Sunclass Airlines A/S (formerly Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

charter airline Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...

that operates charter services from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The company is affiliated with Ving Group, a Nordic tour operator. It and Ving Group were a part of Thomas Cook Group until 23 December 2019 when Norwegian investor Petter Stordalen and Strawberry Group rebranded the company as Sunclass Airlines. The airline was originally founded in 1994 as Premiair. It was renamed MyTravel Airways in 2002 before being renamed ''Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia'' when Thomas Cook Group acquired the previous parent company

MyTravel 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 t ...

. In 2019, the airline was renamed Sunclass Airlines after Thomas Cook Group entered liquidation.

History

The airline's roots trace back to two airlines:

Conair of Scandinavia Conair of Scandinavia A/S was a Danish charter airline which operated between 1965 and 1993. Established by Simon Spies, it originally had a fleet of Douglas DC-7 aircraft, taken over from Flying Enterprise. From about 1970, the airline rep ...

owned by Danish Spies Group and Scanair, of the Swedish SLG - Scandinavian Leisure Group. It formed when the two charter airlines were merged and was established on 1 January 1994 as ''Premiair A/S''. In 1994, SLG was acquired by

Airtours 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 t ...

; on 1 May 2002, the airline was renamed ''MyTravel Airways A/S'' (''MyTravel Airways Scandinavia''). In May 2008, after

was acquired by Thomas Cook Group, the airline was renamed to ''Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia''. On 23 September 2019, Thomas Cook Group plc went into administration and ceased trading with immediate effect after failing to secure £200 million in emergency funding. Causing the airline to initially suspended operations, but has since resumed flights. It continued to operate flights to leisure destinations, mainly in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

and the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, as well as some long-haul service from several bases in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

until November 2019. On 30 October 2019, it was announced that a new investment consortium consisting of Norwegian businessman Petter Stordalen (Strawberry Group) and two private firms ( Altor Equity Partners and

TDR Capital TDR Capital is a British private equity firm headquartered in London, England. History TDR Capital was co-founded in 2002 by Manjit Dale, Stephen Robertson, and Tudor Capital.

) had acquired Ving Group (also known as Thomas Cook Northern Europe) from

AlixPartners AlixPartners is a financial advisory and global consulting firm best known for its work in the turnaround space.Merx, Katie. "Thinking Big Thoughts." ''Crain's Detroit Business'' 19.36 (2003): 18. ''Regional Business News.'' Web. 29 May 2013. J ...

which handled the acquisitions of Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia, Ving, Tjäreborg and Spies and was also one of the liquidators of Thomas Cook Group. Following the acquisition, Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia was renamed ''Sunclass Airlines'' and acquired a new

air operator's certificate An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets, and system in pla ...

(AOC). While the Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia name would continue to be present to passengers including on tickets, airport signage and aircraft liveries for an unspecified period during the rebranding process to the Sunclass Airlines name, the airline would retain Thomas Cook's original "sunny heart" logo as part of its branding. On 26 November 2019, it was announced the airline had secured its new AOC. In December 2020, just over a year since its rebrand, Sunclass unveiled a rebrand, doing away with the sunny heart logo associated with the Thomas Cook Group to make way for its own new identity. In November 2021, Sunclass Airlines announced an Airbus A330neo would be delivered in 2022 for its long-haul operations.

Destinations

Fleet

Current fleet

OY-VKD_A321_Thomas_Cook_ACE_31-03-17_(34299393723)

, the Sunclass Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Former fleet

Sunclass Airlines had previously operated the following aircraft:

References

External links

* {{Thomas Cook Group Airlines of Denmark Airlines established in 1994 Companies based in Copenhagen Charter airlines Danish companies established in 1994