Excelsior Holidays 715 (A17 XEL) at Heathrow Airport – 4 Sep 1992 (170-26)

Friday 4 September 1992 – Excelsior Holidays 715 (A17 XEL), a Plaxton Première bodied Volvo B10M new in March 1992, seen at Heathrow Airport when operating a Bournemouth-London express service.

The company was founded in 1920 by Walter Maitland and latterly managed by his son Vernon Maitland O.B.E. who became a well-known figure in the British coaching industry who sold the business in 1997.

Originally titled Excelsior European Motorways before being re-named, the coaches of Excelsior Holidays had a very distinctive livery which featured the names of different countries along the sides plus a range of cherished registration numbers in the XEL and EXC series.

The company name lives on in the ownership of the Go-Ahead Group’s Go South Coast business.