Air 2000 - Details and Fleet History

Air 2000 was a charter airline and subsidiary of the British leisure travel company First Choice Holidays PLC, based in Manchester, England. It was renamed First Choice Airways in March 2004.

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Air 2000 began operations on April 11, 1987. The first planes were two Boeing 757s. The fleet was doubled already one year later.

The company tried to set up an equivalent in Canada, which worked only in the second attempt, when Canada 3000 was formed.

Long-distance flights started in 1988/89, when Mombasa, Kenya became a destination. The 757s that had been re-equipped for extended range also flew to the United States from 1989.

In 1992, the airline was granted a license for scheduled flights. The first one was from London Gatwick to Paphos in Cyprus.

Dublin became the first international hub in 1996. Two years later, Air 2000 acquired Leisure International Airways, which was fully integrated.

In the same time, Air 2000 received a new livery, the one still used today. In March 2004, the branding “Air 2000” was changed to “First Choice”.

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