XL Airways

If you flew on vacation from Gatwick, Manchester or Glasgow in the mid-2000s, you could hardly avoid one name: Excel, later XL. The airline began in 1994 as the small Sabre Airways with two used Boeing 737-200s, grew into one of the big British leisure airlines and vanished overnight in September 2008. Tens of thousands of holidaymakers were stranded abroad at the time. Here you learn how Sabre became Excel and XL, which aircraft the airline flew and how to recognize it on old photos.

XL Airways at a glance

XL Airways was a British leisure airline based in Crawley in the county of West Sussex, only a few kilometers from London Gatwick Airport. The company was founded on October 18, 1994, under the name Sabre Airways – on the initiative of a seat broker who resold charter capacity to tour operators. The first flight took off on December 17, 1994.

The business model stayed similar throughout: the airline flew package holidaymakers on behalf of tour operators but also sold individual seats. Destinations were the classic sun destinations on the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands, later also Egypt, the Caribbean and the US. How such flights differ from scheduled service is explained in the article Charter flights and scheduled flights.

Unlike competitors such as Airtours International or Britannia Airways, XL was for a long time not the in-house airline of a single big travel group. The owners changed several times, and only in the last years did the XL Leisure Group emerge as a travel group of its own around the airline.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code JN: appeared in flight numbers and on tickets.
• ICAO code XLA: appeared in the air traffic control flight plan.
• Callsign EXPO: how the crews identified themselves on the radio.

The ICAO code XLA fits the later name XL – but you don’t hear it on the radio, where the callsign was EXPO. If you analyze old timetables or boarding passes, JN is the most important abbreviation. How IATA and ICAO codes are structured is shown in the article on IATA and ICAO codes; curious radio callsigns are collected in the post Airline callsigns and their history.

The history in stages

The start as Sabre Airways

Sabre began with two used Boeing 737-200s that had previously flown for another airline. From the start Sabre was present at several airports: Birmingham, Gatwick, Luton, Manchester and Newcastle, with Bristol added later. Between 1995 and 2001 the airline also operated five three-engine Boeing 727-200s. In 2000, Sabre carried around 750,000 passengers according to widely reported figures.

Excel: growth with the 737-800

As Excel Airways the airline grew considerably. The Libra group later took full control before the Icelanders arrived in 2004. Excel expanded the basic network and finally flew from up to 13 British airports to more than 40 destinations. In those years the airline won several industry awards as a charter airline. In 2007 it carried around 3.1 million passengers according to widely reported figures.

XL: a travel group of its own

After the management buyout in 2006, the airline was at the center of the new XL Leisure Group. It included, among others, the tour operator XL Holidays, the Florida and Caribbean specialist Travel City Direct, the seat marketer Freedom Flights and the French Star Airlines and its German sister, which became XL Airways France and XL Airways Germany. From May 2007, XL Airways Ireland also flew from Dublin, Cork and Knock. Shirt sponsorship of the London football club West Ham United drew attention.

The fleet: from the 727 to the A330

XL Airways changed its fleet several times over the years and repeatedly used leased aircraft. The most important types at a glance:

Type	Period (approx.)	Use	Spotter note
Boeing 737-200	1994–1997	Holiday flights in Europe	Sabre’s initial fleet, two aircraft
Boeing 727-200	1995–2001	Holiday flights in Europe	Five three-engine jets, only in Sabre days
Boeing 737-800	1998–2008	Medium-haul	Backbone of the fleet, registrations often G-XL..
Boeing 767-200/-200ER	2003–2007	Long-haul, capacity peaks	Leased from the Air Atlanta group
Boeing 767-300ER	2004–2008	Long-haul	Caribbean and US
Boeing 757-200	2005–2008	Medium-haul, longer charters	In the fleet until 2008
Boeing 747-300	2006–2007	Peak load	Leased from Air Atlanta Icelandic
Boeing 737-900ER	2008	Medium-haul	Two new arrivals shortly before the collapse
Airbus A330-200	2008	Long-haul	Taken over from XL Airways France

At the time of the shutdown, the British fleet comprised 21 aircraft according to widely reported figures: 13 Boeing 737-800s, two 737-900ERs, three A330-200s, one 767-200ER and two 767-300ERs. The figures on the A330s differ depending on the source – so take these numbers as a guideline, not as a registry extract.

Boeing 737-800: the workhorse

The Boeing 737-800 joined the fleet in 1998 and defined the airline for over ten years. In total, XL flew 25 of them according to widely reported figures, many with registrations from the G-XL.. series – handy for assigning the aircraft on photos immediately. The type flew the standard routes from Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow to the holiday destinations on the Mediterranean. How to tell the 737-800 from older and newer generations is shown in the article Telling the Boeing 737 Original, Classic, NG and MAX apart.

Shortly before the end, two Boeing 737-900ERs joined in 2008, the stretched version with more seats. After the collapse they went to Lion Air in Indonesia.

