TUI Airways

TUI Airways [1]
IATA ICAO Callsign
BY[2] TOM TUI AIR
Founded 1962
as Britannia Airways[3]
Commenced operations

1 November 2008
as Thomson Airways
2 October 2017
as TUI Airways

AOC # 294
Operating bases
Fleet size 63
Destinations 96
Company slogan Discover Your Smile
Parent company TUI Group
Headquarters Registered office: Crawley
Head office: Luton[4][5]
Key people John Murphy (Managing Director)
Employees approx. 12,500
Website tui.co.uk

TUI Airways, formerly Thomson Airways and often referred to as TUI UK, is the world's largest charter airline, offering scheduled and charter flights from the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland to destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. The airline carried 11.2 million passengers in 2017, making it the third-largest UK airline by total passengers, after EasyJet and British Airways.[6]

The registered office is at the TUI Travel House in Crawley, West Sussex but its head office is located in Wigmore House in Luton, Bedfordshire.[7] TUI Airways Limited 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.

The airline was formed following the merger of the travel division of TUI AG and First Choice Holidays plc in September 2007 to form TUI Travel. The two companies' respective airlines, Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways, were merged under the former's Air Operator's Certificate in May 2008 and were rebranded as Thomson Airways on 1 November 2008. TUI Travel merged with TUI AG to form TUI Group in December 2014.

TUI Airways officially changed its legal name from Thomson Airways to TUI Airways on 2 October 2017.[8] This was in line with sister companies TUI fly Belgium, TUI fly Deutschland, TUI fly Netherlands and TUI fly Nordic. All airlines in the group, excluding Corsair International, are now rebranded to TUI.

History

TUI Airways has its origins in several predecessor airlines. Euravia, an airline which was founded in January 1962[9] was renamed Britannia Airways in December 1964.[10] 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 into Britannia Airways in 1989. Britannia Airways was rebranded as Thomsonfly in May 2005.[11] Finally, Air 2000 was founded in 1987, and which integrated the operations of Leisure International Airways in 1998, became First Choice Airways in 2004.

Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways merged following the merger of the travel division of TUI AG and First Choice Holidays PLC in September 2007. All flights operated under the Thomsonfly CAA Air Operator's Certificate from 1 May 2008. The Thomson Airways brand was launched for the combined airline on 1 November 2008,[12] which became the world's largest charter airline.

767-300ER in the former Thomson branded "Dynamic Wave" livery

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),[13] was introduced in May 2012.

TUI Airways became the first UK airline to take delivery of the Boeing 787, receiving the first aircraft in May 2013.[14] Passenger services with the aircraft began on 21 June 2013 with a flight between London Gatwick and Menorca.[15] Also in 2013, the parent group TUI Travel, now known as TUI Group, ordered 60 Boeing 737 MAX for delivery to group airlines.[16]

TUI Airways carried 10.6 million passengers during 2015, a 2.4% increase compared with 2014.[6]

TUI rebrand

On 13 May 2015, it was announced by the TUI Group that all five of TUI's airline subsidiaries will be named TUI, whilst keeping their separate Air Operators Certificate, taking over three years to complete. TUI Airways was the last airline to be completed in late 2017.[17] The rebrand began in mid-2016, with the addition of the new 'TUI' titles to its fleet.[18][19]

In December 2016, Thomson Holidays launched their final television advertisement using the 'Thomson' brand, before integrating into the 'TUI' brand.[20] During the rebrand in 2017, the "TOMSON" callsign was dropped and replaced with "TUI AIR".[21]

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.[22] TUI's sister company, TUI UK (formerly Thomson Holidays), has ceased using the 'Thomson' brand, adopting the TUI UK brand on 18 October 2017.

Corporate affairs

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]

Bases

TUI Airways' largest base is at London-Gatwick, closely followed by Manchester with its third largest at Birmingham. Further aircraft are based at thirteen other UK airports. Bristol, East Midlands, London-Luton and Newcastle each have three aircraft. Cardiff, Doncaster Sheffield, Glasgow and London-Stansted have two, whilst Belfast-International, Bournemouth, Edinburgh, Exeter, Leeds/Bradford and Norwich Airport are all served by a single based aircraft.

This has remained largely consistent for many years, however, from summer 2018 both Glasgow and London-Luton will lose an aircraft (to become one and two based respectively) whilst a new base will open at Aberdeen with a single aircraft and operations are increased at larger bases such as London-Gatwick. Some of these bases may have additional aircraft through certain parts of the week to service long-haul flights. From summer 2019 Glasgow will go back as having two based aircraft.

