Category Archives: Thomas Cook Airlines (UK)

Avion Express leases two Airbus A321s for Thomas Cook Airlines

Avion Express has signed a leasing agreement with AviaAM Leasing, a Warsaw Stock Exchange listed aircraft leasing company, for two Airbus A321 aircraft.

Under the operating lease agreement, Avion Express will operate the aircraft for the next 6 years. Both aircraft will operate for Thomas Cook Airlines during the summer season.

Avion Express is the largest narrow-body ACMI operator in the world successfully working with clients in Europe, South America, Asia-Pacific and the Caribbean regions. In 2018 Avion Express will operate 18 Airbus A320 family aircraft.

Photo: Avion Express.

easyJet extends ‘Worldwide by easyJet’ to seven airports and adds new connections airline partners

easyJet has announced that it is extending its ‘Worldwide by easyJet’ connections platform to Berlin Tegel, Venice Marco Polo, Amsterdam Schiphol, Paris Charles De Gaulle and Orly and Edinburgh airports. This means that, combined with the connections already announced through London Gatwick and Milan Malpensa, over half of the airline’s flights – and 53 million easyJet customers a year – will be able to connect to airline partner services and other easyJet flights in a single booking through easyJet’s digital booking portal.

easyJet has also brought new connecting airlines onto the ‘Worldwide by easyJet’ booking platform and has also announced partnerships with Thomas Cook Airlines at Gatwick meaning easyJet customers can now travel as far as the Caribbean or to the USA, Africa and the Indian Ocean with La Compagnie and Corsair who will both fly from Paris Orly.

easyJet’s existing relationship with WestJet and Norwegian will enable the airlines to offer long haul connectivity at more of Europe’s biggest hub airports – Norwegian will extend connecting services from Paris Charles De Gaulle and Paris Orly in the coming weeks, from Amsterdam Schiphol in the summer when the airline launches its service to New York from the Dutch capital and also from Edinburgh. Meanwhile easyJet’s existing relationship with Loganair will allow easyJet customers to connect to the highlands and Islands via Edinburgh.

Worldwide by easyJet

Airport Go live date Partners

Gatwick September 2017 Norwegian, Thomas Cook Airlines,

WestJet, Aurigny

Venice Mid-April 2018 To be announced

Paris CDG Spring 2018 Norwegian

Paris Orly Spring 2018 Corsair, La Compagnie, Norwegian

Milan Malpensa Spring 2018 Neos, Norwegian

Berlin Tegel Summer 2018 To be announced

Amsterdam Schiphol Summer 2018 Norwegian

Edinburgh tbc 2018 Loganair, Norwegian

Inverness tbc 2018 Loganair

Worldwide by easyJet explained

‘Worldwide by easyJet’ is the first global airline connections service by a European low fares airline. Legacy airlines have traditionally offered connectivity through costly and complex interline and codeshare agreements and procedures. With Worldwide by easyJet these will be replicated by self-connect and sales partnerships through a digital, virtual hub which will offer the same sort of connectivity but more simply and efficiently.

easyJet has leadership positions at more of Europe’s major airports and flies on more of Europe’s 100 largest routes than any other airline which makes it the most attractive European short haul airline partner. The introduction of this disruptive product opens up new 70m market segment for easyJet.

All of this connectivity has been enabled by technology partner Dohop whose innovative platform allows easyJet customers to book connections and forward flights on easyJet.com. Worldwide by easyJet will also allow easyJet passengers to connect with other easyJet flights through partner airports.

Worldwide by easyJet does not impact easyJet’s punctuality, its asset utilisation or operating model. The airline will not hold flights for connecting passengers. Worldwide by easyJet is subject to a 2 hour 30 minute ‘Minimum Connection Time’, which will give customers plenty of time to transfer between flights and/or terminals. Should a passenger miss a connecting flight they will be transferred to the next available flight.

Top Photo: easyJet.

easyJet (UK) aircraft slide show:

Bottom Copyright Photo: easyJet (UK) Airbus A319-111 G-EZDA (msn 3413) LGW (Antony J. Best). Image: 926668.

Thomas Cook Airlines UK quietly retires its last two Boeing 767-300s

Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) has quietly stopped operating its last two 326-seat Boeing 767-300s (G-DAJC and G-TCCB). Both aircraft have not operated since November 2, 2017 and are now parked at Manchester minus any titles.

The airline has not made any official announcement.

Sister airline Condor of Germany will continue to operate the type.

Copyright Photo: Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) (Thomas Cook.com) Boeing 767-31K ER WL G-DAJC (msn 27206) PMI (Ton Jochems). Image: 913330.

Thomas Cook announces new U.S. routes from Manchester, cancels London Gatwick-Reno plans

Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) (Manchester) has announced that it is expanding its services to the United States from its Manchester hub. From May 2016, the carrier will fly to Los Angeles and Boston. Thomas Cook’s fleet of Airbus A330-200s will most likely serve the routes, which, as previously reported, already serve routes to New York (JFK) and Miami as well as seasonal services to Las Vegas and Orlando.

Unfortunately, if you are one of the people eagerly waiting for Thomas Cook to open its seasonal service from London Gatwick to Reno, Nevada beginning on December 19, your luck may be out. The Reno Gazette is reporting that the carrier has abandoned its plans for the route, citing U.S. Customs’ inability to process London arrivals at Reno-Tahoe International Airport in a timely manner.

Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock reporting from Manchester.

Copyright Photo: Stefan Sjogren/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 G-OMYT (msn 301) in the old 2002 livery with the Sunny Heart tail logo prepares to land at Stockholm (Arlanda).