757 and 767: the longer routes

The Boeing 757-200 was popular with British leisure airlines because of its range and flew for XL from 2005 to 2008. On long-haul routes to the Caribbean and the US the airline used Boeing 767-200ERs and 767-300ERs. How to tell the two Boeing types apart on photos is explained in the article Telling the Boeing 757 from the 767. The manufacturer of all these types is Boeing.

Exotics: the 747 and the A330

Among the rarities are two leased Boeing 747-300s from the fleet of Air Atlanta Icelandic, which flew for XL in 2006 and 2007. In the last year of operation, the Airbus A330-200 was also added, which the French sister company used as well. The manufacturer is Airbus.

Bases and destinations

Typical for XL was its presence at many British airports. The three most important bases were:

• London Gatwick: largest base, right next to the headquarters in Crawley.
• Manchester: most important base in the north of England.
• Glasgow: base for Scotland.

In addition there were Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands and Newcastle. In Sabre days the airline also flew from London Luton.

The destinations were the classics of British holiday flying: Spain and the Balearic Islands – such as Palma de Mallorca –, the Canary Islands, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey and Egypt. On long-haul routes it went to Florida and the Caribbean, with Barbados as a focus. On August 26, 2008, XL announced it would end the Caribbean program from November because of high fuel costs and falling demand – a good two weeks before the end.

How to recognize XL Airways

Today you only encounter XL Airways on photos and in old timetables. These features help with identification:

• Titles and period: “Sabre” until 2001, “Excel” from 2001 to 2006, “XL” from late 2006.
• Type: a 727-200 belongs to the Sabre era, a 737-900ER or an A330 to 2008.
• Registration: G- for the British fleet, often in the sequence G-XL.. on the 737-800. More on the structure of British registrations in the article on British G registrations.
• Location: Gatwick, Manchester, Glasgow and the British regional airports as well as holiday destinations on the Mediterranean and in the Caribbean.

Because XL often leased aircraft, old photos also show aircraft with mixed liveries or foreign registrations. How to recognize such interim stages is explained in the article on hybrid and mixed liveries.

Safety

XL Airways had no fatal accident in the sources reviewed. Two incidents at Manchester were investigated, however:

• July 2003: A Boeing 737-800 (G-XLAG) took off while vehicles were still at the end of the runway. It flew over them at a height of only about 17 meters. The British accident investigation authority AAIB subsequently issued several safety recommendations.
• November 2004: While taxiing, a Boeing 767-200 (G-SATR) brushed the horizontal stabilizer of a parked bmibaby Boeing 737-300 with its left wing. According to the investigation, the captain had misjudged the clearance.

The collapse in September 2008

2008 became a crisis year for many leisure airlines. The oil price rose to record highs while the economy weakened. The XL Leisure Group reported heavy losses, and its chairman unexpectedly resigned. The deciding factor in the end was the Icelandic backers: the bank Straumur and the transport group Eimskip, who stood behind the group as lenders, withdrew their support. The debts were estimated at around 205 million pounds.

On September 11, 2008, the parent company went into administration, affecting it and ten subsidiaries, including XL Airways UK. On September 12, 2008, the airline ceased flight operations. All flights were cancelled, and the aircraft stayed on the ground. According to widely reported figures, around 90,000 holidaymakers were stranded at about 50 destinations. For the roughly 63,000 package travelers with ATOL protection, the British aviation authority CAA organized the journey home with aircraft chartered from other airlines. Anyone who had booked only a flight was generally not protected by ATOL and had to find a return flight on their own.

The failure is considered the biggest collapse of a British tour operator since the end of Court Line in 1974. An overview of further cases is given in the article Big airline failures in Europe.

What came after

• The 737-900ERs went to Lion Air, while the remaining aircraft returned to lessors or moved to other operators.
• The Travel City Direct brand was bought by Virgin Holidays in late 2008.
• The competitors of that era such as First Choice Airways, Airtours/MyTravel, Monarch Airlines, Flyglobespan and later Thomas Cook Airlines are history as well.
• Today TUI Airways and Jet2 define British holiday flying – Jet2, incidentally, also with many Boeing 737-800s.

Traces of XL today

You can no longer spot XL Airways UK live. But you can still experience its types and airports:

Common mix-ups

• Taking Excel and XL for two airlines – it’s the same company, just with a new name from November 2006.
• Equating XL Airways UK and XL Airways France – the French airline (ex Star Airlines) was a separate company with F registrations and flew until 2019.
• Taking the ICAO code XLA as the callsign – on the radio the airline was called “EXPO.”
• Confusing Sabre Airways with the Sabre booking system – the airline traced back to a British seat broker; a connection to the reservation system of the same name is not known.
• Counting Air Atlanta leased aircraft as its own fleet – the 747-300 and some 767s only flew for Excel or XL temporarily.

Conclusion

XL Airways stands for the rapid rise and abrupt fall of a British leisure airline. The small Sabre Airways with two 737-200s became Excel and finally XL – with the 737-800 as workhorse, long-haul to the Caribbean and a travel group of its own behind it. When the backers jumped ship in September 2008, it all ended on a single day. Today the airline lives on in old photos with G-XL registrations and in the airports from Gatwick to Glasgow.