The last Thomas Cook Airbus is now at Aviationtag!

The Airbus A330-200 left the factory for British Airtours International Airways in June 1999 with the registration G-MLJL and manufacturer serial number (MSN) 254. The aircraft flew for the airline for a total of eight years, serving international destinations. In February 2002, the Airtours travel group was restructured and renamed the MyTravel Group. The group’s two airlines, British Airtours International and Danish Premiair, then began operating under the joint brand name MyTravel Airways on 1 May 2002, but legally remained two separate companies, MyTravel Airways UK and MyTravel Airways A/S.

In 2007, MyTravel merged with Thomas Cook Airlines, which took over the entire fleet, comprising 16 aircraft at the time - including three A330-200s. At the same time, Swedish MyTravel Airways A/S was renamed Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia, which also operated our G-MLJL.

In September 2012, Indonesia’s national airline, Garuda Indonesia, used the Airbus until it returned to Thomas Cook in November 2012.

On 23 September 2012, the A330 made its last flight from Orlando to Manchester. The G-MLJL landed at Terminal 1 at 8:52 BST, 17 minutes behind schedule. This marked not only the last flight for our plane, but the last flight for Thomas Cook as a whole. The British tour operator had to file for insolvency for itself and its German subsidiaries. It was a very special flight. The entire crew and passengers were very emotional, and tears were shed in the knowledge that this was Thomas Cook’s very last flight. Donations were even collected for the crew, who were then unemployed after this final flight.

So we are all the more thrilled to have been able to preserve part of the Thomas Cook story and bring it home to you as an Aviationtag!