TUi Airways

[geoff]

Cape Verde seems to be popular with the airline at the moment, and perhaps Malta would be good, perhaps with a Ryanair flight,

 

[Barry Man]

Have heard there could be a 4th TUI in ext year , will have to Waite and see

 

[Foxlimayankee]

Have heard there could be a 4th TUI in ext year , will have to Waite and see

The 4th aircraft for 2026 was announced quite a while ago. 2 aircraft through the winter too.

 

[Samdorob]

Does anyone have any expectations of more expansion or do we think it'll be a carbon copy of Summer 26?

I’d imagine it’s largely the same as S26. It would be nice to see Morocco or an Italian route from them but I won’t hold my breath.

 

[Jerry]

I’d imagine it’s largely the same as S26. It would be nice to see Morocco or an Italian route from them but I won’t hold my breath.

Yep Verona and Agadir would be ideal.

 

[Jerry]

TUI have put onsale winter 2026-27 long-haul from Cardiff.
La Romana has 1 departure on 8/12/26
Barbados has 3 departures on 3/1/27, 18/2/27 & 28/2/27.
Cancun has 2 departures on 15/3/27 & 12/4/27

 

[Jerry]

TUI have put onsale winter 2026-27 long-haul from Cardiff.
La Romana has 1 departure on 8/12/26
Barbados has 3 departures on 3/1/27, 18/2/27 & 28/2/27.
Cancun has 2 departures on 15/3/27 & 12/4/27

Just to add to this with P&O cruise this means 10 long haul departures to the Caribbean in the winter averaging a departure every 2.5 weeks. Tbf I think for an airport of Cardiffs size that's not bad imo.

 

[Samdorob]

Not many changes to S27 from what I can see. Malaga looks to be going 3 weekly for summer.
I need to have a proper look yet.
Has anyone spotted anything interesting?

Edit: I’ve noticed that means Thursday has 5 TUI departures. Two possibilities here, one of those will move to an afternoon and be picked up by an away based aircraft, or we get a 5th aircraft. I can’t see any evidence of a 5th morning departure on any other days yet.

 

[Jerry]

Not many changes to S27 from what I can see. Malaga looks to be going 3 weekly for summer.
I need to have a proper look yet.
Has anyone spotted anything interesting?

Edit: I’ve noticed that means Thursday has 5 TUI departures. Two possibilities here, one of those will move to an afternoon and be picked up by an away based aircraft, or we get a 5th aircraft. I can’t see any evidence of a 5th morning departure on any other days yet.

Probably either away based ie Dubrovnik going away based or potentially it might get dropped at a later date.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

No chance of a 5th aircraft just for one weekly flight. If anything they'll move FAO or PMI to a W pattern and later departure, possibly BRS given the reductions they are seeing.

 

[Samdorob]

No chance of a 5th aircraft just for one weekly flight. If anything they'll move FAO or PMI to a W pattern and later departure, possibly BRS given the reductions they are seeing.

I’d imagine one of those morning flights shifting to a later departure and being served from an away based aircraft.

 

[geoff]

Poster on Cardiff Facebook page, has compared BRS Canaries 2027 departures with CWL, and BRS showing a massive drop in Canaries departures with only 2 departures to Las Palmas, and nothing to any of the other islands, of course it is early days, with plenty of time for amendments, unless of course TUI feel they are better off at CWL, not facing any competition.

 

[Aviador]

Poster on Cardiff Facebook page, has compared BRS Canaries 2027 departures with CWL, and BRS showing a massive drop in Canaries departures with only 2 departures to Las Palmas, and nothing to any of the other islands, of course it is early days, with plenty of time for amendments, unless of course TUI feel they are better off at CWL, not facing any competition.

There has been a sismic shift away from the Canaries after locals were saying "go home tourists". Airlines warned them it would be damaging to the tourism industry but they didn't listen. Holidaymakers are choosing alternatives such as Morocco and Turkey where they welcome tourists from the UK.

 

[Jerry]

Poster on Cardiff Facebook page, has compared BRS Canaries 2027 departures with CWL, and BRS showing a massive drop in Canaries departures with only 2 departures to Las Palmas, and nothing to any of the other islands, of course it is early days, with plenty of time for amendments, unless of course TUI feel they are better off at CWL, not facing any competition.

Well at BRS they do have other options they can use.

There has been a sismic shift away from the Canaries after locals were saying "go home tourists". Airlines warned them it would be damaging to the tourism industry but they didn't listen. Holidaymakers are choosing alternatives such as Morocco and Turkey where they welcome tourists from the UK.

We need to remember as well that at CWL cruises are quite popular and the Canary Islands are a starting point for that.

