TUi Airways

[Severn]

Summer has (just about) started...
G-TAWG - B737-800 - TUI Airways - Operated to ALC and TFS today
G-TAWJ - B737-800 - TUI Airways - Arrived from St Athan yesterday, parked in CWL today.
F-GZTZ - B737-800 - ASL Airlines France - Due in from CDG early afternoon

 

[Jerry]

Only just realised that from November TUI will be the only based airline at Cardiff as Eastern now is an overnighting aircraft i believe.

 

[Jerry]

Just seen a Facebook post from the Cardiff airport agents page and it looks like the airport is promoting itself at TUI travel agent's in Wellington, Exeter and Tiverton and Miles Morgan in Taunton they are calling it the #TollFreeTour.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Just seen a Facebook post from the Cardiff airport agents page and it looks like the airport is promoting itself at TUI travel agent's in Wellington, Exeter and Tiverton and Miles Morgan in Taunton they are calling it the #TollFreeTour.

#TollFreeTour - what does that mean?

 

[Jerry]

#TollFreeTour - what does that mean?

It must be them promoting that there is no tolls so no barrier to people in the South West using CWL for their holidays.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It must be them promoting that there is no tolls so no barrier to people in the South West using CWL for their holidays.

It's certainly adventurous going to south Somerset and Devon. I could understand a blitz further north around Bristol but it's difficult to see many people from that part of Somerset and Devon making their way to CWL for flights, unless there is a USP such as Qatar to Doha.

 

[Foxlimayankee]

From seeing the Facebook posts, it looks more like the visits were to Travel Agents, including TUI, promoting holidays using Qatar Airways, not TUI Airways.

 

[superking]

From seeing the Facebook posts, it looks more like the visits were to Travel Agents, including TUI, promoting holidays using Qatar Airways, not TUI Airways.

That makes more sense as cant see ppl passing 2 airports to catch TUI flights from CWL.

 

[Pontyboy]

People travel to LGW or MAN to fly and save on the per person cost. You would drive past 3 airports to do that.

 

[superking]

People travel to LGW or MAN to fly and save on the per person cost. You would drive past 3 airports to do that.

TRUE in what you say,but the fares in general are cheaper from BRS,dont know what EXT fares are like,on the same lines as CWL I expect.

 

[Jerry]

#

That makes more sense as cant see ppl passing 2 airports to catch TUI flights from CWL.

People will travel a very long distancce to save a few pennies! And BRS isn't always the cheapest option.

 

[superking]

Cost of fuel is going up every week. To travel to CW from Devon it will cost you 50£at least. To travel past 2 airports and a good chance they will be cheaper holiday wise or flight wise then any one doing this ust be ma wth money to throw away.

 

[Jerry]

Cost of fuel is going up every week. To travel to CW from Devon it will cost you 50£at least. To travel past 2 airports and a good chance they will be cheaper holiday wise or flight wise then any one doing this ust be ma wth money to throw away.

Yet Welsh people do that everyday heading to London guess it's only the Welsh who'll do that.

 

[superking]

That's different as when they go past CWL or BRS is most of them are doing flights that do not operate from the airports they are passing. Lots of ppl don't like doing flights to hub airports as long haul in their eyes is a direct flight. Mind you there is ppl that travel to London airports that catch flights that CWL and BRS operate.Those ppl have to be educated to look at closer airports for flights

 

[Jerry]

That's different as when they go past CWL or BRS is most of them are doing flights that do not operate from the airports they are passing. Lots of ppl don't like doing flights to hub airports as long haul in their eyes is a direct flight. Mind you there is ppl that travel to London airports that catch flights that CWL and BRS operate.Those ppl have to be educated to look at closer airports for flights

People are funny with flights. I know people who've traveled all the way to Gatwick to go to Mallorca or Tenerife because it was slightly cheaper.
I saw a comment once saying that it wasn't a proper holiday flying from Wales even though they were flying to same resort that was on offer from Cardiff!
I remember someone saying that they flew from Gatwick because it was on a proper plane! They meant the Dreamliner with TUI.
Peoples reasoning is just weird and there is always the chance CWL will attract people from the West country just not in large numbers.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

It's been thus since package holidays became popular. When our kids were growing up in the 70s and 80s Thomson's IT flights from the likes of CWL and BRS to popular sun destinations usually carried a hefty supplement per person compared with the same holidays from LGW. I knew some people who would drive by car or coach to Gatwick to save a few quid, albeit it would take two or three hours to travel in each direction, usually longer that the flights themselves, and the cost of the surface journey also had to be factored in. We used to bite the bullet and fly locally and pay the supplements.