Business figures

YearTotal passengersTotal flightsLoad factorPassenger Change (YoY)
2005* 15,501,61682,91388.6%
2006* 15,134,69983,55688.4%Decrease2.4%
2007* 15,018,97382,36089.1%Decrease0.8%
2008 12,234,61865,34891.1%Decrease18.5%
2009 11,238,77459,19590.2%Decrease8.1%
2010 10,965,11156,52289.9%Decrease2.4%
2011 11,049,28857,71389.3%Increase0.8%
2012 10,703,33854,37292.0%Decrease3.1%
2013 10,548,95254,92692.4%Decrease1.4%
2014 10,366,95954,25793.0%Decrease1.7%
2015 10,611,17553,86993.8%Increase2.4%
2016 10,942,65155,29594.1%Increase3.1%
2017 11,254,42957,69893.5%Increase2.9%
* 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 Dublin.[25]

Fleet

TUI Airways Boeing 737-800 wearing the former 'Thomson' titles
TUI Airways Boeing 757-200 wearing the former 'Thomson' titles
TUI Airways Boeing 787-8 wearing the former 'Thomson' titles

Current fleet

As of June 2018, the TUI Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft:[26]

TUI Airways Fleet
Aircraft In service Orders Passengers Notes
P Y Total
Boeing 737-800 33 — — 189 189
Boeing 737 MAX 8 — 1[27] — 189 189 Deliveries to begin in November 2018.
Boeing 737 MAX 10 — 14[28] TBA
Boeing 757-200 14 — — 221 221 Retirement begins in 2020.
To be replaced with Boeing 737 MAX 10.[29]
223 223
Boeing 767-300ER 4 — — 328 328 Retirement begins in 2020.[29]
Boeing 787-8 8 — 47 253 300
Boeing 787-9 4 2[30] 63 282 345 Deliveries complete by June 2020.[30]
Total 63 17

Fleet modernisation

TUI Group has 70 737 MAXs on order for the group.[31] The order consists of 18 MAX 10 aircraft,[32] with the remaining variants unspecified as of June 2017.[32][31] Some of these will be used for the airline to modernise the fleet and replace older aircraft. The number of aircraft allocated to TUI Airways is yet unknown, with deliveries of the new aircraft having commenced in January 2018.[33]

Historical fleet

TUI Airways Historical Fleet
Aircraft Introduced Retired Notes
Airbus A320-200 2008 2012 Inherited from First Choice Airways
Airbus A321-200 2008 2013 Inherited from First Choice Airways
Boeing 737-300 2008 2012 Inherited from Thomsonfly

Awards

  • Winner of a Mercury Award for Skills Development in 2010[34]

References

  1. ↑ https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/00444359
  2. ↑ "IATA - Airline and Airport Code Search". iata.org. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  3. ↑ "Thomson Airways Limited - Filing History". Companies House.
  4. ↑ Thomson Airways CASA AOC
  5. ↑ UK CAA aircraft ownership details
  6. 1 2 3 "UK Airline Data". UK Civil Aviation Authority. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "Booking Conditions." Thomson Airways. Retrieved on 4 February 2011."Both Thomson Airways and TUI UK Limited have their Registered Office at TUI Travel House, Crawley Business Quarter, Fleming Way, Crawley RH10 9QL[...]"
  8. ↑ https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/00444359
  9. ↑ Euravia (London) Ltd
  10. ↑ Flight International article published 17 December 1964
  11. ↑ Company news archive
  12. ↑ New Thomson Airways brand launched Archived 10 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. ↑ "THOMSON CRUISES UNVEILS PLANS FOR NEW SHIP DISCOVERY - TUITravel Media Centre - Thomson". TUITravel Media Centre - Thomson. 2015-11-13. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  14. ↑ "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.
  15. ↑ "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.
  16. ↑ TUI shareholders approve 737 Max order
  17. ↑ TUI Rebrand
  18. ↑ http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articles/62150/thomson-airways-unveils-dreamliner-with-tui-livery
  19. ↑ http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1347101/thomson-first-choice-axed-part-brand-consolidation-tui-name Thomson Merger
  20. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/dec/07/thomson-tv-ad-tui-rebrand
  21. ↑ https://www.faa.gov/documentlibrary/media/order/7340.2g_chg_1_dtd_4-27-17.pdf
  22. ↑ https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/00444359
  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. ↑ "Flight Timetable". TUI Airways. 7 April 2018.
  26. ↑ "United Kingdom Civil Aircraft Register". Civil Aviation Authority. 17 May 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  27. ↑ "TUI Airways UK outlines 737 MAX 8 operations from Dec 2018". routesonline.com. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  28. ↑ "TUI fly krijgt naast B737 MAX8 ook vier MAX10's in de vloot". flightlevel.be. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  29. 1 2 "TUI Group to simplify fleet, mulls more B737 MAX 10s". ch-aviation.com. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  30. 1 2 "Thomson Airways Celebrates Expansion of Long Haul Fleet with Arrival of Latest 787-9 Dreamliner". TUI Group. 19 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  31. 1 2 Boeing 737 Orders & Deliveries
  32. 1 2 PARIS: Leisure group TUI converts 18 orders to 737 Max 10
  33. ↑ "TUI GROUP ANNOUNCE SELECTION OF 18 BOEING 737 MAX 10S". aviation24.be. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  34. ↑ Thomson Holidays -Thomson Airways wins prestigious Mercury award

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