Thomas Cook Airlines aircraft slide show:

Thomas Cook Airlines inaugurates new USA services

Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) (Manchester) has begun its newest services to North America from its base at Manchester. With twice-weekly flights to Miami began on May 3 and thrice weekly New York JFK services beginning on May 5 respectively. The services are being flown by the carrier’s fleet of Airbus A330-200s, with the inaugural flight to Miami being served by the first aircraft to be fully painted in the airline’s new 2013 “Sunny Heart” livery. Thomas Cook also began seasonal services between Glasgow (International) and Las Vegas on May 4.

Thomas Cook stated on their Facebook page on the day of the first Miami flight:

“Welcome to Miami! Our first flight touched down in the ‘magic city’. Have fun everyone, we are not jealous… Much!!”

The first Miami flight was treated with the signature water canon salute (above).

Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock reporting from Manchester.

Photo Above: Thomas Cook Airlines.

Thomas Cook Airlines aircraft slide show:

Is the end coming for Thomas Cook in the airline business?

Thomas Cook, the world’s oldest travel group, is considering selling its airline arm, Thomas Cook Group, as it continues to recover from its near-collapse in 2011.

According to the Independent, the company, which can trace its roots back to 1841 when Thomas Cook arranged for 500 people to travel between Leicester and Loughborough for a shilling, has reportedly sounded out potential buyers for the airline group. These are believed to include rival carriers and private equity investors, although no talks are currently taking place.

The holiday giant found itself under a mountain of debt in 2011 but has since axed jobs and shut high-street shops.

“We are always open for opportunities, which might include partnering with other partners/airlines,” it said in a statement.

However, it added: “We are very pleased with the development of our airlines. We have refurbished the cabins of our long-haul fleet and added long-haul aircraft to our Condor fleet in Germany and the UK. We see our airlines as an important part of our business.”

Thomas Cook AG currently has 88 active aircraft in it’s fleet, spanning 4 airlines: Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) (29) (Manchester), Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium (3) (Brussels), Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia (14) (Copenhagen-Oslo-Stockholm) and Condor Flugdienst (42) (Frankfurt), making it the 11th largest airline operator in Europe, and has ordered 25 new Airbus A321s (above) to replace older aircraft. However such moves could affect the order as well as result in airlines being shutting down or being rebranded.

The airline has refuted the conjecture in the UK media according to ch-aviation.

Could this be the end for the Thomas Cook we’ve come to know for so many years? Watch this space.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Assistant Editor Oliver Wilcock reporting from Manchester.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) Airbus A321-211 WL G-TCDD (msn 6038) taxies to the gate at Palma de Mallorca.

Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) aircraft slide show:

Video: Time Lapse of Thomas Cook Airlines‘ Airbus A330 cabin refurbishment

Video: Thomas Cook Airlines. Cabin refurbishment of Thomas Cook Airlines‘ Airbus A330, carried out at Monarch Aircraft Engineering’s hangar facility at Manchester Airport.

Thomas Cook Airlines is coming to Reno, Nevada

Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) (Manchester) will launch seasonal twice-weekly Airbus A330-200 London (Gatwick)-Reno flights from December 19, 2015 through April 9, 2016 per Airline Route.

Copyright Photo: Tony Storck/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 G-OYMT (msn 301) taxies at Baltimore/Washington (BWI).

Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) Aircraft Slide Show:

Thomas Cook Airlines to operate long-haul flights from London’s Stansted Airport

Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) (Manchester) has announced that for the summer schedule of 2015, it will operate long-haul flights from London’s Stansted Airport to Orlando, Cancun and Las Vegas, becoming the only airline to offer a long haul program from the airport.

Last year, Thomas Cook Airlines announced that from this June it will operate two aircraft from Stansted Airport – using the larger Airbus A321 aircraft replacing the existing Airbus A320 – bringing an increased amount of flights and holidays which are now on sale for holidaymakers from the East and South East of England to a range of new destinations.

With the long-haul flights on a larger Airbus A330, the additional flights in 2015 will begin on the weekend of Friday, July 17, 2015 with two flights a week to Orlando and one per week to both Cancun and Las Vegas – and continue up until August 17, 2015.

In other news, the airline also announced that for the summer of 2015, it will operate a weekly flight to Las Vegas from Glasgow Airport following a series of one-off flights to the U.S. in recent summers. Operating each Monday with the Airbus A330 fleet, the new flights in 2015 will begin on Monday 4 May 4, 2015 and continue until October 31, 2015.

Previously the airline announced new Airbus A330 routes from Manchester to both New York (JFK) and Miami.

Copyright Photo: Keith Burton/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 G-OJMC (msn 456) approaches the runway at London’s Gatwick Airport (LGW).

Thomas Cook Airlines (UK):

Thomas Cook Airlines to add new routes from Manchester to Miami and New York

Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) (Manchester) is returning and will commence scheduled passenger services at Miami International Airport (MIA) effective on May 3, 2015. Thomas Cook plans on operating twice-weekly nonstops between Manchester and MIA utilizing Airbus A330-200 aircraft. The new route is seasonal and is expected to be operated for eight months.

The airline is also starting three times a week service from Manchester to New York (JFK) starting also in May.

The airline currently operates from Manchester to Orlando and Las Vegas.

Copyright Photo: Arnd Wolf/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 G-OMYT (msn 301) with the new Thomas Cook Group “Sunny Heart” logo on the tail arrives in Munich.

The new Thomas Cook Group “Sunny Heart” logo: