TUI Airways

Last updated

TUI Airways Limited
TUI Logo 2016.svg
IATA ICAO Callsign
BY [1] TOMTOMJET
Founded1 December 1961;62 years ago (1961-12-01)
(as Euravia)
Commenced operations2 October 2017;6 years ago (2017-10-02)
(as TUI Airways)
AOC # 294
Operating bases
List of bases
Fleet size69 [2]
Destinations96
Parent company TUI Group
HeadquartersWigmore House, Luton, England [3]
Key peopleDawn Wilson (COO)
Employees10,000 (the entire operation in the UK and Ireland) [4]
Website www.tui.co.uk

TUI Airways Limited [5] (formerly Thomson Airways) is the British arm of the TUI Airline group, which is owned and operated by the TUI Group. They offer scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom and Ireland to destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America.

Contents

The airline is the fourth-largest UK airline by total passengers carried, after EasyJet, British Airways and Jet2.com. It is also the world's tenth-largest airline by number of route pairings served. [6] TUI Airways holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Type A Operating Licence permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats. Its head office and Registered Office is Wigmore House in Luton, Bedfordshire.

History

A former Thomson branded Boeing 767-300ER in "Dynamic Wave" livery (2013). Boeing 767-304(ER), Thomson Airways JP7628210.jpg
A former Thomson branded Boeing 767-300ER in "Dynamic Wave" livery (2013).
A TUI Airways Boeing 787-8 on approach in Phuket (2019). TUI, G-TUID, Boeing 787-8 @ Phuket, Feb 2019.jpg
A TUI Airways Boeing 787-8 on approach in Phuket (2019).

Foundation and early years

TUI Airways has its origins in several rival airlines. Euravia (later renamed Britannia Airways in December 1964. [7] ), an airline which was founded in January 1962. [8] Orion Airways, founded in 1979 by Horizon Holidays and later owned by the large brewing firm Bass Brewery and InterContinental Hotels Group, was sold and merged with Britannia Airways in 1989 but retained the Britannia name. (These events happened before TUI came to the UK.) Britannia was rebranded to Thomsonfly in May 2005 as their parent company Thomson Travel Group were bought by TUI Group as part of a wider reorganisation of TUI's operations in the UK. [9] The other airline, Air 2000 that was founded in 1987, and which integrated the operations of Leisure International Airways in 1998. They became First Choice Airways in 2004 after being bought by First Choice and became their in-house airline. [10]

Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways merged following the merger of the travel divisions of TUI Group and First Choice Holidays in September 2007. The Thomson Airways brand was launched for the combined airline on 1 November 2008. [11]

The new brand retained the Thomsonfly colour scheme, and aircraft in the fleet were gradually repainted. Several First Choice Airways aircraft remained in the First Choice livery as they were due to be phased out of service. A new livery, named "Dynamic Wave" (which will also be applied on Thomson Cruises ships), was introduced in May 2012. [12]

TUI Airways became the first UK airline to take delivery of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, receiving the first aircraft in May 2013. [13] Passenger services with the aircraft began on 21 June 2013 with a flight between London Gatwick and Menorca. [14] Also in 2013, the parent group TUI Travel, now known as TUI Group, ordered 70 Boeing 737 MAX for delivery to group airlines. [15]

Rebranding and latest developments

On 13 May 2015, it was announced by the TUI Group that all five of TUI's airline subsidiaries would be named TUI, whilst keeping their separate Air Operators Certificate, a process taking over three years to complete. TUI Airways was the last airline to be completed in late 2017. [16] The rebrand began in mid-2016, with the addition of the new 'TUI' titles to its fleet. [17] [18]

In December 2016, Thomson Holidays launched their final television advertisement using the 'Thomson' brand, before integrating into the 'TUI' brand. [19] During the rebrand in 2017, the "TOMSON" callsign was dropped and replaced with "TUI AIR" and then changed again to "TOMJET". [20]

