XL Leisure Group
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The XL Leisure Group (XLLG) is a major tour operating company in the UK, consisting of charter and scheduled airlines, holiday companies and flight-only tour operators. It also has operations in France, Germany, Ireland, Australia and Cyprus.
According to XL.com, XLLG is the third largest tour operating company in the UK. It is the current main (shirt) sponsor of West Ham United.
[edit] Member companies
As of November 2006, the companies which form XLLG are as follows:
| Tour Operators | Airlines | Commercial |
|---|---|---|
| XL.com Kosmar Holidays Travel City Direct Freedom Flights XL Holidays Aspire Holidays CrystalTO Heliades |
XL Airways XL Airways France XL German Airlines Xtra Airways* Skywest* |
XL Aviation XL24 |
- XLLG holds significant interest in Xtra Airways and Skywest, although these airlines are managed independently.
[edit] Holdings and Branding
- Kosmar Holidays - A British holiday brand offering package holidays to Greece and Turkey.
- Travel City Direct - A UK holiday companies specialising in low-cost family holidays to Florida, other parts of the U.S. and the Caribbean. Flights are operated on behalf of Travel City Direct by XL Airways, using aircraft bearing dual-branded liveries.
- Freedom Flights - A seat-only tour operator which primarily sells airline seats to UK tour operators. The majority of its seats are with XLLG's own XL Airways, although Freedom Flights also deal with seat sales on other airlines.
- XL Holidays and Aspire Holidays - XL Holidays is the main tour-operating division of XLLG in the UK, offering holidays worldwide and is fully ATOL bonded. Aspire Holidays is a division of XL Holidays specialising in luxury bespoke holidays.
- CrystalTO and Heliades - CrystalTO is a French tour operator fully affiliated to XL Airways France, offering French travelers a range of package holidays worldwide. Heliades is a tour operator in France, specialising primarily in holidays to Greece.
- XL Airways - A charter airline with brands in the UK, France and Germany. It began as Sabre Airways in 1994, and was renamed Excel Airways in 2001. It was later rebranded XL Airways in November 2006 after it was found that the airline was more commonly known by the British public as simply XL Airways. Following the acquisition of the French and German airlines Star Airlines and Star Europe, XLLG rebranded these as XL Airways France and XL Airways Germany in Novermber 2006, creating a pan-European airline consisting of at least 34 Boeing and Airbus aircraft.
- XL Aviation and XL24 - XL Aviation is the commercial sales arm of XLLG. It sells charter capacity on flights operated by XL Airways and also buys and sell charter capacity on numerous other airlines. XL24 is a dealer in "relief" aircraft in the airline-to-airline market, providing sub-chartered aircraft from the XL Airways and other fleets to other airlines who require the extra capacity on short notice.
- Interests in Xtra Airways and Skywest - Established in 1987, Xtra Airways is a charter airline based in Nevada, USA. It now has bases at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Louisville, Kentucky, New York (John F. Kennedy International Airport)and Boston. It is owned by CXP Management, and XLLG holds a 19% share of the airline. Prior to XLLG's acquisition of 19% interest in Xtra Airways in summer 2005, the airline was known as Casino Express. The rebranding to Xtra Airways reflects a close relationship between Xtra and XL, which also includes similar aircraft liveries. Skywest is an Australian regional airline, which began operations in 1963 as part of Ansett Airlines. It is now owned by Advent Air, in which XLLG hold a 5% share.
