Excel Airways

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Excel Airways

IATA JN	ICAO XLA	Callsign EXPO
Founded		1994 as Sabre Airways
Hubs		London Gatwick Airport Manchester Glasgow International Airport
Focus cities / secondary hubs		Newcastle Airport Bristol Airport Nottingham East Midlands Airport Birmingham International Airport Cardiff International Airport Humberside Airport London Stansted Airport
Fleet size		21(+4 on summer lease and 9 on order)
Destinations		Varies
Parent company		XL Leisure Group
Headquarters		Crawley, England, United Kingdom
Key people		CEO Phil Wyatt COO Steve Tomlinson
Website: http://www.xl.com

Excel Airways is a charter airline with headquarters at Crawley in the United Kingdom. It provides mainly short-haul services to European and Middle Eastern leisure destinations from its three bases of London Gatwick (LGW), Manchester (MAN),Glasgow (GLA). The airline also operates services from Newcastle Airport, Bristol Airport, Nottingham East Midlands Airport, Birmingham International Airport, Cardiff International Airport, Humberside Airport, London Stansted and Belfast International Airport. Some long-haul services are operated also.

The company holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, which permits it to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.[1]

1 History
2 Awards
3 Fleet
4 External links
5 References

[edit] History

The airline was established in 1994 as Sabre Airways and started operations on 17 December 1994. The name Excel was adopted following the acquisition in November 2000 of a 67% stake by Libra Holidays Group, and subsequently increased. In March 2004 Avion Group completed the purchase of 40.5% of Excel Airways Group, and the share stake soon increased.

In December 2004 Excel Airways was presented with the award of 'Worlds Leading Charter Airline' for 2004 at the World Travel Awards in Barbados.

Excel Airways Boeing 737-400 takes off at Bristol International Airport, England

In January 2005, Excel Airways Group launched XL.com. This was accompanied by the rebranding of the aircraft within the Excel fleet.

In October 2005, Excel Airways was awarded with 'Best Charter Airline' by readers of the UK newspaper the Daily Telegraph. The company also received 'World's Leading Charter Airline' for the second year running.

In November 2005 a modified livery was introduced, larger Excel Airways titles, an emblem on the engines and XL.com on the tail.

In March 2006 Excel Airways signed an agreement with GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS) for the lease of two Next-Generation Boeing 737-900ER (Extended Range) aircraft being marketed by Boeing in 2007 and two Boeing 737-800s with a delivery in the second quarter in 2007. In addition four Boeing 737-800s will be added to the fleet in the first six months of 2007, two from ILFC (International Lease Finance Corporation) and two from RBS Aviation Capital (part of Royal Bank of Scotland). All the aircraft are leased for eight years as a part of the Group’s aircraft fleet renewal plan.

in April 2006 Excel secured 100% of the share capital of Kosmar Villa Holidays Plc (‘Kosmar’), with effect from 2 May 2006.

In May 2006 Excel Airways announced that it would be launching an international airline in Ireland and would commence flights in summer 2007 to destinations including Florida, Mainland Spain, the Balearics, Canary Islands, Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Cyprus and Egypt.

In May 2006 Excel Airways acquired 3 Boeing 747-300 with the merger of sister company Air Atlanta Europe

XL.com, the airlines website, is managed by a call centre style team based in Swansea Enterprise Park. They deal with all interent bookings, customers service needs and telephone bookings. The call centre is managed by Travel City Direct.

On 30 October 2006, members of management bought-out XL Leisure Group from Avion Group. XL Leisure Group consists of Excel Airways Group in the UK, Star Airlines France and Star Europe in Germany.

[edit] Awards

Best Charter Airline 2006 - Travel Bulletin
World's Leading Charter Airline 2005 - World Travel Awards
World's Leading Charter Airline 2004 - World Travel Awards
Best Charter Airline 2005 - Telegraph Travel Awards
Best Charter Airline 2004 - Telegraph Travel Awards
FlightOnTime.info UK Charter Airline Punctuality Awards Summer 2002 - Runner Up

[edit] Fleet

The Excel Airways fleet includes the following aircraft (as of 8 November 2006) ^[1]:

10 Boeing 737-800, Registered G-OXLA/B, G-XLAA/B/C/D/F/G/I/J
2 Boeing 757-200, Registered G-VKNA, G-VKND
2 Boeing 767-200ER, Registered G-BOBP, G-BNYS
3 Boeing 767-300ER, Registered G-VKNG, G-VKNH, G-VKNI

Other aircraft:

3 Boeing 747-300, Reg. TF-AME, TF-AMJ, TF-AMK to operate for Travel City Direct.
2 Airbus A320-200 Registered 9H-AEF, 9H-AEN

Aircraft on winter leases 2006/2007:

G-XLAD to Miami Air as N906MA 10 Nov 06 - 31 Mar 07
G-XLAE to Sunwing as C-FTAE 01 Dec 06 - 31 Mar 07
G-XLAF to Sunwing as C-FTAF 01 Dec 06 - 31 Mar 07
G-XLAG to Xtra Airways 15 Nov 06 - 31 Mar 07
G-XLAH to Sunwing as C-FTAH 01 Dec 06 - 31 Mar 07
G-XLAI to Xtra Airways 15 Nov 06 - 31 Mar 07
G-XLAJ to Travelspan Airlines 10 Nov 06 - 31 Mar 07

Aircraft for disposal

Boeing 757-200 G-VKNB - Onward to Flyglobespan
Boeing 757-200 G-VKNC - Onward to Flyglobespan

Aircraft Orders:

2 Boeing 747-400 to be delivered from ANA, Q4 2006, to operate for Travel City Direct.
4 Boeing 737-800 to be delivered from Boeing in Q2 2007.
2 Boeing 737-900 to be delivered from Boeing in Q2 2007
2 Airbus A330 to be delivered from Airbus, first due December 2008