Ambassador Airways

Ambassador Airways
	Boeing 757
Founded	14 February 1992
Ceased operations	28 November 1994
Fleet size	8
Parent company	Best Leisure Group
Headquarters	United Kingdom

Ambassador Airways was a British charter airline formed on 14 February 1992 as a subsidiary of the travel company Best Leisure Travel and based at Gatwick Airport. The airline was actually founded under the name Best Air, but it was changed the following May.

History

Ambassador Airways was founded in 1992 by Best Leisure Travel to serve Greek and Cypriot tourists between Greece and Cyprus, whilst also providing charter flights to tour companies. It was initially based at Newcastle International Airport before moving to Gatwick Airport in October 1993. It started operations with two leased Boeing 757s, originally flown by third party airlines until a charter license was granted. It operated under the call sign "AMBASSADOR".

The first service was operated on 21 May 1993 from Newcastle to Larnaca. In the summer of 1993, the airline provided 75,000 seats with its two Boeing 757s. In its first year of service, the airline carried 485,000 passengers. The fleet expanded for the summer 1994 season to operate four Boeing 757s, two leased Boeing 737-200s and two leased Airbus A320s. The operations focused on flights mainly from Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle. Suffering from lack of financing and accumulating debts, the airline ceased operating on 28 November 1994 and was placed in administration the next day. In parallel, the collapse of Ambassador Airways contributed to Best Leisure Travel going bankrupt and the air carrier fleet was impounded.

Fleet

The airline's fleet comprised the following aircraft:

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 Wickstead 2014, p. 61.
↑ Tapping, Colin (30 November 1994). "Holidays at risk as ambitious Best folds". The Northern Echo. p. 12. Retrieved 23 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
↑ Shaw 1994, p. 15.
↑ Perry & Ashton 1994.
↑ Perry 1994.
↑ Woodley 2016.
↑ Phillips 2017.
↑ Kärcher 1997, p. 304.

Bibliography

Kärcher, Karsten (1997). "Back Matter". Reinventing the Package Holiday Business. Wiesbaden: German University Press [de]. ISBN 978-3-8244-0338-7.
Perry, Allen; Ashton, Sue (1 October 1994). "Recent Developments in the UK's Outbound Package Tourism Market". Geography. 79 (4). doi:10.1080/20436564.1994.12452459. ISSN 0016-7487. JSTOR 40572462.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
Perry, Allen (December 1994). "The changing face of flying to the sun". Journal of Air Transport Management. 1 (4): 251–254. doi:10.1016/0969-6997(94)90017-5. ISSN 0969-6997.
Phillips, Alan (2017). Gone but Not Forgotten: Defunct British Airlines Since 1945. United Kingdom: Fonthill Media. ISBN 9781781556276. Retrieved 30 October 2025 – via Google Books.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
Shaw, Robbie (1994). Boeing 757. Shrewsbury, United Kingdom: Airlife Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 1-85310-460-4. Retrieved 30 October 2025 – via Internet Archive.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
Wickstead, M.J. (2014). Airlines of the British Isles since 1919. Staplefield (West Sussex - U.K.): Air Britain (Historians) Ltd. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-85130-456-4.
Woodley, Charles (2016). Flying to the Sun: A History of Britain's Holiday Airlines. United Kingdom: The History Press. ISBN 9780750956604. Retrieved 30 October 2025 – via Google Books.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)

External links

Media related to Ambassador Airways at Wikimedia Commons

[FOOTNOTEWickstead201461-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wickstead 2014, p. 61.

[2] Tapping, Colin (30 November 1994). "Holidays at risk as ambitious Best folds". The Northern Echo. p. 12. Retrieved 23 July 2026 – via Newspapers.com.

[FOOTNOTEShaw199415-3] Shaw 1994, p. 15.

[FOOTNOTEPerryAshton1994-4] Perry & Ashton 1994.

[FOOTNOTEPerry1994-5] Perry 1994.

[FOOTNOTEWoodley2016-6] Woodley 2016.

[FOOTNOTEPhillips2017-7] Phillips 2017.

[FOOTNOTEKärcher1997304-8] Kärcher 1997, p. 304.

v t e Airlines of the United Kingdom and Channel Islands
Full-service	British Airways BA CityFlyer BA EuroFlyer Virgin Atlantic (Virgin Atlantic International)
Low-cost	easyJet UK Jet2.com Norse Atlantic UK Ryanair UK Wizz Air UK
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Charter/leisure/specialist	Air Alderney Air Charter Scotland AirTanker Babcock Mission Critical Services Onshore Bristow Helicopters (British International Helicopters) DEA Aviation Limited Gama Aviation Global Airlines London Executive Aviation LyddAir Offshore Helicopter Services RVL Aviation SaxonAir Titan Airways TUI Airways Woodgate Aviation
Cargo	Coyne Airways DHL Air UK One Air West Atlantic UK
Proposed	Avooma Airlines Fly Atlantic
Related topics: List of defunct airlines of the United Kingdom