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Titan Airways

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Titan Airways
Titan Airways Limited logo and wordmark.
IATA ICAO Call sign
ZT[1][2] AWC ZAP
Founded20 January 1988; 36 years ago (1988-01-20)[3]
AOC #1212[4]
Operating basesLondon Stansted Airport[2]
Fleet size10[2]
HeadquartersLondon Stansted Airport, England, UK[2][3]
Key peopleGene Willson[5]
Employees350[2]
Websitewww.titan-airways.com

Titan Airways Limited is a British charter airline based at London Stansted Airport.[4][3] The carrier specialises in short-notice ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance) and wet lease operations, as well as ad-hoc passenger and cargo charter services to tour operators, corporations, governments, and the sports and entertainment sectors.[2] The company holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (UK CAA) Type A Operating Licence, permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail, on aircraft with 20 or more seats.[6]

History

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A former Titan Airways ATR42-300 operated for now defunct CityFlyer Express in 1993.
Titan Airways Short 330 in 1994.

Founded on 20 January 1988, as a subsidiary of the Artac Freight and Shipping Group, Titan Airways was named after its first aircraft type, a Cessna 404 Titan, however, the airline's logo draws reference to Titan, a moon of Saturn. Their Cessna 404 aircraft were mainly used to carry car parts between various Ford and General Motors facilities in the UK and Europe, but it was also available for ad hoc freight charters and ultimately passenger charters. By 1993, the fleet had grown to include an Embraer Emb 110 Bandeirante, two Short SD 330s, and three SD 360s.[7]

The airline's success attracted investment group 3i which took a stake in the company in 1995. Two ATR 42s were also added, before the first jet aircraft; a BAe 146-200QC was acquired in 1996. This was the first containerised jet aircraft used by the Royal Mail, but it also operated many passenger charter flights and airline sub-services. As the mail contract grew in size, the first of five Boeing 737-300s was introduced in 1999.[7]

The airline has been consistently profitable, turning a profit in 32 of its 35-year history, and has ranked in the Sunday Times Profit Track 100 league table on six occasions since the year 2000.[8] In the early 2000s, Titan Airways found an additional niche in the market, pioneering a rapid response Go Now sub-charter service for airlines experiencing operational problems. The innovative concept earned the company Queen's Award for Enterprise in 2001.[9]

Demand by customer airlines for more seats and greater range led to the acquisition of two 757-200s in 2003 and 2005, with one aircraft having a VIP interior for corporate use. In 2006, Titan achieved ETOPS rating for the aircraft, enabling long haul charters to the US and Middle East. The largest aircraft in the Titan family, a 265-seat B767-300, joined the fleet in 2009, and the smallest, a new Cessna Citation CJ2+ arrived in December 2011.[10]

In 2012, Titan Airways became an independent company, following a management buyout that left Gene Willson, managing director and one of the original founders, as the sole share holder.[11]

Titan added its first Airbus aircraft, an Airbus A320,[12] to its fleet in early Spring 2013. This addition was the first step in its long-term fleet strategy which will see Titan's current fleet of Boeing aircraft gradually being replaced by Airbus aircraft over the next five to six years.[13] Two additional A320s joined the fleet in early 2015.[14]

September 2015 saw Titan announce plans to add an Airbus A319 and Airbus A321 to the fleet before the start of summer 2016, and that they were considering adding the smallest member of the Airbus A320 family, an Airbus A318, to their fleet.[15]

In early 2023, Titan Airways retired both their last Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft.[16]

Operations

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Titan Airways Airbus A321-200 operating on lease to Jet2.com.
Titan Airways Airbus A330-300P2F operated in GEODIS-livery.

Airline sub-charter and lease

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Titan Airways provides short, medium, or long term wet and damp lease operations worldwide to third party carriers. The UK carrier also operates short notice sub-charter services, with the ability to launch aircraft within sixty minutes when airline customers experience unexpected operational problems.[17]

Tour operator flight series

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Titan Airways operates charter flights on a seasonal basis to a number of destinations on behalf of UK-based tour operators and cruise-ship companies. Longstanding tour operator partnerships include regular operations from UK airports to Calvi in Corsica, Lourdes and Chambéry in France, Turin in Italy,[18] Dalaman in Turkey, Preveza in Greece, and Banjul in the Gambia.[19]

