Travel City Direct
Encyclopedia
Virgin Holidays
Virgin Holidays Limited is a company within Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, headquartered in "The Office" in Crawley, West Sussex. The company was formed in 1985, a year after the successful launch of Virgin Atlantic Airways in June 1984...
. It was previously the trading name of the Really Great Holiday Company PLC, a British holiday company based in Crawley
Crawley
Crawley is a town and local government district with Borough status in West Sussex, England. It is south of Charing Cross, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town of Chichester, covers an area of and had a population of 99,744 at the time of the 2001 Census.The area has...
(close to London Gatwick Airport
London Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport is located 3.1 miles north of the centre of Crawley, West Sussex, and south of Central London. Previously known as London Gatwick,In 2010, the name changed from London Gatwick Airport to Gatwick Airport...
), specialising in holidays to the United States. The company was part of the third largest tour operator in the United Kingdom, the XL Leisure Group
XL Leisure Group
The XL Leisure Group was a major tour operating company in the UK, consisting of charter and scheduled airlines, holiday companies and flight-only tour operators. It also has operations in France, Germany, Ireland, Australia and Cyprus...
and was the UK's largest direct sell tour operator to Florida.
Boardman & Wignall
The company was established by the Boardman & Wignall family of Swansea in 1992 following the sale of their retail travel division Winston Rees Travel to Going Places and was purchased in 2005 by Avion Group Iceland which also owned a majority stake in XL Airways.Travel City Direct chartered flights from American Trans Air in the early days using Lockheed Tristar aircraft which stopped in Gander Newfoundland to refuel onroute. In 2002 Travel City Direct changed airline operators to European Aviation based in Bournemouth using Ex British Airways Boeing 747 Aircraft that were acquired from BA after September 11. In 2003 Travel City Direct also started using Air Atlanta Europe Boeing 747 aircraft in addition to European Aviation to meet the demand for their holidays, this resulted in over 20 flights per week to Orlando in Summer 03.
XL Leisure Group
Due to financial instabilities with European Aviation in 2004, Travel City switched all its flying to Air Atlanta Europe in March 2004 and branded all aircraft in Travel City Direct livery. XL Airways which was also part of Air Atlanta Icelandic took over the operating of Air Atanta Europe in 2005 and subsequently took over the year round operations to Orlando Sanford International AirportOrlando Sanford International Airport
Orlando-Sanford International Airport is a public commercial air service airport in Sanford, Florida, near Orlando. It was originally constructed as a military installation known as Naval Air Station Sanford that was in operation as a Master Jet Base for carrier-based attack and reconnaissance...
from Manchester Airport and London Gatwick Airport
London Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport is located 3.1 miles north of the centre of Crawley, West Sussex, and south of Central London. Previously known as London Gatwick,In 2010, the name changed from London Gatwick Airport to Gatwick Airport...
. During the summer season XL Airways operated up to 16 flights a week with additional departures from Glasgow International Airport
Glasgow International Airport
Glasgow International Airport is an international airport in Scotland, located west of Glasgow city centre, near the towns of Paisley and Renfrew in Renfrewshire...
and Cardiff International Airport
Cardiff International Airport
Cardiff Airport is an international airport serving Cardiff, and the rest of South, Mid and West Wales. Around 1.4 million passengers passed through the airport in 2010....
using the Air Atlanta Icelandic owned Boeing 747 aircraft.
The XL management team commenced on a management buyout of XL Airways & Travel City Direct in 2006 which was funded by a loan from Avion that was due to be repaid in 2008 prior to the collapse.
Virgin Group
On 12 September 2008 the XL Leisure Group which owned Travel City Direct went into administration, and subsequently shut down operations after the administrators could not secure funding for XL, however, on 18 December 2008 it was announced that Virgin HolidaysVirgin Holidays
Virgin Holidays Limited is a company within Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, headquartered in "The Office" in Crawley, West Sussex. The company was formed in 1985, a year after the successful launch of Virgin Atlantic Airways in June 1984...
had acquired the trading name of Travel City Direct and then resurrected operations again under the Travel City Direct brand on 5 January 2009. Unlike the previous incarnation used by the collapsed XL Leisure Group, which had dedicated flights for Travel City Direct into Orlando Sanford, Travel City Direct will be using seats on Virgin Atlantic scheduled flights into the larger Orlando International Airport.
Current product
Travel City Direct currently offers package holidays to Florida, inclusive of flights and accommodation, flying with Virgin Atlantic Airways from Manchester, Glasgow, Heathrow and Gatwick to Orlando International Airport or Miami International Airport. The company also sells flydrive packages to Florida.Travel City Direct also offers package holidays to the Caribbean, featuring Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua, St Lucia, Grenada, Tobago and Cuba.
Cruise and stay options are offered through the new dedicated cruise company, Travel City Direct Cruises.