TUI Summer 2027 57 weekly departures +1 on 2026, 25 destinations and 4 based aircraft
Palma de Mallorca 7 weekly
Tenerife 4 weekly
Enfidha 3 weekly
Malaga 3 weekly +1
Antalya 3 weekly
Dalaman 3 weekly
Bourgas 2 weekly
Larnaca 2 weekly
Paphos 2 weekly
Hurghada 2 weekly
Corfu 2 weekly
Heraklion 2 weekly
Kos 2 weekly
Rhodes 2 weekly
Zante 2 weekly
Faro 2 weekly
Alicante 2 weekly
Gran Canaria 2 weekly
Ibiza 2 weekly
Lanzarote 2 weekly
Menorca 2 weekly
Fuerteventura 1 weekly
Kefalonia 1 weekly
Dubrovnik 1 weekly
Reus 1 weekly

 

[Nigel B]

Just an observation.but why are`nt there more Boeing 737 max being used at Cardiff? For instance today the current based aircraft G.FDZD is i believe the oldest 737 in the fleet! the seating capacity is the same with the 800 and max (189)

 

[Jerry]

Just an observation.but why are`nt there more Boeing 737 max being used at Cardiff? For instance today the current based aircraft G.FDZD is i believe the oldest 737 in the fleet! the seating capacity is the same with the 800 and max (189)

Well being one of the smaller bases I'd expect Cardiff isn't a priority for having based MAXs

 

[Cardiffbay]

Just an observation.but why are`nt there more Boeing 737 max being used at Cardiff? For instance today the current based aircraft G.FDZD is i believe the oldest 737 in the fleet! the seating capacity is the same with the 800 and max (189)

Cardiff is a high corrosion airfield due to its location so according to somebody I know who works there TUI have decided not to base new aircraft there.

 

[CAN&I]

Cardiff is a high corrosion airfield due to its location so according to somebody I know who works there TUI have decided not to base new aircraft there.

Really? Does TUI's corrosion policy also affect Newcastle, Bournemouth and Exeter for example?

Conversely, while its true the oldest 737 (G-FDZD) is the based aircraft at Cardiff today (09/11), practically every member of the 800 fleet from G-FDZD (2007) to G-TAWW (2015) have rotated through the base over recent months and years.

With the 800's base rotation in mind and the Max age range spreading from 2018-2025 (no age range overlap with the 800 fleet), surely the 800 and/or Max allocation question is more to do with TUI prioritising its Max fleet at larger bases as per Jeremy's suggestion, albeit with corrosion as a consideration, rather than purely based on corrosion?

Anyhow, as the 737 fleet is split roughly 60/40 in favour of the 800 for now, its reasonable to assume the older 800s will be replaced by the Max-8's and Max-10's on order over the coming years, increasing the liklihood of seeing Max's in time.

 

[Jack Ruckley]

Really? Does TUI's corrosion policy also affect Newcastle, Bournemouth and Exeter for example?

Conversely, while its true the oldest 737 (G-FDZD) is the based aircraft at Cardiff today (09/11), practically every member of the 800 fleet from G-FDZD (2007) to G-TUKX (2024) have rotated through the base over recent months and years.

With the 800's base rotation in mind and the Max age range spreading from 2018-2025 (an identical age range with over 1/3 of the 800 fleet), surely the 800 and/or Max allocation question is more to do with TUI prioritising its Max fleet at larger bases as per Jeremy's suggestion, albeit with corrosion as consideration, rather than purely based on corrosion?

Anyhow, as the 737 fleet is split roughly 60/40 in favour of the 800 for now, its reasonable to assume the older 800s will be replaced by the Max-8's and Max-10's on order over the coming years, increasing the liklihood of seeing Max's in time.

To also add, the max 8 has new safety features and training required since the grounding so maybe TUI hasn’t trained them all at Cardiff and so the major bases have them. Possibly due to incentives for more environmentally friendly aircraft in already busy airfields.

As you say it’s only a matter of time before Cardiff has the Max 8 but it’s still good to ride on the 800s as they have the fold down screens whereas the Max 8 doesn’t. I also had the pleasure of G-FDZS 16yrs old in September back from Lanzarote and to be fair, it had see better days and was dated and falling to pieces so I’d like Cardiff and TUI to have all boeing sky interior 737-800s if they are reluctant to base Max 8s at Cardiff.

Whatever their reason we cannot speculate as it’s clearly not impacting their faith and growth plans in Cardiff.

 

[Nigel B]

Thanks for the comments,i flew to ACE last month from CWL,out on G.TAWK and back on G.TAWW,so i know they have operated most of the 800 series from CWL.
I was just curious why they dont use the MAX regularily from CWL.