In May 2017, the brand TUI Airways began to be used in several areas and was implemented on all flight tracker applications. Most of the aircraft had been branded with 'TUI' titles, and onboard items such as glasses and napkins carried the new brand. Thomson Airways officially changed its legal name to TUI Airways on 2 October 2017. [5] TUI's sister company, TUI UK (formerly Thomson Holidays), has ceased using the 'Thomson' brand, adopting the TUI UK brand on 18 October 2017. [21]

In November 2023, TUI Airways retired their last Boeing 767 as the sole remaining passenger operator in the United Kingdom. [22]

Corporate affairs

Wigmore House, the head office of TUI Airways near Luton Wigmore Place - geograph.org.uk - 397718.jpg
Wigmore House, the head office of TUI Airways near Luton

Head office

The airline's head office is in the Wigmore House near Luton, Bedfordshire. [23] The facility is adjacent to Luton Airport. [24]

Overview

The airline is part of a single-branded group, being the product of two mergers: the travel division of TUI Group with First Choice Holidays in September 2007 to form TUI Travel, under which their respective airlines, Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways, were merged under the former's Air Operator's Certificate in May 2008 and rebranded as Thomson Airways on 1 November 2008. The investable enterprise and overall leadership formally merged with TUI to form London (LSE) and Frankfurt (DAX) listed TUI Group since December 2014. TUI Airways officially changed its legal name from Thomson Airways to TUI Airways on 2 October 2017. [5] This was in line with TUI Airline sister companies TUI fly Belgium, TUI fly Deutschland, TUI fly Netherlands and TUI fly Nordic.

Business figures

YearTotal passengers (m)Total flights (k)Load factorPassenger Change (YoY)
2005*15.582.988.6%
2006*15.183.588.4%Decrease2.svg2.4%
2007*15.082.389.1%Decrease2.svg0.8%
200812.265.391.1%Decrease2.svg18.5%
200911.259.190.2%Decrease2.svg8.1%
201010.956.589.9%Decrease2.svg2.4%
201111.057.789.3%Increase2.svg0.8%
201210.754.392.0%Decrease2.svg3.1%
201310.554.992.4%Decrease2.svg1.4%
201410.354.293.0%Decrease2.svg1.7%
201510.653.893.8%Increase2.svg2.4%
201610.955.294.1%Increase2.svg3.1%
201711.257.693.5%Increase2.svg2.9%
201811.158.392.8%Decrease2.svg 0.7%
201911.860.692.9%Increase2.svg 5.8%
20202.010.688.0%Decrease2.svg 82.9%
20212.013.873.9%Increase2.svg 0.2%
202211.261.288.6%Increase2.svg 458.6%
* Data for 2005 to 2007 includes First Choice Airways
Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority [6]

Destinations

Most scheduled flights operated by TUI Airways are on behalf of tour operators. The airline offers flights to destinations around the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean from 19 base airports in the United Kingdom. Additionally, seasonal charter routes are served from Copenhagen, [25] Dublin, [26] Helsinki, [27] Oslo [28] and Stockholm. [29]

Fleet

Current fleet

As of April 2024, TUI Airways operates an all-Boeing fleet composed of the following aircraft: [30] [31]

TUI Airways Ltd fleet
AircraftIn serviceOrdersPassengersNotes
PYTotal
Boeing 737-800 303[ citation needed ]–189189
Boeing 737 MAX 8 1912[ citation needed ]
Boeing 737 MAX 10 —18 [32] TBADeliveries delayed due to certification issues. [33]
Boeing 787-8 8—47253300
–325325
Boeing 787-9 5—63282345
Total6232

Seasonal leasing

In 2023, TUI Group and Enter Air agreed to set up a Joint venture wet-lease ACMI operator called Fly4. The Irish based airline, which is set to take off in spring 2024, will take on three TUI Airways Boeing 737-800s plus one from TUI fly Belgium, and lease them back to TUI Airways during the peak summer seasons. These aircraft will then be leased to other airlines during the winter schedule when TUI operations are not at high demand.[ citation needed ]

