MyTravel Group

"Airtours" redirects here. Not to be confused with British Airtours, a BA subsidiary airline.

This article is about MyTravel Group before its merger with Thomas Cook AG. For the new company, see Thomas Cook Group.

MyTravel Group plc was a British, global travel group headquartered in Rochdale, England. It was founded in 1972 as Airtours Group. The group included two in-house airlines, MyTravel Airways UK and MyTravel Airways Scandinavia, and various tour operators around the world. On 19 June 2007, the group merged with Thomas Cook AG to form the Thomas Cook Group plc.

MyTravel Group

Formerly	Airtours Group plc
Company type	Public
Traded as	LSE: MT-S FTSE 250 Component
Industry	Hospitality, tourism
Founded	1972; 53 years ago (1972) (as Airtours Group)
Founder	David Crossland
Defunct	19 June 2007; 18 years ago (2007-06-19)
Fate	Merged with Thomas Cook AG
Successor	Thomas Cook Group plc
Headquarters	Rochdale, England
Key people	Michael Beckett (Chairman) Peter McHugh (CEO)
Products	Charter and scheduled passenger airlines, package holidays, cruise lines, hotels and resorts
Revenue	£2,790 million (2006)
Number of employees	13,000 (2006)[1]
Parent	Thomas Cook Group (2007)
Subsidiaries	MyTravel Tour Operations MyTravel Airways (UK) MyTravel Airways Scandinavia BCT Travel Group Direct Holidays Tjæreborg Spies Ving ALBA Tours Sunquest Vacations

The successor to MyTravel Group: Thomas Cook Group, entered Compulsory liquidation on 23 September 2019.

History

The group was founded under the Airtours brand in 1972, when David Crossland purchased a series of small travel agencies in Lancashire, United Kingdom.^[2] The group began operating package holidays and launched its own in-house charter airline, in the early 1990's.^[2] It offered their first charter flights to the Caribbean at that time for just £299.^[3]

In 1993 Airtours purchased Aspro Holidays and their in-house airline Inter European Airways. The aircraft were merged into Airtours International Airways and repainted in their livery.^[4]

In 1994, Airtours purchased Scandinavian Leisure Group and in 1996 it bought Simon Spies Holding, a Danish rival.^[5]

In 2002, Airtours Group plc, rebranded under the new company-wide banner of MyTravel Group plc. This included a name change for Airtours International and Premiair to MyTravel Airways.^[6]

In November 2003, MyTravel sold off its North America Cruise Division to NLG (National Leisure Group) of Woburn, Massachusetts.^[7]

On 12 February 2007, MyTravel Group plc announced that they had agreed terms on a merger with Thomas Cook AG to form Thomas Cook Group plc.^[8]

Operations

Tour Operators

Name	Country	Fate
MyTravel Tour Operations Limited	United Kingdom	Merged into Thomas Cook Tour Operations[8]
Panorama Holiday Group Limited	United Kingdom	Transferred to Thomas Cook Group (2007)[8] Dissolution (2014)[9]
BCT Travel Group Limited	United Kingdom	Transferred to Thomas Cook Group (2007)[8] Rebranded to Thomas Cook Scheduled Tour Operations Limited (2008)[10] Dissolution (2015)[10]
Direct Holidays plc	United Kingdom	Dissolution (2013)[11]
Tjæreborg	Denmark Finland	Transferred to Thomas Cook Group (2007)[8]
Spies	Denmark	Transferred to Thomas Cook Group (2007)[8]
Ving	Denmark Norway Sweden	Transferred to Thomas Cook Group (2007)[8]
ALBA Tours	Canada	Transferred to Thomas Cook Group (2007)[8]
Sunquest Vacations	Canada	Transferred to Thomas Cook Group (2007)[8] Sold to Red Label Vacations (2013)[12]

Airlines

Airline	Country	Image	Description	Fate
MyTravel Airways Limited	United Kingdom		MyTravel Airways Limited was a British scheduled and charter airline, formerly known as Airtours International.	Transferred to Thomas Cook Group (2007)[8] Merged with Thomas Cook Airlines UK (2008)[8]
MyTravel Airways A/S	Denmark		MyTravel Airways was a Scandinavian scheduled and charter airline.	Transferred to Thomas Cook Group (2007)[8] Rebranded to Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia (2008)[8]