Air Europe was a wholly privately owned, independent British airline, established in 1978 under the working title Inter European Airways. It adopted the Air Europe name the following year. Its head office was in Reigate, Surrey, then in Crawley, West Sussex. Its main operating base was at London Gatwick Airport where it commenced commercial airline operations in May 1979 with three brand-new Boeing 737-200 Advanced jet aircraft. Air Europe expanded during the 1980s with a major scheduled presence on short-haul European trunk routes taking off and landing at London Gatwick.