Thomson Airways is the biggest charter airline in the world and is based in Luton in the United Kingdom. It is also the UK's third biggest carrier, with only British Airways and easyJet flying more passengers annually. It was founded in 1962 as Britannia Airways and started using the current name in 2008 after a merger between TUI's Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways.
Thomson Airways flights are operated out of the airline's bases in Newcastle, Bournemouth, Glasgow, Leeds Bradford, Birmingham, Dublin, Inverness, Liverpool, East Midlands, Aberdeen, Exeter, Manchester, London Luton, London Gatwick, London Stansted, Belfast, Edinburgh, Bristol, East Midlands, Cardiff and Doncaster Sheffield. It utilises a fleet of 60 aircraft to fly to nearly 100 destinations.
Thomson Airways tends to operate flights on behalf of tour companies, meaning that most of its flights are to popular tourist destinations. These include Hurghada and Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt, Port Louis in Mauritius, Marrakech in Morocco, Cancun in Mexico, Orlando in the U.S., Goa in India and Phuket in Thailand. Closer to home, routes also include Dubrovnik, Corfu, Venice, Alicante and London.