Ad hoc charter

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Aside from these regular seasonal routes, Titan Airways operates long and short haul flights on an ad hoc basis on behalf of individuals, blue chip companies, Premier League football teams, high-profile personalities, and pop/rock groups.[2] In September 2021, after a 19 months hiatus in filming due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the thirty-third series of the American version of The Amazing Race resumed, for the safety of the racers and the crew, instead of going back to taking commercial flights as they had done in the past, they used a Titan Airways Boeing 757 with an 'Amazing Race' livery. This was used again in the thirty-fourth series.[20]

Corporate events

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Titan Airways sometimes uses their aircraft in product launches, trade shows, promotional events, and hospitality trips for other companies.[21]

Royal Mail

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Titan Airways' cooperation with the Royal Mail dates back to the early 1990s, when operations began with the carrier's Short 360 and ATR 42 aircraft. In 1996, the carrier's BAe 146-200 fleet superseded the smaller aircraft, before being joined, and ultimately replaced, by Titan's Boeing 737-300QCs. The aircraft operated on behalf of the Royal Mail with nightly flights from Stansted to Edinburgh and to Belfast.[22]

Government

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Titan Airways operates flights for Home Office and the Foreign Office of the Government of the United Kingdom.

On 30 July 2020, Titan Airways' Boeing 757 became the largest passenger aircraft to land and depart from Saint Helena Airport. This flight was a repatriation mission on behalf of the British Government.[23] A series of flights to Saint Helena and Ascension Island, once per month during the rest of 2020 and 2021, were performed with the same aircraft type.[24] On 11 January 2021, one of Titan's Boeing 757 aircraft delivered 100 coronavirus vaccines to Saint Helena.[citation needed]

Military

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Titan Airways' Boeing 767 operated the South Atlantic Air Bridge to the Falkland Islands on behalf of the UK Ministry of Defence (UK MoD) for two years until September 2012, with twice-weekly flights departing from (and returning to) RAF Brize Norton, in Oxfordshire, to RAF Mount Pleasant, with a mid-way refuelling stop at RAF Ascension Island.[25] The South Atlantic Air Bridge service was subsequently taken over by AirTanker Services, operating a demodified demilitarised RAF Voyager (Airbus A330 MRTT).[citation needed]

In 2014, Titan Airways' RJ100 aircraft had been based in Sharjah on contract to the UK MoD since 2011.[26] The RJ100 superseded Titan Airways' BAe 146 operations in the Persian Gulf region which dated back to 2009.[27]

Geodis Air Network

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In 2021, following significant air-freight capacity shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Geodis Air Network leased an Airbus A330-300 converted freighter from JP Lease.[28] The aircraft was operated by Titan Airways[29] and is registered G-EODS. It is to fly between Amsterdam, London, Chicago, and Hong Kong.[30]

Fleet

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Current fleet

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Titan Airways Airbus A320-200
UK Government owned, Titan Airways operated Airbus A321-253neo in its VIP 'Global Britain' livery.

As of March 2024, the Titan Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft:[2][31]

Titan Airways fleet
aircraft in service orders passengers notes
Airbus A320-200 2 — 168
180
Airbus A321-200 2 — 218
220
Airbus A321LR 3 — —
cargo fleet
Airbus A321-200P2F[citation needed][32][33][non-primary source needed] 2 — cargo
Airbus A330-300P2F[34] 1 — cargo
total 10 —

Former fleet

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Former Titan Airways BAe 146-200
Former Titan Airways Boeing 767-300ER
Titan Airways former fleet[31]
aircraft introduced retired notes
Airbus A318-100 2017 2021
Airbus A321-200 unknown unknown
Airbus A321-200P2F unknown unknown
ATR 42 1996 2005
Avro RJ100 2011 2014
BAe 146-200 1997 2017
BAe 146-300 2009 2012
Beechcraft 350 Super King Air unknown unknown
Boeing 737-300 1999 2018 1x 300, 1x 300F, and 3x 300QC
Boeing 737-400 2017 2023[16]
Boeing 757-200 2003 2023[16]
Boeing 767-300ER 2009 2020
Cessna 500 Citation I unknown unknown
Cessna 525 CitationJet 2011 2015
Short 330 unknown unknown

Accidents and incidents

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On 26 February 2020, a Titan Airways Airbus A321-211 suffered an engine surge immediately after takeoff from Gatwick Airport. Shortly after, the other engine stalled, the aircraft landed safely at Gatwick eleven minutes after takeoff. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) determined fuel contamination following defective maintenance undetected for two days had caused the incident. Safety recommendations were made to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and changes made by organisations including Airbus and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).[35]

