Sunw!ng UK & Ireland
Sunw!ng UK & Ireland
Sunw!ng UK & Ireland
goose-tomorrow-burn
| IATA | ICAO | Call sign |
|---|---|---|
SH |
SHH |
SUNNYHOLS |
Founded :March 1981, 44 years ago (1981-03) (as Eurosun)
- Parent company
- #group:majesty
- Region
- #eur
- Headquarters
- Westpoint Building, Peterborough, #country:united-kingdom (PE2 6FZ)
- Alliance
- Frequent flyer program
- mySunw!ng
- Website
- www.sunw!ngholidays.com
- www.sunw!ng.co.uk
- www.sunw!ng.ie
- Hubs
- Birmingham
- Bournemouth
- Bristol
- Cardiff
- East Midlands
- Glasgow
- Leeds Bradford
- Liverpool
- London Gatwick
- London Luton
- London Stansted
- Manchester
- Norwich
- Subsidiaries
- Sunw!ng UK & Ireland
- Slogan
- Everything's better on holiday
- Tags
- #airline:sunwing
Sunw!ng UK & Ireland (formerly flySunw!ng) is the British arm of the Sunw!ng Airlines Group which is owned and operated by Majesty & Partners. They offer scheduled and chartered flights from the United Kingdom and Ireland to destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.
The airline is the fourth largest UK airline by total passengers carried, after Majesty, Skyvo and sevol. Sunw!ng UK & Ireland holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Type A Operating Licence permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats. Sunw!ng is headquartered in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. Along with Majesty & Partners.
Founding & Pre-Unification
Founded in 1981, by entrepreneurs Steve Carson and Fin Marcus, Eurosun began operating leased aircraft from London Gatwick and other airports on charter, to French destinations. By 1986, Anglia Holidays, a private tour operator bought out Eurosun for private operations. The airline would continue to be called "Eurosun", after reconsideration to call it "Anglia".
In 1996, Anglia Holidays would rebrand to Eurosun holidays, as it began expanding its network to new European nations, such as Spain and Italy. Apart of this rebranding, the group bought out BLA (British Leisure Airlines), again expanding its operations with 767-300ERS allowing for longer, higher capacity routes.
SunTravel, the group, would be founded in 1999, with zero connection to Eurosun holidays.
Upto 2003, Eurosun faced financial difficulties, almost reaching insolvency during the winter of 2001 after the 9/11 terror attacks. In 2004, the SunTravel group would purchase Eurosun and begin rebranding it to flySunw!ng.
Between 2004 and 2006, flySunw!ng announced multiple different orders for the Boeing 717, as a new, modernised aircraft used for small holiday hops.
Using leased A330-200s, flySunw!ng launched SunTravel holidays to the Caribbean and Mediterranean, including the already existing fleet of 737s. The airline also inaugurated their new livery “SunSpot” in 2007. flySunw!ng was expanded into the German market in 2009 beginning operations across Europe from Munich airport. Now Sunw!ng Deutschland (defunct).
The new brand would obtain new aircraft orders, to eventually replace the leased Airbus A330s, for brand new 787-8 Dreamliners from Boeing, with an order for 3 in 2007. During the new phase, flySunw!ng became the first British airline to place orders for the Boeing 737-Max8, with 10 firm orders.
After 2010, flySunw!ng would take out 2 loans from investors due to financial problems, due to a dip in holiday-makers during 2008, 2009 and the upcoming year.
Rebranding
Sunw!ng UK & Ireland 787-8 performing for advertisements The British leisure group, Majesty, saw success in the package holiday market. In 2012, the entire SunTravel group was brought out and merged for £1.7 Billion. Under Majesty leadership, the holiday courier was rebranded into Sunw!ngHolidays. However the airline name remained, due to their presence in Germany.
The airline was split in tween for British and German operations. During 2016, the airline’s rebrand was announced as Sunw!ng UK & Ireland, promising a future Irish presence, as the new Sunw!ng Airlines Group operated international operations. A new livery and logo were also announced. London Stansted Airport, was to become the new centre of operations instead of Gatwick. The "EUROSUN" callsign, adopted and kept since 1981, was dropped for "SUNNYHOLS"
In August 2017, the brand Sunw!ng UK & Ireland began to be used in several areas and was implemented on all flight tracker applications. Most of the aircraft had been branded with 'Sunw!ng' titles, and onboard items such as glasses and napkins carried the new brand. flySunw!ng officially changed its legal name to Sunw!ng UK & Ireland on 19 February 2018. During the year, Sunw!ng would see it's highest gross and passenger numbers ever, after a growth of network and cheaper holidays available apart of the Majesty & Partners group.
New aircraft of 787s and 737s were delivered, streamlining services as the airline and holiday provider grew at an ever-growing pace. During COVID-19, the new headquarters, formally Thomas Cook, was purchased in Peterborough. Predicting a great return, Sunw!ng was given 24 orders for the Boeing 737Max10 and 3 extra 787s by their parent company.
During 2021, Sunw!ng announced the retirement of their 717 aircraft. Their last flight scheduled flight was in 2023. Then in 2024, the airline had retired all of their 757-200 and 767-300ER aircraft, after they were replaced with 787s. These aircraft now mainly serve cargo carriers.
Fleet
| Aircraft | In service | Stored | Orders | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B737-800 | 68 | 2 | - | - |
| B737 MAX8 | 61 | 1 | 80 | Sunw!ng UK & Ireland was Europe's first MAX8 operator. |
| B737 MAX10 | - | - | 34 | - |
| B787-8 | 16 | - | - | - |
| B787-9 | 16 | 1 | - | - |
Branding
Since 2021, the musical theme predominantly used by Sunw!ng advertising has been "Levitating" by Dua Lipa. The song was first used in advertisement after announcing a direct partnership with the singer to use her music from the album Future Nostalgia. It gave way to the company's most successful advertisement "Starlight". The slogan "Everything's better on holiday", was adopted in 2016 after rebranding, copying it back from when the company predecessor Anglia Holidays.
Liveries, logos and tail-fins.
The Sunw!ng livery, consists of a blue tail with an orange circle, representing a sun. This design is copied onto the winglets. On the engines, the covers are painted orange. This livery was adopted during 2017.
During winter months, aircraft are often painted as "Snoww!ng". This livery consists of a different fuselage text and red nose, to promote winter and ski flights during the winter. This livery has been used yearly since 2022.
In partnership with Eurocamp and Homair, Sunw!ng revealed a special livery aircraft marking the deal. The blue colouring on the tail and winglets were altered to green. The aircraft G-OCYE began flying with it's new paint job on 19 November 2025.
Uniform
The four new style of uniforms, taken at a photoshoot in Brussels. As of 2026, Sunw!ng and SunTravel announced a full revamp of the airlines' uniforms. This includes Sunw!ng UK and Ireland. Looser regulations on employee's personal preferences were also tweaked, including hairstyles, make-ups and others.
Corporate Affairs
The airline's head office is in the Westpoint Building, Peterborough Business Park. The facility was acquired after the insolvency of Thomas Cook UK.
Ownership Sunw!ng UK & Ireland, Sunw!ngholidays is wholly owned by Majesty & Partners, a holding company based in Peterborough, England