Our Timeline |

1980:

Established in London as a Travel Management Company (TMC) specialising in travel for missionaries, faith groups, charities and NGOs working in the field of humanitarian development and disaster relief
Negotiated the first UK missionary air contract with British Airways

1988:

Launched the ‘Reach Out Program’ a travel program exclusively tailored to the needs of churches, charities, faith and non-profit making organisations

1995:

1997:

Launched the ‘Supporting Good Causes’ initiative, to fundraise and make charitable donations to a variety of charities each year

2002:

2005:

2007:

Won the ‘Scream if you’re Green’ award at the TTG (Travel Trade Gazette) Awards, recognising our leadership in following and promoting environmental ethics
Won our second major University consortia framework

2008:

Mines Action Group (MAG) appointed as our first ‘Charity of the Year’
Launched first annual online customer satisfaction survey
New VOIP phone system and MPLS network implemented, providing improved call management capability
Implemented enhanced customer Service Level Agreements and measures into Operations teams
Won ‘Manager of the Year’ award at the TTG (Travel Trade Gazette) Awards
Won ‘Travel consultant of the Year’ award at the TTG (Travel Trade Gazette) Awards

2009:

Leonard Cheshire appointed as the Charity of the Year
Launch of the new brand and website, offering deeper resources and interaction with clients
Following our Traveller Welfare survey, launched traveller Wellbeing Suite to assist employers in meeting their duty of care and to assist travellers on the move
Created specialist University and NGO teams within Operations, to enhance the service offered to the two different sectors
Developed hotel rates for the non-profit sector
Implementation and launch of new front and back office systems, producing enhanced client management information and travel documentation
Launched our first ‘Fly a Forest’ campaign in Europe, where a tree was planted for every flight that was booked and ticketed within a specific time period

2010:

MCAI appointed as the Charity of the Year
Washington DC (USA) office opened through the acquisition of World Travel Management
Managed clients and travellers through the Icelandic ash cloud and BA strikes, achieving commendations for our commitment and support levels
Launched Shared Services structure to standardize and optimise resources across the group business
Celebrated 30 years of Key Travel with a fundraising birthday event for MCAI
Partnered with InsideNGO the leading American NGO umbrella organisation facilitating peer exchange, training and advocacy among NGO finance, operations and human resource staff

2011:

Action against Hunger appointed as the Charity of the Year
Edinburgh office opened through the acquisition of Ben Lawries Travel
Ranked 60^th in the Sunday Times Fast Track International Track 100, which ranks UK organisations with the fastest growing international sales
Launch of enhanced online booking tool offering a procurement to pay solution, incorporating expense management, approval processes, travel policy control, budget control and exception reporting
Ajaya Sodha (Chairman of Key Travel) appointed Deputy Chair of the GTMC (Guild of Travel Management Companies)
Became a member of CFDG (Charity Finance Directors Group) a charity that works with Finance Managers to ensure the best practice in charity finance, driving up standards and ensuring every pound given to charity works harder.
Partnered with Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Money Giving to offer special discount air fares to fundraisers taking part in fundraising challenges overseas
Joined Globalstar as the partner for Belgium

2012:

Ajaya Sodha (Chairman of Key Travel) takes over as Chairman of the GTMC (Guild of Travel Management Companies)
Key Travel acquires Delta Travel in the UK

Our Timeline