The long haul services were sold only by internal companies such as First Choice Holidays, Eclipse Direct, Sunsail, Sovereign, Hayes and Jarvis and Unijet.

[citation needed] The company held a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.

[2] The airline started operations on 11 April 1987, launched by the Owners Abroad Group under the name Air 2000, with two Boeing 757-200s and a flight from Manchester to Málaga.

Expansion saw new bases in the UK established, with Dublin becoming the airline's first overseas hub in 1996. Leisure International Airways was fully integrated after the acquisition by First Choice of Unijet in June 1998.

[1] This included the entire fleet of aircraft, and an order for four Airbus A330-200s, which First Choice immediately cancelled in favor of the rival Boeing 767-300ER.

In March 2007 First Choice Airways announced it was converting all four remaining options to orders, bringing the total to 12 aircraft.

Although planned to enter service in summer 2009, delays to the Boeing 787 programme mean that First Choice Airways would not have been able to introduce the aircraft to the fleet until 2011.

[9] The 2008 merger with Thomsonfly meant the newly formed airline, Thomson Airways, inherited the orders and was the UK launch customer.

In addition the airline offered drinks, snacks, and sandwiches for purchase as part of a buy on board programme.