TUI had previously leased multiple Airbus A320-200 aircraft for the summer 2023 season to cover for the delay in Boeing 737 MAX deliveries. [34]

Historical fleet

TUI Airways formerly operated the following aircraft: [31]

TUI Airways historical fleet
AircraftTotalIntroducedRetiredNotes
Airbus A320-200 520092012Inherited from First Choice Airways
Airbus A321-200 220092013Inherited from First Choice Airways
Boeing 737-300 820082012Inherited from Thomsonfly
Boeing 757-200 3120082021Inherited from Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways
Boeing 767-300ER 1720082023Last two remaining retired on 1 November 2023.[ citation needed ]

Accidents and Incidents

The aircraft, G-TAWD had remained at Leeds Bradford Airport for 11 days before flying out to Warsaw for repairs. It returned to TUI in December 2023 before being leased to Sunwing for the final lease agreement. The aircraft will return to TUI Airways service in April 2024

See also

Related Research Articles

Aerovías de México, S.A. de C.V. operating as Aeroméxico, is the flag carrier of Mexico, based in Mexico City. It operates scheduled services to more than 90 destinations in Mexico; North, South and Central America; the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia. Its main base and hub is located in Mexico City, with secondary hubs in Guadalajara and Monterrey. The headquarters is in the Torre MAPFRE on Paseo de la Reforma.

WestJet Airlines, founded in 1994 and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, is the second-largest airline in Canada. It began operations in 1996 as a low-cost alternative to the country's major airlines. Today, WestJet operates scheduled, charter, and cargo air service, transporting more than 25 million passengers per year. The airline has a significant domestic and international network, which serves over 100 destinations across Canada, United States, Mexico, Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and Central America. WestJet has an average of 777 flights per day, solidifying its position as the eighth-largest airline in North America by frequency.

First Choice Airways Limited was a British charter airline of European tour operator TUI Travel PLC, based in Crawley, England until its merger with Thomsonfly to form Thomson Airways in 2008. It flew to more than 60 destinations worldwide from 14 UK and Irish airports. 70% of the airline's services were operated for its parent company, rising to 85% in the summer season, with the remainder on behalf of some 120 other tour operators. It also operated scheduled year-round leisure routes to Cyprus and the resorts of Spain and Portugal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iraqi Airways</span> Flag carrier of Iraq

Iraqi Airways Company, operating as Iraqi Airways, is the national carrier of Iraq, headquartered on the grounds of Baghdad International Airport in Baghdad. It is the second oldest airline in the Middle East. Iraqi Airways operates domestic and regional services; its main base is Baghdad International Airport.

Monarch Airlines, simply known as Monarch, was a British charter and scheduled airline founded by Bill Hodgson and Don Peacock and financed by the Swiss Sergio Mantegazza family. The company later became a low-cost airline in 2004 before abandoning charter flying completely. The airline's headquarters were based at London–Luton, and it had operating bases at Birmingham, Leeds/Bradford, London–Gatwick and Manchester.

Palmair European was a British tour operator with its head office in the Space House in Bournemouth, United Kingdom. Palmair offered charter and scheduled flights on behalf of Bath Travel. Its main base was Bournemouth Airport. Palmair have now stopped any flights for the foreseeable future and the airline has been placed into a "deep freeze" until the economic climate improves.

Jet2.com Limited is a British low-cost leisure airline offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom. As of 2022, it is the third-largest scheduled airline in the UK, behind easyJet and British Airways. Jet2 is also officially the largest tour operator in the UK after overtaking TUI in 2023. Its headquarters are located at Leeds Bradford Airport. Further bases are at Belfast–International, Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, London–Stansted, Manchester and Newcastle airports, with a base at Bournemouth starting in April 2025. The company holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence to carry passengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats. Jet2 also offers a charter service through its Jet2charters brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomsonfly</span> Former British charter airline

Thomsonfly was a British charter and scheduled airline. Thomsonfly was the first stage of TUI AG's plans to expand its business within TUI UK prior to September 2007. After TUI UK merged with First Choice Holidays in September 2007, it became part of TUI Travel PLC. The new holiday company continued with both in-house airlines through winter 2007 and summer 2008 until the two were merged on 1 November 2008 as Thomson Airways.

