page_title: XL Airways UK
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: XL Airways UK / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Boeing 727-276 G-BNNI of Sabre Airway at Manchester Airport on 23 July 1995.
context_page_description: XL Airways was a British low-cost charter and scheduled airline, which ceased operations when it went into administration on 12 September 2008. Its headquarters were in Crawley, West Sussex, near London Gatwick Airport. It was part of the XL Leisure Group, and XL Airways was a trading name for XL Airways UK Limited. From its three bases at London Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow, the airline provided short-haul and long-haul charter services, predominantly to leisure destinations.
  The airline also operated services from Newcastle, Bristol, East Midlands, Birmingham, Ireland West Airport Knock. Two other airlines within the group used the XL Airways branding: XL Airways France and XL Airways Germany, and were not at the time affected by the insolvency of the XL Leisure Group.
context_section_description: The airline was established in 1994 as Sabre Airways, and started operations on 17 December 1994. The name Excel was adopted following the acquisition, in November 2000, of a 67% stake by Libra Holidays Group, and subsequently increased. In March 2004, the Avion Group (now Eimskipafélag Íslands) completed the purchase of 40.5% of the Excel Airways Group. As a new charter airline, Excel, concentrated on flights from Gatwick and Manchester to holiday destinations including Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Spain, the Canaries, St Lucia and Egypt.
  In March 2006, Excel Airways signed an agreement with GE Commercial Aviation Services for the lease of two Next-Generation Boeing 737-900ER (Extended Range) aircraft. They were the first examples of the latest variant of the Boeing 737 aircraft to operate in the UK when delivered in May 2008.
  Following the merger of sister company Air Atlanta Europe in May 2006, the airline acquired three Boeing 747-300 aircraft. They were operated between the UK and Orlando for Travel City Direct, but left the fleet in November 2007, following the expiration of their leases.
  On 30 October 2006, members of the management purchased XL Leisure Group from Avion Group. XL Leisure Group consisted of Excel Airways Group in the UK, Star Airlines France and Star Europe in Germany.
  As part of a major brand relaunch in November 2006, the XL.com website and aircraft branding was adopted by the Excel Airways Group. Sister airlines in Germany and France were also re-branded.
caption: Sabre Airways operated this Boeing 727 between March 1995 and the airline's renaming as Excel on 16 January 2001.
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