| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Package holidays |
| Headquarters | Crawley, West Sussex, UK |
| Area served | United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia |
| Key people | CEO: Philip Wyatt Chairman: Peter Owen |
| Subsidiaries | XL Airways |
| Website | XL Leisure |
The XL Leisure Group (XLLG) was 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. The group's UK companies were placed into administration on 12 September 2008.
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XLLG claimed it was the third largest tour operating company in the UK. It was the main (shirt) sponsor of West Ham United F.C., until it went into administration. West Ham United terminated the partnership with immediate effect on 12 September.[1][2]
The company began as Excel Airways Group. It was bought by the Icelandic Avion Group in November 2004, previously being owned by the Icelandic Flugfelagid Atlanta HF. It bought Kosmar Village Holidays in May 2006. In October 2006, there was a $450m management buyout of the company, although the Avion Group retained 49% of the company. It became XL Leisure Group on 22 December 2006. The French subsidiary used to be Star Airlines and the German subsidiary was called Star Europe. At its height, it flew from 12 UK airports. The Irish airline began in May 2006.
XL Leisure Group confirmed on their website that 11 companies associated with the group had been put into administration on 12 September 2008. This includes XL Airways UK Limited, Excel Aviation Limited, Explorer House Limited, Aspire Holidays Limited, Freedom Flights Limited, The Really Great Holiday Company plc, Medlife Hotels Limited, Travel City Direct, and Kosmar Villa.[3].
This is the biggest collapse of a British tour operator since 1974 when Court Line became insolvent, affecting 50,000 travellers.
Nevertheless, both of its former members, XL Airways Germany and France remained in service.
As of November 2006, the companies which form XLLG were:
| Tour Operators | Airlines | Commercial |
|---|---|---|
| XL.com Kosmar Holidays Travel City Direct Freedom Flights XL Holidays Aspire Holidays CrystalTO Heliades |
XL Airways UK XL Airways France XL Airways Germany Xtra Airways* Skywest Airlines* |
XL Aviation XL24 |
Kosmar Villa Holidays was a British holiday company specializing in holidays to Greece and Turkey.
It was founded by Kostas Markou in 1981, taking holidaymakers to his home-town of Tolon, Peloponese. Kosmar continued to travel to Tolon, but its programme also grew to feature a large number of destinations across the Mediterranean and the Middle East. From its roots, Kosmar became the UKs largest operator to Greece'. The name 'Kosmar' comes from Kostas - Markou. Kosmar's slogan was 'Making Holiday Dreams Come True.....it's what Kosmar did best. The company was acquired by the XL Leisure Group, and used XL Airways, Astraeus and Air Malta for its flights. On flights to Crete and Rhodes, Kosmar gave the option to fly with British Airways. On 10 April 2006, Excel Airways, representing the Avion Group, purchased Kosmar Villa Holidays plc for an undisclosed sum. The founder Kostas Markou stayed with the company.
The XL Leisure Group, of which Kosmar was part of, eventually split away from Avion and was retrieved under a management buy-out.
In early June 2007, Kosmar removed Bulgaria, Majorca, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Tenerife and The Algarve from its website. It was thought that Kosmar was to revert back to being a specialist to more 'exotic' destinations.
On 11 September 2008, Kosmar's parent company XL Leisure spectacularly collapsed, and Kosmar Villa Holidays was placed in administration.
XL.com was the website portal for the XL Leisure Group, the fifth largest travel company in the UK, consisting of:
The full XL Leisure Group comprised these subsidiaries: