First Choice airline up for rebranding

First Choice-owned Air 2000 is being relaunched and repositioned.It is the first major image change since the UK’s third-largest charter airline was founded in 1987. The move follows its parent company’s rebranding last year. First Choice was formerly Owner’s Abroad.

“Instead of expecting dull food and re-runs of Ken Dodd programmes, we want people’s holidays to begin when they get on the aircraft,” says marketing and commercial director Bill Kirkwood.

Air 2000 has invited design agencies to pitch for the business of overhauling its livery and aircraft interiors.

It will launch new in-flight entertainment programmes in November, presented by Neil Morrissey, who stars in the TV sitcom Men Behaving Badly, and Patsy Palmer, who plays Bianca in EastEnders. It is also revamping its in-flight magazine, Distant Shores.

Nearly three-quarters of Air 2000’s business is tied into First Choice holidays, with the remainder for other tour operators.