Britannia Airways was a charter airline based in the UK. It was founded in 1961 as Euravia and became the world's largest holiday airline. Britannia's main bases were at London Gatwick, London Stansted, London Luton, Cardiff, Bristol, East Midlands, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds Bradford, Liverpool, and Glasgow. It had its headquarters at Britannia House in Luton.

Neos S.p.A. is an Italian airline, headquartered in Somma Lombardo, Lombardy. It is a subsidiary of Alpitour S.p.A. It operates a fleet of Boeing 737 Next Generation, 737 MAX and Boeing 787 aircraft to over 73 scheduled domestic, European and intercontinental destinations. The airline operates from its main hub at Milan Malpensa Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EuroAtlantic Airways</span> Portuguese airline

EuroAtlantic Airways, legally EuroAtlantic Airways – Transportes Aéreos S.A., is a Portuguese airline specialized in leasing and air charter headquartered in Carnaxide and based at Lisbon Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TUI fly Nordic</span> Charter airline of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland

TUI fly Nordic is a charter airline headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and is a part of the TUI Group. It operates short, medium and long-haul flights to leisure destinations from several airports in the Nordic countries, on behalf of the tour operators TUI Danmark (Denmark), TUI Suomi (Finland), TUI Norge (Norway) and TUI Sverige (Sweden). In 2016, the airline carried approximately 1,500,000 passengers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bournemouth Airport</span> Airport in Bournemouth, England

Bournemouth Airport is an international airport located 3.5 NM north-northeast of Bournemouth, in southern England. The site opened as RAF Hurn in 1941, but was transferred to civil control in 1944. For a short period Hurn served as London's international airport, until the opening of facilities at Heathrow. Commercial services resumed in the late 1950s, with Palmair commencing flights to Palma, Majorca in October 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paphos International Airport</span> Airport in Timi and Acheleia, Cyprus

Paphos International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located 6.5 kilometres south-east of the city of Paphos on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It is the country's second largest airport, after Larnaca International Airport. Paphos Airport is commonly used by tourists on vacation in western Cyprus, providing access to popular resorts such as Coral Bay, Limassol, and Paphos itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TUI fly Belgium</span> Charter airline of Belgium

TUI fly Belgium, legally incorporated as TUI Airlines Belgium nv and formerly branded Jetairfly, is a Belgian scheduled and charter airline with its registered office at Brussels Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TUI fly Deutschland</span> Charter airline of Germany

TUI fly Deutschland, formerly TUIfly, is a German leisure airline owned by the travel and tourism company TUI Group. It is headquartered at Hannover Airport with bases at several other German airports. TUI fly Deutschland is part of TUI Group's airline unit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TUI fly Netherlands</span> Charter airline of the Netherlands

TUI fly Netherlands, legally incorporated as TUI Airlines Netherlands, is a Dutch charter airline headquartered in Schiphol-Rijk on the grounds of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands. It is the charter carrier of the Dutch arm of the German travel conglomerate TUI Group and its main base is Schiphol Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orion Airways</span>

Orion Airways was an airline based in the United Kingdom with its head office on the grounds of East Midlands Airport in Castle Donington, North West Leicestershire. It was established as the charter airline of Horizon Travel and went on to develop scheduled services. The airline operated a fleet of Boeing 737-200s, Boeing 737-300s and Airbus A300s between 1979 and 1989.

