The UK charter market has always been volatile, with economic downturns and upticks providing opportunity and disaster. During the 1990s as the economy recovered several new carriers started up but many lasted only a short time as market consolidation of their tour operator owners took-off. One of these was Leisure International.
This post is dedicated to Mike Cage of MLC Customs who made this wonderful custom model.
Leisure International is of course always associated with Air UK Leisure, however the two airlines were semi-independent of each other, at least at first. Air UK Leisure began operations in 1988 as the charter arm of the UK regional AirUK. It was a joint venture between AirUK (30%), its parent B&C Holdings (30%) and Viking International travel group (40%).
Air UK Leisure’s 737 continued independently of Leisure International’s however by early 1996 the decision was taken to combine the two brands under the Leisure International name. This decision also came at the same time as the 737-400s left the fleet.
The three new CFM powered A320s were leased from GATX and had all seen service previously with Excalibur Airways (see – Camelot: Excalibur Airways). They replaced 7 737s suggesting the short-haul operation was substantially reduced that season.
Meanwhile in June 1996 it was announced that Unijet had decided to takeover the full Leisure International operations by acquiring the 60% stake held by AirUK and its parent. A single A321 was added in July 1997 with a further pair on order for the 98 season.
The airline’s fleet grew in early 1998 as the other pair of brand new A321-211s joined, however the last of the three would never operate in the Leisure Int scheme or take up a G-UNIx registration. Instead it gained a G-OOAx reg and was in a Firsct Choice hybrid scheme because Unijet sold itself. The late 90s saw major consolidations within the British travel industry and in June 1998 it was announced that Unijet had been acquired by First Choice Holidays for £110 million.
At the same time as the deal was announced First Choice also acquired another travel company, Hayes & Jarvis, which offered upmarket long-haul trips, and Thomas Cook acquired Flying Colours (and its associated airline). Interest had been shown in Unijet by both Airtours and the US Carlson group, and First Choice itself had bid on Flying Colours. The result of all this was that the UK leisure market was split between four main large operators, each with their own airline.
Obviously the acquisition of its parent spelled the end of Leisure International Airways and it was quickly merged into First Choice’s own airline, Air 2000, with the final completion in November 1998. Somewhat ironically Unijet had made profits of £10.2 million in 1997 on sales of £308 million whilst First Choice has lost £17.8 million in the previous 6 months!
From First Choice’s perspective they saw synergies by merging the airlines and had strong summer season bookings for 1998 and the following winter season. First Choice said:
“The travel industry was learning that piling on capacity only to be forced into heavy discounting was a recipe for financial disaster.”
References
1993. World Airline Fleets News Issue 70. June 1993
1996. May. Leisure puts its A320-200s to work. Flight Global
1996, June. Unijet to take control of Leisure International. Flight Global
1998. Leisure International Airways ordered two A330-200s. Aviation Week
1998. Travel giants tighten their grip. The Independent
2000. Hengi, B. Airlines Remembered.
