Thomas Cook Group Airlines first 'Sunny Heart' livery on its next new A321

Following the recent launch of the Thomas Cook Group’s unification of its brands and one common symbol, the ‘Sunny Heart’, Thomas Cook Group Airlines is today marking the start of the final assembly at Airbus’ Hamburg base of the airline’s next new Airbus A321 aircraft – which is the first of the Thomas Cook Group Airlines aircraft to be delivered in the new ‘Sunny Heart’ livery.

The aircraft, MSN5872 (MSN – Manufacturers Serial Number), will be the second of the 23 new Airbus A321 aircraft to be delivered to the Thomas Cook Group Airlines by 2016, previously announced in early 2013. This follows the first new aircraft which was delivered to the German airline, Condor@CondorAirline, in May 2013.

Christoph Debus, Chairman and Spokesperson of Thomas Cook Group Airlines said, "This marks the beginning of an exciting phase for our airlines as we look ahead to our first in our new livery, an icon for the new Thomas Cook.

“The aircraft is now in the final assembly stage and we plan to take delivery in early December – with the first commercial flights taking place before Christmas.

“Our new ‘Sunny Heart’ livery expresses the philosophy of our airline; our team putting their heart into every flight and making sure our customers’ holiday starts as soon as they board their flight to their holiday destination. The Sunny Heart is the perfect symbol for our passion to create memorable holidays for our guests.”

Final assembly
MSN5872 is embarking on its final assembly in Hamburg-Finkenwerder in Germany which is Airbus’ main assembly facility for narrow body aircraft. All components have been individually assembled across Europe and have now been delivered to Hamburg for final assembly and testing.

Assembly brings together the main parts of the fuselage, in which the cockpit is situated and which was constructed in France, with other parts from Germany, Spain and the wings from the UK which were manufactured at Airbus’ factory in Broughton near Chester.

The seats have been designed and manufactured especially for Thomas Cook Group plc by Recaro. Designed to help the aircraft fly with better fuel efficiency and reduced impact on the environment, the seats are lighter but retain comfort through the use of foam material. A totally new kind of seat cover made from a mixture of genuine and artificial leather has been designed and developed exclusively for Thomas Cook and will ensure longevity.

MSN5872 is also the first Airbus aircraft in the Thomas Cook Group to be fitted with wing-tip Sharklets which help the aircraft fly using less fuel, contributing – with the new fuselage shape – to an overall fuel efficiency of up to 6 per cent compared to the existing aircraft in the fleet.

Fully supervised in Hamburg by a dedicated team from Thomas Cook Group Airlines, the final assembly of the aircraft will take around 30 days and will end with the application of the new ‘Sunny Heart’ livery and pre-delivery flight testing at Hamburg’s factory.

First flights
The aircraft will be registered in the UK as G-TCDC and be able to carry 215 passengers to holiday destinations around Europe on its first flights taking place mid-December – more information on destinations and the aircraft’s home base will be confirmed in December.