TUI Travel PLC was a British leisure travel group headquartered in Crawley, West Sussex. The company was formed on 3 September 2007 by the merger of First Choice Holidays PLC and the Tourism Division of TUI AG, which owned 56.4% of it. The company operated in 180 countries and claimed 30 million customers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vistara</span> Indian airline

Tata SIA Airlines Limited, operating as Vistara, is an Indian full-service airline, based in Gurgaon (Gurugram), with its hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport. The carrier, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, commenced operations on 9 January 2015 with its inaugural flight between Delhi and Mumbai. The airline had carried more than two million passengers by June 2016 and as of April 2023, has an 8.7% share of the domestic carrier market, making it the 2nd largest domestic airline, behind IndiGo. The airline serves 50 destinations with a fleet of Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321neo and Boeing 787-9 aircraft.

References

  1. ↑ "IATA - Airline and Airport Code Search". Iata.org. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  2. ↑ https://www.planespotters.net/airline/TUI-Airways
  3. ↑ "Aircraft registration - UK Civil Aviation Authority". Caa.co.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  4. ↑ "TUI UK Key Facts & Figures".
  5. 1 2 3 "TUI AIRWAYS LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  6. 1 2 "UK Airline Data". UK Civil Aviation Authority. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "Flight International article published 17 December 1964". Flightglobal.com. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  8. ↑ "Euravia (London) Ltd". Flightglobal.com. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  9. ↑ "Flights with TUI - Thomson now TUI Airways". Flights.thomson.co.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  10. ↑ "First Choice". Low Fare Flights. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  11. ↑ New Thomson Airways brand launched Archived 10 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ "THOMSON CRUISES UNVEILS PLANS FOR NEW SHIP DISCOVERY - TUITravel Media Centre - Thomson". TUITravel Media Centre - Thomson. 13 November 2015. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  13. ↑ "Boeing Delivers Thomson Airways' First 787 Dreamliner". Manchester, UK: Boeing UK. 31 May 2013. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  14. ↑ "London Gatwick welcomes first 'hub-busting' Dreamliner (> Media Centre > News)". Gatwick Airport. 21 June 2013. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  15. ↑ "TUI shareholders approve 737 Max order". Flightglobal.com. 10 July 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  16. ↑ "TUI Group to rebrand five airlines as 'TUI' | Finance & Data content from ATWOnline". 11 June 2015. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015.
  17. ↑ "ABCD". Travelweekly.co.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  18. ↑ "Thomson and First Choice to be axed as part of brand consolidation under TUI name". Marketingmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  19. ↑ Smithers, Rebecca (7 December 2016). "Thomson to launch final TV ad before Tui rebrand". The Guardian . Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  20. ↑ "U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION : FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION : JO 7340.2G CHG 1 : Air Traffic Organization Policy" (PDF). Faa.gov. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  21. ↑ "Goodbye Thomson, hello TUI – how Germany beat Britain in the battle of the sunlounge". The Telegraph. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  22. ↑ aerotelegraph.com (German) 2 November 2023
  23. ↑ "GINFO Search Results". Civil Aviation Authority. 30 June 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  24. ↑ "Wigmore House". Duncan-Welch & Co. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  25. ↑ "Only Flight". tui.dk.
  26. ↑ "Flight Timetable". TUI Holidays.
  27. ↑ "Only Flight".
  28. ↑ "Only Flight". tui.no.
  29. ↑ "Only Flight". tui.se.
  30. ↑ "United Kingdom Civil Aircraft Register". Civil Aviation Authority. 17 May 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  31. 1 2 "TUI Airways Fleet Details and History" . Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  32. ↑ Eiselin, Stefan (19 June 2017). "Tui wechselt auf die Boeing 737 Max 10". aeroTELEGRAPH (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  33. ↑ Jolly, Jasper (3 June 2020). "Tui and Boeing agree deal on 737 Max payout and delivery delays". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  34. ↑ "TUI Airways NS23 A320 Operations – 22JAN23". AeroRoutes. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  35. ↑ "Leeds Bradford Airport closed after plane skids off runway in storm". BBC News. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  36. ↑ "Incident Boeing 737-8K5 (WL) G-TAWD,". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 23 October 2023.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to TUI Airways at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.