Air 2000 routes and schedules
 

Air 2 Bob was my favourite airline as a kid. I'm wondering if anyone has access to any historic charter schedules and/or the jpg short and long haul routemaps that appeared on their website late 90s/early 2000s, that they would be willing to share?

I collected such data for XL airways and Virgin S7n, both including fleet and history. This was foe the purpose of collating a permanent record of airlines no longer with us. I'm keen to do the same for Air 2000 (and after that, will look to do Flying Colours).

Any help would be appreciated. Usual spurces such as ebay and web archive/waybackmachine have fallen short on just the schedule and routemaps.

Thanks all.

air 2000 (AMM Jetset) was founded by Owners Abroad in 1987 and initially based brand new 757's with 223 seats at LGW and MAN (one lone 737-300 was added in 1989 for a year only)
a GLA base also opened and DUB some years later

Long haul services to Mombasa in Kenya were introduced during the winter 1988/89 season.
The 757s were then ETOPS equipped for extended range charter flights to Orlando MCO which began in 1989 flown via Bangor.

they also set up a Canadian company air 2000 airlines Ltd (renamed in 1989 Canada 3000 using same livery) with 757's
The plan was in the UK winter off season was to send 757's over to canada for their peak season trade to mexico, cuba and the caribbean

AMM was granted a licence for scheduled flights in 1993, initially between LGW and Paphos and LTN to Larnaca.
(using DP flight numbers not AMM)

In 1998 they acquired rival tour operator Unijet including their in-house airline Leisure International Airways (ULE). This included their entire fleet of aircraft, and an order for four 380 seat PW4000 powered Airbus A330-200 aircraft, which they immediately cancelled in favour of the inherited Boeing 767-300 aircraft.
ULE/LIA were to take delivery of the A330's in 2000 to replace the smaller 767s on services to the Caribbean and the USA.
The 767s - which were leased by LIA's parent, Unijet from ILFC would have been returned to the lessor when the A330s were delivered.
For a start the A330's were too big a step up for AMM and had the "wrong" engines, the PW engines would be more difficult to support in the UK. Everyone else in the UK (MON, JMC, AIH and BD) had ordered RR powered A330's.
(Leisure International was originally formed as Air UK leisure who were bought out by Unijet - LIA had two 767-300's and an A320/A321 fleet of four)

The Leisure International Airways fleet were repainted in the new Air 2000 colours in 1998 onwards (ghastly)
British Midland operated charter flight series for several seasons using higher density several A321 aircraft in behalf of AMM (BMA livry with air 2000 stickers)
Virgin Sun was bought in 2001 by Air 2000 but the Airbus fleet was not retained.
Canada 3000 had gone bust in 2001

Air 2000 received a new much fresher cleaner livery in 2003 with air2000.com titles.
This was short lived however, as in 2004 the airline was renamed First Choice Airways and the air 2000 name was gone.

The AMM route network from 1987 with the 757's was at first usually to the Med and Canary island destinations with regular historic patterns flown
(set days for the Brits, Germans, Dutch, and Scandinavians etc)
Brit days were roughly:
LPA on sunday, monday and thursdays
ACE was Monday and Thursday
FUE was Weds and Sat
TFS was Tues and Fri
RHO was Mon Weds and Sat
KGS was Weds and Sat
MAH was Mon and Fri
HER was Tues and Fri
IBZ was Weds and Sat/Sun
NAP was Mon and Fri
PMI and ALC was FRI/SAT/SUN plus a couple of weekdays
GRO was Fri
MIR was Tues and Sat
AGP was Sat and Sun
ATH was Mon Fri and Sun
CFU was Mon and Fri
DLM was Mon Weds and Fri
FAO Thurs and Sun
FNC was Mon
DBV was Fri and Sat
MLA and BJL not sure the Brit days were back then
LCA and Paphos also not sure but all around twice a week

MBA operated via HER or CAI
MCO via BGR - flights grew to almost daily

Egypt was not a big gig then for AMM at first - Monarch were the big players there to begin with to LXR HRG and SSH as too MON/OM were the first to fly the 757's to Goa Kerala Agra CMB and the Maldives, all via BAH
Air Europe likewise also did on the 757's to MCO Mexico MBA CMB Maldives and all the way to Thailand


AMM long haul later on included Maldives via BAH, MCO/SFB, CUN PVR ACA POP MBJ UVF ANU BGI and direct flights to St Thomas return via ANU (sunsail yacht charters) also Margarita Island in venezuela - Not sure about Cuba but I think so to Varadero Holguín and Cayo Coco

Didn't they also operate A320s? I did an ATCO Fam flight with them on a A320 to Palma and back; departed Gatwick just after 6 am and we were back by noon.

yes as I mentioned above they inherited most of leisure international airbus 320/321 fleet and had their own a/c too - they did not retain virgin sun's fleet

after the thomson merger only Boeing's were kept

The 737 was GLA based in 1990, "Uncle Henry" I believe, G-KKUH. They were a quality outfit, all went wrong in that god awful 1992 rebrand with the blue starfish on the tail.

The schedules for UK holiday charter (and other) companies in the 1980s-90s-early 2000s were collated, pretty accurately against the original game plan, by a group of enthusiasts based in Birmingham who produced a book, every summer, called "Airport Times". There was another annual book called "Flight Routings". Both have ceased publication due to the Internet but you may well find them in a secondhand aviation bookshop. the first collated them by departure airport, then by day/time, so would be a bit of a fag for you to work through; the latter collated by airline and then flight number, giving what you want much quicker, but was generally less accurate. Put the two together and you could build a reasonable timetable.

Agreed, back copies of Airport Timetables UK (published by Airtime Publishing) will be your friend on this one. You can see exactly who flew what to where, and in the early days such as the 1987 first season for Air 2000 up until the early 90s (if I remember rightly) then it also told you the tour operators who had chartered the flight. Some real trips down memory lane reading that! Redwing, Miss Ellie's World Travel, Marshall Sutton, Manos, Avro, Albir Travel, Kosmar, Grecian, Cypriana, Whitehall Leisure,, Barwell Travel, Charter Centre.....there were dozens on dozens. You'll often find a copy floating round the enthusiast sales - I've got the whole lot from about 1980 to 1995 stashed away but not an easy format to reproduce.

I too have the ATUK kicking about somewhere - but can go one step further as I even have my old rosters from when I was cabin crew on AMM ex LGW. Happy to try and pull something together in a excel format for you based on those - if interested drop me a PM.

I flew to Zakynthos and back from Manchester in 1992 on a very new Airbus A320, registration G-OOAA.

757 G-OOOB was leased to BA in November 87 for the winter and operated on LHR-MAN shuttle flights.
British Midland operated some sun flights from LHR to AGP on 737s for Air2000 on a Friday. Can't remember the years, but flew "W" pattern involving AGP-EXT-AGP sector, before returning to LHR as last sector of the day.

I hope this works...I’ve uploaded an air2000 brochure from 1989 and the internal flying programme from 1994 to an album on here. Pixels mean it’s not great but hopefully legible. The 1989 brochure setting out more 737s to arrive by 1991 is fascinating...how things change.

Ext-agp Ext with a gatwick aircraft isn' a w pattern. A true example is from the 2000's, cwl-pfo-ext-pfo-cwl. I worked for them and have some stuff from the final years if you need. :)