I can understand the logic in trying to attract people from the further South West to Qatar's CWL service but, as has been said, I can't see many from Devon and south Somerset using TUI flights from CWL if similar ones are available at airports closer at hand, unless there is a significant price differential in which case we are back to the situation of 30-40 years ago that I mentioned above.

 

[mathers_wales_uk]

There are many factors that elect which airport passenger chose to fly from.

Some chose an airport because they used to it and despite better prices elsewhere will not use any other airport than the one they have elected.

Others look at the price of the holiday and take that fee as the cheapest option. They then don’t consider, distance/travel time, difference in parking costs and occasionally hotel prior and after the holiday.

Others are just fixed on dates so plan whatever holiday around these dates.

I am currently in Boa Vista, Cape Verde. This flight is available at both Bristol and Birmingham however I elected to travel from Gatwick. The reason being annual leave was booked well in advance of us selecting our destination. We also had a wedding to attend in South Wales on the Friday, so after selecting a destination the Gatwick flight was the only option left.

I didn’t compare the difference in flight prices, petrol but even though we left Bridgend at 23:00 and arrived in Gatwick at 2am, we elected not to book a hotel as our departure was at 07:40.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

There are many factors that elect which airport passenger chose to fly from.

Some chose an airport because they used to it and despite better prices elsewhere will not use any other airport than the one they have elected.

Others look at the price of the holiday and take that fee as the cheapest option. They then don’t consider, distance/travel time, difference in parking costs and occasionally hotel prior and after the holiday.

Others are just fixed on dates so plan whatever holiday around these dates.

I am currently in Boa Vista, Cape Verde. This flight is available at both Bristol and Birmingham however I elected to travel from Gatwick. The reason being annual leave was booked well in advance of us selecting our destination. We also had a wedding to attend in South Wales on the Friday, so after selecting a destination the Gatwick flight was the only option left.

I didn’t compare the difference in flight prices, petrol but even though we left Bridgend at 23:00 and arrived in Gatwick at 2am, we elected not to book a hotel as our departure was at 07:40.

TUI flies to Sal from BRS. There were going to be weekly Boavista flights as well as Sal last winter but Boavista was pulled before the season began.

I agree that there are many different reasons and factors that determine people's flight decisions. My wife and I looked at Qatar from CWL for our Australia trip last winter but amongst other things the timings were wrong for us and the length of time at Doha between flights would have been much too long for our taste. In the end we opted for our usual carrier Emirates from LHR. We are Gold tier members with their Skywards frequent flyer programme although that didn't really have a bearing on our decision but might well do so for others.

Our son has paid for his son's (our grandson) flight from Australia to the UK (Bristol) and back to attend a family wedding later this year and his main criterion was price. He looked at numerous options and Cathay Pacific to LHR via Hong Kong turned out to be the best for him.

So just some examples from one family of the various reasons why people choose particular flights/airlines.

 

[Jerry]

The ASL 737 was hit by lightning about 30 minutes before arriving at Cardiff from Ibiza on Wednesday.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/...D6XWwrJAG1EEbkaggiXf23aMstdk6j-qW-EBsJTHKvyoQ

 

[ROC10]

The ASL 737 was hit by lightning about 30 minutes before arriving at Cardiff from Ibiza on Wednesday.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/...D6XWwrJAG1EEbkaggiXf23aMstdk6j-qW-EBsJTHKvyoQ

It has been idle at CWL for 7 hours since coming in from FAO. I’m assuming FR24 is wrong when it indicates a TUI flight CWL-ZTH at 13:35? Perhaps this starts later in the season as it doesn’t appear to have gone last week or this week? G-TAWS is also running around 3.5 hours late all day today.