet included the following aircraft (at May 2008):
Aircraft orders
The airline would have been the UK launch customer for the
Boeing 787 Dreamliner
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...
, having placed a firm order for six aircraft in February 2005, with an option for a further six. 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 would not have been able to introduce the aircraft to the fleet until 2011. Each Boeing 787-8 would have replaced a Boeing 767-300 on long haul routes as they were delivered. The deliveries were expected to take around two years, with six aircraft expected to be based at
Manchester Airport
Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those ...
and the remainder based at
London Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after ...
.
The 2008 merger with Thomsonfly meant the newly formed airline, Thomson Airways, inherited the orders and was the UK launch customer. Following the delays in Boeing's development programme, the airline began flights with its first 787 in June 2013
In-flight services
First Choice Airways could include a three course meal pre-ordered for the flight; on First Choice-operated flights it was free of charge if the flight was a long haul flight, if the passengers booked a Premier Holiday. In addition the airline offered drinks, snacks, and sandwiches for purchase as part of a
buy on board
Buy may refer to a trade, i.e., an exchange of goods and services via bartering or a monetary purchase.
The term may also refer to:
Places
*Buy (inhabited locality), any of several inhabited localities in Russia
* Burlington-Alamance Regional Ai ...
programme.
See also
*
List of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom
This is a list of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom.
See also
* List of airlines of the United Kingdom
* List of airports in the United Kingdom and the British Crown Dependencies
References
*
*
{{List of defunct airlines
* ...
References
*
United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is the statutory corporation which oversees and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the United Kingdom. Its areas of responsibility include:
* Supervising the issuing of pilots' licences, testing of ...
Statistics of passengers carried by UK. Airlines 2002 and 2005 (Tables 1.6.0)
External links
*
ead Linkbr>
Official website(Archive)
{{Airlines of the United Kingdom
Airlines established in 1987
Airlines disestablished in 2008
Defunct airlines of the United Kingdom
Companies based in Crawley
TUI Group