Virgin Sun Airlines, branded as Virgin Sun, was a British scheduled and charter airline owned by the Virgin Group, formed in 1998. The airline's main destinations were the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands. Virgin Sun's main bases were Manchester Airport and London Gatwick Airport. Virgin Sun was created as a charter airline in May 1999, operating from Gatwick and Manchester terminal 2, leasing 2 Airbus A320-200 aircraft. After a successful launch and first summer season, Virgin Sun then received a third A320-200 and its first and only Airbus A321-200 the following year. The airline was known for its ground breaking approach to inflight service being the first UK charter airline to ditch the traditional style meal for something more 'fun' in its first year of operation. After boarding all guests were offered a can of SeaBreeze cocktail (or a non-alcoholic version). After take off, Outbound guests were served with a meal of a bacon /veggie sausage sandwich on breakfast flights or hot dog / veggie sausage dog and potato wedges - prepared individually by the cabin crew with onions / sauces and an individual slice of chocolate gateau as a dessert. Inbound the meal was a jacket potato with a choice of 3 toppings and again a gateau dessert. Tea and coffee was served in coffee shop style disposable cups with the option of a 'squirty cream' topping. Downroute, customers were offered an ice lolly as they boarded. In April 2001, two years after the airline commenced operations, Virgin Holidays decided to cease the operations of Virgin Sun, due to failing to make the expected profits. After a buyer was sought for the airline, it was eventually sold to Air2000 which became First Choice Airways and subsequently merged with Thomsonfly. Virgin Sun ceased operations on 1st November 2001.
Two of the Airbus A320-200s were put into storage in Bristol, and the Airbus A321-200 (G-VKIS) and one of the Airbus A320-200s (G-VMED) were returned to the lessor, GECAS. One of the Airbus A320-200s (G-VKID) was sold on 21 June 2002 to the low-cost Swedish airline Goodjet, which is now defunct. The other Airbus A320-200 (G-VTAN) was eventually sold to Virgin Atlantic on 22 June 2004, but was sold to Atlasjet the following month. info from Wikipedia
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National Airlines, was a Las Vegas based low fare airline that operated from 1999 to 2002. It was the third United States-based airline to use the name. The airline was created to bring tourists to Las Vegas. National offered service to a limited number of cities with high traffic to Las Vegas. The airline operated a fleet of 19 Boeing 757-200s in a two-class configuration. Hoping to attract more visitors from the East Coast, Harrah's Entertainment and the former Rio Hotel & Casino, Inc., each contributed $15 million toward the start-up costs of National Airlines in July 1998. Wexford Capital, owners of Republic Airways Holdings also contributed several million to this create the airline. Taking a page from Southwest Airlines' book, National kept things simple by operating a single aircraft type - in National's case, the Boeing 757. At the time National Airlines was grounded, the airline provided service to 14 destinations throughout the United States. info from Wikipedia Service began on May 27, 1999. This was the third airline in the United States to use the National Airlines name. Michael Conway became President and CEO of the company. From its inception, the company fought an uphill battle against rising fuel costs and an economic recession. National Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on December 6, 2000.
Like many other airlines, National had serious financial problems after the September 11 attacks in 2001, and only 41 months after their inaugural flight left Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport, the airline ceased all operations on November 6, 2002 after being in Chapter 11 bankruptcy for 23 months. As of the day of National's grounding on November 6, 2002, the airline had carried 1.85 million passengers through McCarran (January - November, 2002), and National was the airport's fourth-largest carrier based upon passenger volume. Departing McCarran International Airport at 4:20 p.m., National Airlines Flight 354 to Dallas/Fort Worth was the carrier's last to leave the Las Vegas hub. was an airline based in Scotland. It was formed in 1984. Its main base was at Prestwick International Airport. It ceased operations in 1987.
The Highland Express fleet consisted of one aircraft which was eventually bought by Virgin Atlantic before being scrapped. |
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