Titan Airways

Titan Airways Limited is a British charter airline based at London Stansted Airport. 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. 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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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 Boeing 767-300, joined the fleet in 2009, and the smallest, a new Cessna Citation CJ2+ arrived in December 2011.

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.

Titan added its first Airbus aircraft, an Airbus A320, 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. Two additional A320s joined the fleet in early 2015.

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.