The UK branch of European passenger charter carrier Thomas Cook will lease an Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) from the Air Tanker consortium after it is de-militarized.
The Air Tanker consortium owns and operates a fleet of A330 MRTTs for the UK’s Royal Air Force, soon to include five units designated as non-core, and available for surge use. The first of these will be delivered to Air Tanker next year after being converted to MRTT configuration in Spain. But once Air Tanker acquires the aircraft, it will strip out all the military equipment, re-convert it to commercial passenger configuration, and paint it in Thomas Cook colors.