Thomsonfly ends Coventry Airport operations

On 2 November, Coventry Airport will see its final Thomsonfly departures, and on the 9th, the airline’s last inbound flights to the airport will land. The carrier is contacting its customers having bookings after these dates in order to make arrangements on alternative flights or to offer refunds.

Since last year’s merger between travel giants First Choice and Thomson, Thomsonfly has reduced its focus on operating scheduled flights. The airline has confirmed, however, that it will continue flying from 23 UK airports, including those that are within a reasonable distance from Coventry, such as Birmingham, Doncaster, East Midlands, Luton and Stansted.

Also following the Thomsonfly-First Choice merger, the airline will be renamed Thomson Airways from May of 2009, becoming the UK’s third-largest carrier, with a fleet of 65 aircraft.

Since May of this year, First Choice Airways and Thomsonfly have operated under a single Air Operator’s Certificate from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), but the re-branding programme is expected to take an additional year.

The first 787 Dreamliner that Boeing is scheduled to deliver to the UK will go to Thomson Airways, in 2010. Thomson’s parent, TUI Travel, has 23 of the aircraft on order to operate on long-haul flights, replacing existing planes.

www.thomsonfly.com