References

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  1. ^ "IATA – Airline and Airport Code search – Titan Airways". IATA.org. International Air Transport Association. n.d. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Titan Airways". ERAA.org. Woking, Surrey, England: European Regions Airline Association Limited. n.d. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Titan Airways Limited – Company number 02212225 – overview". Find-and-Update.Company-Information.Service.GOV.uk. Cardiff, United Kingdom: Companies House, Government of the United Kingdom. n.d. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  4. ^ a b "UK Aeroplane and Helicopter AOC Holders (N-Z)" (PDF). CAA.co.uk. England, United Kingdom: Civil Aviation Authority. 4 March 2024. p. 6. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Titan Airways Limited – Company number 02212225 – officers". Find-and-Update.Company-Information.Service.GOV.uk. Cardiff, United Kingdom: Companies House, Government of the United Kingdom. n.d. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Operating Licence". CAA.co.uk. United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority.
  7. ^ a b "Airliner World: the global airline scene". AirlinerWorld.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2013.
  8. ^ "Company search results". Fasttrack.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  9. ^ "Top honour for air charter operator". East Anglia Daily Times. 3 November 2010. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  10. ^ "Titan Airways expands fleet with Cessna Citation and Boeing 757s". AscendWorldwide.com. FlightGlobal. November 2011.
  11. ^ "Titan Airways' management buyout completed". ATWOnline.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  12. ^ "Titan add first Airbus aircraft to fleet". Titan-Airways.com. Titan Airways Limited.
  13. ^ "Titan to replace Boeing fleet with Airbus aircraft". RoutesOnline.com.
  14. ^ "A320 fleet triples / fleet plans revealed". RoutesOnline.com.
  15. ^ "Titan to add an A319 and an A321 during 2016 considering adding A318". RoutesOnline.com.
  16. ^ a b c "Titan Airways hat letzte Boeing 757 ausgeflottet" [Titan Airways has phased out the last Boeing 757]. Aviation.direct (in German). 18 May 2023.
  17. ^ "Titan Airways expands airline support role". TravelDailyNews.com. Travel Daily News. Archived from the original on 18 July 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  18. ^ "Titan Airways increases ski flight programme". IncentiveTravel.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 October 2015.
  19. ^ "Titan to fly to Banjul for the Gambia experience". RoutesOnline.com.
  20. ^ "Amazing Race 33 is filming again, and using a charter plane". RealityBlurred.com. Reality Blurred. 24 September 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  21. ^ "Titan Airways : corporate events". Titan-Airways.com. Titan Airways Limited. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  22. ^ "Titan Airways in line for Royal Mail airmail contract". PostAndParcel.info. Post & Parcel. Archived from the original on 30 July 2013.
  23. ^ Leigh, Gabriel (31 July 2020). "Titan Airways 757 visits one of the world's most remote and difficult airports". Flightradar24 Blog. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  24. ^ "Charter flight update". SaintHelena.gov.sh. St Helena Government. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  25. ^ "Falklands air bridge". Titan-Airways.com. Titan Airways. 1 September 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  26. ^ "Titan Airways bolsters fleet with BAe Avro RJ100 for Persian Gulf missions". ArabianAerospace.aero. Arabian Aerospace. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  27. ^ "BAe 146-300 to operate for UK MoD under Titan Airways contract". Asdnews.com. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  28. ^ "Geodis leases aircraft to combat capacity crunch". AirCargoNews.net. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  29. ^ "Geodis leases a freighter to ensure capacity as shippers eye more air services". TheLoadstar.com. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  30. ^ "First GEODIS aircraft is taking off". GEODIS.com. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  31. ^ a b "Titan Airways fleet details and history". PlaneSpotters.net. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  32. ^ "Three A321 freighters join Titan Airways fleet". Titan-Airways.com. Titan Airways.
  33. ^ "Three A321 freighters join Titan Airways fleet". Titan-Airways.com (Press release). Titan Airways. 6 January 2020.
  34. ^ "UK's Titan Airways to add first A330 freighter". Ch-Aviation.com. 19 July 2021.
  35. ^ "ASN wikibase occurrence # 233878". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 27 January 2022.

Bibliography

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  • Eastwood, Tony; Roach, John (1998). Turbo Prop Airliner Production List. The Aviation Hobby Shop. ISBN 0-907178-69-3.
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Media related to Titan Airways at Wikimedia Commons

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