During the late 1980s, it was decided to relocate the company from Gibraltar to Britain; accordingly, a new base was established at The Beehive, and the airline was formally rebranded 'GB Airways Ltd' on 3 January 1989.

[2] The company was profitable throughout much of its existence, but encountered hardship during the 2000s, largely due to the increasingly competitive European market, as well as an inflexible franchising agreement.

GB Airways ceased operations on 30 March 2008; 16 years ago (2008-03-30), following its acquisition by budget airline easyJet during January 2008; many of its aircraft and staff were redeployed to the latter entity.

What would eventually become GB Airways was established in 1931; 94 years ago (1931), as an offshoot of Gibraltarian shipping company MH Bland, in Gibraltar.

The new venture, which was initially known as Gibraltar Airways, was embarked on as a consequence of the Great Depression, its parent company being keen to find alternative avenues of business.

The livery on the airline's fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft at this time was mainly white, with red and blue twin stripes down the centre of the fuselage, sweeping down to form a 'chin strap' under the nose cone.

[citation needed] At one stage, GB Airways intended to grow by taking over BA routes as the latter's European network was restructured.

By 2001, GB operated a scheduled network to 21 destinations in the western Mediterranean and North Africa, from Gatwick and Heathrow, normally flying in the low-fare leisure sector with a two-class service.

According to managing director John Patterson, GB Airways had come under pressure by the low-fare competition by 2001; instead of lower its quality, the airline chose to focus on three-to-four hour routes where a higher service level would be more valued.

[9] According to aerospace industry periodical Flight International, GB Airways had "historically been very profitable", but had fallen on harder times during the late 1990s and 2000s, incurring a loss during 2006.

[8][9] Reasons for the airline's hardships reportedly included overcapacity on an increasingly competitive environment, as well as constraints that had been imposed by its franchise agreement with BA, limiting commercial freedom.

[8] As the adoption of this model was GB Airways' preferred strategic option, this outcome made the prospects of the company's sale or the establishment of a new partnership with a third party airline increasingly likely.

[8] A chance meeting between Hatton and easyJet's chief executive Andrew Harrison at an industry dinner in early 2007 led to in-depth talks between the two airlines commencing weeks thereafter.

[8] By 2008, GB Airways was regarded as a niche carrier, operating 44 routes between the UK and destinations centred around southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and North Africa.