History

The airline was established in October 1988 as Air UK Leisure

Air UK Leisure

Air UK Leisure was a British airline operating charter flights on behalf of its parent Air UK.-History:In June 1987 Air UK announced that it would start a new charter airline based at London Stansted Airport which would start operating in 1988 with two leased Boeing 737-200 aircraft...

, the charter branch of AirUK

AirUK

Air UK was a wholly privately owned, independentindependent from government-owned corporations regional British airline formed in 1980 as a result of a merger involving four rival UK-based regional airlines. British and Commonwealth -owned British Island Airways and Air Anglia were the two...

, and flying with Boeing 737-200 planes. The first flight of AirUK Leisure was from London to Faro. Later in October 1989, the 737-200 was retired and replaced by 737-400.In 1993, 2 Boeing 767-300 wide-body planes leased to Unijet. By the start of the 1990's, 3 Airbus A320

Airbus A320

The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...

 were ordered to replace the 737-400. Later in 1996, Air UK Lesure was sold to Unijet. The airline was renamed "Leisure International Airways" and moved it's main base of operation to London Gatwick. The same year, the A320 was delivered and the airline ordered 3 A321´s that were delivered the next year. 1 Boeing 757

Boeing 757

The Boeing 757 is a mid-size, narrow-body twin-engine jet airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Passenger versions of the twinjet have a capacity of 186 to 289 persons and a maximum range of , depending on variant and cabin configuration...

 was sold to Canada 3000

Canada 3000

Canada 3000 Inc. was a Canadian discount charter airline offering domestic and international flights. It was the largest charter airline in the world at the time of its operation, with over 90 destinations worldwide, although it changed to scheduled service in 2000 after the Canadian Airlines and...

 in December. In 1998, Leisure International was bought by Air 2000

Air 2000

Air 2000 was a British charter airline that operated for 17 years between 1987 and 2004. The airline was renamed as First Choice Airways in 2004 which lasted until TUI Travel PLC merged with First Choice Holidays PLC in 2008 and as a result First Choice Airways was merged with Thomsonfly to create...

and the aircraft began flying with them