Airtours International Airways was a charter

Charter

A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...

 airline based in the United Kingdom with its head office in Parkway Three in the Parkway Business Centre in Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

.

History

Launched in March 1991 with just five MD83 series aircraft, Airtours International Airways was to be the in-house airline of Airtours Holidays.

In 1993, Airtours acquired Aspro Holidays (Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

) including Aspro's Inter European Airways

Inter European Airways

-History:Inter European Airways commenced operation in May 1987.Initial plans had indicated the use of two Boeing 737-300 aircraft, but in place of these a single 737-200 leased from GPA was used....

 subsidiary. This acted to further strengthen the process of vertical integration that was becoming popular among UK holiday companies.

In 1996, Airtours took full control of Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

n airline PremiAir.

In 2004, as part of the final phase of its financial restructuring, Airtours International Airways was re-branded as MyTravel Airways

MyTravel Airways

MyTravel Airways was a United Kingdom scheduled and charter airline with headquarters in Manchester, England. It operated worldwide holiday charter services mainly for its parent company, the MyTravel Group....

 UK. PremiAir, the Scandinavian operator, was re-branded as MyTravel Airways A/S

MyTravel Airways A/S

Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia is a charter airline based in Copenhagen, Denmark and Stockholm, Sweden, operating inclusive tour flights to holiday destinations in Europe and the Mediterranean, as well as long-haul services, out of its base at Copenhagen Airport and other airports in the Nordic...

.

In June 2007 it was announced that MyTravel Airways UK was to merge with Thomas Cook Airlines

Thomas Cook Airlines

Thomas Cook Airlines is a British charter airline based in Manchester, England. It serves main holiday resorts worldwide, from its main bases at Manchester and Gatwick.The airline also operates services from nine other bases in the United Kingdom....

, and that MyTravel Airways' Scandinavian subsidiary was to become Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia. The merger between the two UK airlines was completed in March 2008 and the rebranding of MyTravel Airways A/S was completed in May 2008.

Fleet

Airtours International Airways operated the following fleet (summer 2000):

• Airbus A320-200 x 10
• Boeing 757-200 x 6
• Airbus A321-200 x 4
• Boeing 767-300ER x 3
• Airbus A330-200 x 3
• McDonnell Douglas MD-83 x 16

Many of these aircraft were rebranded and transferred to Thomas Cook Airlines

Thomas Cook Airlines

Thomas Cook Airlines is a British charter airline based in Manchester, England. It serves main holiday resorts worldwide, from its main bases at Manchester and Gatwick.The airline also operates services from nine other bases in the United Kingdom....

 Although the MD83'S Were Retired in 1997.

Rebranding

The rebranding of Airtours International Airways was part of a larger rebranding of the whole MyTravel Group. Airtours Holidays still trades as part of the Thomas Cook Group PLC.

External links

• Airtours (archive)
• Airtours Holidays
• Airtours Fleet