Sunclass Airlines

Sunclass Airlines A/S (formerly Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia) is a Danish charter airline that operate 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.[1]

Sunclass Airlines A/S
IATA ICAO Callsign
DK VKG VIKING
Founded1 January 1994 (as Premiair A/S)
Commenced operations
  • 1 January 1994 (as Premiair A/S)
  • 2002 (as MyTravel Airways A/S)
  • 2008 (as Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia)
  • 1 November 2019 (as Sunclass Airlines)
Operating bases
Fleet size12
Destinations34
Parent companyStrawberry Group (40%)
Altor Funds (40%)
TDR Capital (20%)
HeadquartersCopenhagen, Denmark
Websitesunclassairlines.dk

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. 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, 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;[2] in 2002 the airline was renamed MyTravel Airways A/S (MyTravel Airways Scandinavia).

In 2008 when MyTravel Group was acquired by Thomas Cook Group, the airline was renamed Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia.[3]

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,[4] but has since resumed flights.[5][6][7] It continued to operate flights to leisure destinations, mainly in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands, as well as some long-haul service from several bases in the Nordic Countries until November 2019.[8]

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) had acquired Ving Group (also known as Thomas Cook Northern Europe) from AlixPartners, which handled the acquisitions of Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia, Ving, Tjäreborg and Spies, and was also one of the liquidators of Thomas Cook Group.[9] Following the acquisition, Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia was renamed Sunclass Airlines and acquired a new air operator's certificate.[10][11]

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.[12]

On 26 November 2019, it was announced the airline had secured its new Air Operating Certificate (AOC).[13]

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 it had previously been owned by to make way for its own new identity.[14]

Destinations
Main article: List of Sunclass Airlines destinations

Fleet
OY-TCD Final for Copenhagen Airport with its new livery representing its name and new logo featured here on one of their Airbus A321-200
A Sunclass Airlines Airbus A321-200 on approach into Lanzarote Airport, wearing the former Thomas Cook Group Airlines titles.

As of November 2019, the Sunclass Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:[15][16]


Sunclass Airlines fleet
Aircraft In

service

 Orders Passengers Notes
P Y Total
Airbus A321-200 8 — — 212 212
Airbus A330-200 1 — 49 273 322
Airbus A330-300 3 — — 388 388
396 396
Total 12 —

References
  1. Nikel, David. "Norwegian Billionaire Invests In Thomas Cook Scandinavia, Airline To Rebrand". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  2. "pounds 10m Danish buy takes Airtours to Finland". The Independent. 1996-02-16. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  3. "Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia - History". thomascookairlinesscandinavia-newsroom.condor.com. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  4. "Informasjon i forbindelse med Thomas Cooks konkurssøknad" [Information in connection with Thomas Cook's bankruptcy application]. Ving Norge (in Norwegian). 23 September 2019. Archived from the original on 23 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  5. News, Alliance (2019-09-24). "Thomas Cook Airline In Nordic Region To Resume Flights". MorningstarUK. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  6. Rohr-Staff, Siri (23 September 2019). "Vinggruppen i Norden fortsetter å investere (Translated: "The Ving Group in the Nordics continues to invest)". Ving.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2019-09-23. For our travelers, Thomas Cook Group's bankruptcy has no direct impact
  7. News, Alliance (2019-09-24). "Thomas Cook Airline In Nordic Region To Resume Flights". MorningstarUK. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  8. "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-10. p. 54.
  9. TTR Weekly (1 November 2019). "Investors rescue Thomas Cook Nordic". TTR Weekly. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  10. "Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia renamed Sunclass Airlines". ch-aviation. ch-aviation GmbH. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  11. Aagaard, Jan (31 October 2019). "SunClass Airlines er i luften" [SunClass Airlines in the air]. check-in.dk (in Danish). Travelmedia Nordic ApS. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  12. "Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia" (in Danish). Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  13. "Denmark's Sunclass Airlines secures AOC, outlines fleet plan". ch-aviation.com. 26 November 2019.
  14. "Sunclass Airlines Rebrands with New Livery". airportspotting.com. 19 December 2020.
  15. "Flyflåde" [Our Fleet]. Sunclass Airlines (in Danish). Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  16. "Sunclass Airlines Fleet Details and History". www.planespotters.net. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
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