TUI Airways

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.

This article is about the British airline. For its sister companies, see TUI Group § Airlines.

TUI Airways Limited
IATA ICAO Callsign
BY[1] TOM TOMJET
Founded1 December 1961 (1961-12-01) (as Euravia)
Commenced operations2 October 2017 (2017-10-02) (as TUI Airways)
AOC #294
Operating bases
List of bases
Fleet size71[2]
Destinations96
Parent companyTUI Group
HeadquartersWigmore House, Luton[3]
Key peopleDawn Wilson (Chief Operating Officer)
Employees10,000 (the entire operation in the UK and Ireland) [4]
Websitetui.co.uk

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
767-300ER in the former Thomson branded "Dynamic Wave" livery
A former TUI Airways Boeing 757-200

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]

Rebrand

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]

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.[22] The facility is adjacent to Luton Airport.[23]

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 passengersTotal flightsLoad factorPassenger Change (YoY)
2005* 15,501,61682,91388.6%
2006* 15,134,69983,55688.4%Decrease02.4%
2007* 15,018,97382,36089.1%Decrease00.8%
2008 12,234,61865,34891.1%Decrease018.5%
2009 11,238,77459,19590.2%Decrease08.1%
2010 10,965,11156,52289.9%Decrease02.4%
2011 11,049,28857,71389.3%Increase00.8%
2012 10,703,33854,37292.0%Decrease03.1%
2013 10,548,95254,92692.4%Decrease01.4%
2014 10,366,95954,25793.0%Decrease01.7%
2015 10,611,17553,86993.8%Increase02.4%
2016 10,942,65155,29594.1%Increase03.1%
2017 11,254,42957,69893.5%Increase02.9%
2018 11,167,28758,39792.8%Decrease 0.7%
2019 11,817,78360,63392.9%Increase 5.8%
2020 2,017,17710,60688.0%Decrease 82.9%
2021 2,022,47013,84773.9%Increase 0.2%
2022 11,297,217 61,213 88.6% Increase 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,[24] Dublin,[25] Helsinki,[26] Oslo[27] and Stockholm.[28]

Fleet
A TUI Airways Boeing 737-800
A TUI Airways Boeing 737 MAX 8
A TUI Airways Boeing 787-8

Current fleet

As of August 2023, TUI Airways operates an all-Boeing fleet composed of the following aircraft and 14 MAX-10s on order that are to enter service by 2024:[29][30]. TUI have leased multiple Airbus A320-200 aircraft for the Summer 2023 season to cover for the delay in Boeing 737 MAX deliveries.

TUI Airways Ltd fleet
Aircraft In
service		 Orders Passengers Notes
P Y Total
Airbus A320-200 9 – 180 180 3 leased from SmartLynx Airlines Estonia
4 leased from Avion Express Malta
2 leased from Titan Airways[31]
Boeing 737-800 29 – 189 189
Boeing 737 MAX 8 18 35[32]
Boeing 737 MAX 10 — 14[33] TBA
Boeing 767-300ER 2 — – 328 328 Both to be retired by Summer 2023 and replaced by Boeing 787-9
Boeing 787-8 8 — 47 253 300
– 325 325
Boeing 787-9 5 1 63 282 345
Total 71 50

Historical fleet

TUI Airways formerly operated the following aircraft with 1 Leased:[30]

TUI Airways historical fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Notes
Airbus A320-200 5 2009 2012 Inherited from First Choice Airways
Airbus A321-200 2 2009 2013 Inherited from First Choice Airways
Boeing 737-300 8 2008 2012 Inherited from Thomsonfly
Boeing 757-200 31 2008 2021 Inherited from Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways

Accidents and Incidents

On 20 October 2023, flight “TOM 3551” Skidded off the runway while attempting to land at Leeds Bradford Airport in heavy rain caused by Storm Babet.[34]

See also

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. "TUI AIRWAYS LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  6. "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. "GINFO Search Results". Civil Aviation Authority. 30 June 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
  23. "Wigmore House". Duncan-Welch & Co. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  24. "Only Flight". tui.dk.
  25. "Flight Timetable". TUI Holidays.
  26. "Only Flight".
  27. "Only Flight". tui.no.
  28. "Only Flight". tui.se.
  29. "United Kingdom Civil Aircraft Register". Civil Aviation Authority. 17 May 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  30. "TUI Airways Fleet Details and History". Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  31. "TUI Airways Fleet Details". Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  32. "Boeing order books for January 2023". Boeing Commercial (Press release). Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  33. "TUI fly krijgt naast B737 MAX8 ook vier MAX10's in de vloot". Flightlevel.be. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  34. "Leeds Bradford Airport closed after plane skids off runway in storm". BBC News. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.

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