About Excel Airways
Excel Airways was a former British airline that specialized in economy charter flights. With bases in Manchester, London, Newcastle, Bristol, Glasgow and East Midlands, Excel serviced most areas of the United Kingdom. However, economic hardships forced the company to file for administration in September 2008. As of June 2009, Excel Airways UK no longer exists. Sister Excel airlines in Germany and France continue to operate.
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History
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Excel Airways was founded in 1994 as Sabre Airlines. The company's name changed to Excel Airways in 2000. Along with branches in Germany and France, Excel Airways was a member of the XL Leisure Group. Despite a major rebranding initiative in 2006 and the acquisition of a high-performance fleet, Excel filed for administration in 2008. According to a company press release, the administration filing was due to the rise in fuel prices, the worldwide economic downturn and a lack of external funding.
Routes
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Excel airlines specialized in vacation destination trips. Accordingly, many of the routes went to typical holiday locations in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and Europe. At its peak, Excel airlines operated flights to locations in America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Some of Excel's destinations included Antigua, Tel Aviv, Geneva and Sharm el-Sheikh.
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Fleet and Uniforms
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Throughout various stages in Excel's history, the company maintained a fleet of 36 Boeing 737 Next Gen planes, 9 Boeing 757s, 15 Boeing 767s, 3 Boeing 737s and 1 Airbus A320.
From 2001 to 2006, the Excel stewardess uniforms consisted of a navy blue skirt with a white top and a blue, white and orange scarf with the Excel logo. Over the white blouse, stewardesses wore navy blue blazers. In 2006, the uniforms shifted with the Excel rebranding campaign. While the base uniform was quite similar, the rebranded scarf bore a blue and white pattern instead of the tradition Excel logo.
Demise
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On September 12, 2008, Excel announced its decision to file for administration. Not only did the airline announce that no new bookings would take place, but they canceled all flights, thereby stranding 90,000 passengers in destinations around the world. Over two-thirds of the canceled flights were parts of packages covered under ATOL insurance bonds. As such, flights were chartered from other airlines to rescue the passengers. The remaining passengers had to find their own way home.
Future
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Although Excel UK no longer exists, Excel's sister companies in Germany (XL Airways Germany) and France (XL Airways France) still operate flights to destinations around the world including the Maldives, Greece and Thailand. Currently the only U.S. destination serviced by XL Germany and XL France is New York City.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Courtesy of a Creative Commons License (Flickr/irishflyguy)
