TUI Airways

[Marko1]

Thursdays gap has now been filled with dalaman. Only Monday am and possibly sat evening to be filled. Any way of finding out which routes will be flown by 737 or 757 ?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

We discussed recently the forthcoming departures of the B757s from the TUI fleet. I understand that summer 18 could be the last year we see two 757s at BRS, with both gone either before or after summer 20.

Replacing a 757 with a 738 will obviously mean fewer seats and it appears one option will be to have more flights on 'W's and with third party carriers in the first instance although there is still the possibility of TUI basing five 738s when both 757s have left. Next summer will be 2 x 757 and 2 x 738.

 

[forest1979]

Not sure if the timings permit but it will be great next year to see potentially 5 (with the 787) TUI aircraft on the apron! I hope the additional LH route works well next year and maybe this could lead to a year round route or maybe one more (Jamaica, Cuba or Barbados).. I see they have at least 4 more 787 9's on order so they have capacity to fill on bigger aircraft which should free up the 8's for some other routes.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Not sure if the timings permit but it will be great next year to see potentially 5 (with the 787) TUI aircraft on the apron!

There might be a chance when the Sal 787 returns. I think the Sal flight has been moved to Wednesdays next summer so if anyone wants to get up at stupid o'clock before the early Thursday morning departures begin they might see 2 x B 757s, 2 x B 737/800s and 1 x B 787-8 parked on the apron.

 

[andrewgreen]

Could there be enough demand on the routes the 757s serve to just replace them with 787s by 2019 ?

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Could there be enough demand on the routes the 757s serve to just replace them with 787s by 2019 ?

Perhaps not across the board but I can't see TUI using 787s on mainly short haul routes. If they did do so it would surely be somewhere like LGW or MAN.

 

[andrewgreen]

Maybe but Sal is not exactly long , long haul and thats using a 787.
Im not sure which routes the 757s cover ? but i would imagine they would be the more popular med routes and the 787 only has another 55 seats so if the current growth continues that should not be a problem especially in two years time.
Also i would think that one 787 would be more cost effective than two 737s to base ?

 

[Foxlimayankee]

A 787 is a long haul aircraft. They use 2 or 3 in an all economy layout at LGW and MAN where the demand is there alongside the 767s. Using a 787 on short haul is a waste of an expensive aircraft and will increase the cycles of the aircraft unnecessarily. Cape Verde is a 5.5hr flight which isn' comfortable in a 757, not in the TOM config.

 

[Jerry]

Not sure if the timings permit but it will be great next year to see potentially 5 (with the 787) TUI aircraft on the apron! I hope the additional LH route works well next year and maybe this could lead to a year round route or maybe one more (Jamaica, Cuba or Barbados).. I see they have at least 4 more 787 9's on order so they have capacity to fill on bigger aircraft which should free up the 8's for some other routes.

TUI's winter long haul seems to be focused at CWL for the South West at the moment. With the extra 787s it will be interesting to see if they continue to expand it at CWL or introduce more to BRS.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Im not sure which routes the 757s cover ?

This was the TUI programme in peak summer this year.

Monday
0600 Burgas B 737
0610 Mahon B 757
0700 Naples B 757
1505 Corfu B 757
1550 Ibiza B 757
1550 Las Palmas B 737

Tuesday
0600 Kos B 757
0635 Girona b 737
0720 Pula B 757
0935 Antalya Freebird A 320
1305 Chania B 737
1315 Malta Air Malta A 320
1425 Zante B 757
1605 Palma B 757 (non-BRS based)
1620 Santorini B 757

Wednesday
0625 Fuerteventura B 737
0700 Paphos B 757
0910 Palma B 757
1655 Larnaca B 737
1700 Rhodes B 757
1910 Ibiza B 757

Thursday
0600 Ibiza B 737
0615 Dubrovnik B 757
0730 Arrecife B 757
0910 Bodrum Freebird A 320
1340 Las Palmas B 737
1500 Heraklion B 757
1745 Malaga B 757

Friday
0530 Corfu B 757
0700 Tenerife B 737
0705 Mahon B 757
0930 Dalaman Freeebird A 320
1420 Sal B 757
1425 Zante B 757
1725 Naples B 737

Saturday
0605 Reus B 737
0630 Pula B 757
0910 Palma B 757
1000 Cancun B 787
1320 Ibiza B 737
1500 Verona Neos B 737
1530 Alicante B 757 (non-BRS based)
1630 Paphos B 757
1655 Rhodes B 757
2045 Palma B 737

Sunday
0600 Faro B 757
0600 Arrecife B 737
0910 Palma B 757
1135 Sanford B 787
1525 Larnaca B 757
1535 Kefalonia B 757
1610 Heraklion B 737

 

[forest1979]

TUI's winter long haul seems to be focused at CWL for the South West at the moment. With the extra 787s it will be interesting to see if they continue to expand it at CWL or introduce more to BRS.

What’s the TUI winter LH at CWL? One offs or full programme. Makes no sense to do that for winter only..
I don’t understand why cancun isnt year round.. having worked for TC overseas in cancun I can tell you back then that it was one of the biggest winter programmes after goa..

 

[Jerry]

What’s the TUI winter LH at CWL? One offs or full programme. Makes no sense to do that for winter only..
I don’t understand why cancun isnt year round.. having worked for TC overseas in cancun I can tell you back then that it was one of the biggest winter programmes after goa..

3 flights to Jamaica and 2 to Barbados stretching from the end of November to March this winter then 3 to Jamaica and 3 to Barbados for winter 2018/19. TUI may feel that Cancun won't work year round or they may feel that their aircraft make more money doing cruise flights for P&O and their own cruise flights to the Far East.

 

[forest1979]

3 flights to Jamaica and 2 to Barbados stretching from the end of November to March this winter then 3 to Jamaica and 3 to Barbados for winter 2018/19.

So not really a programme then, a handful of flights. Would still like to know why they feel Cardiff would work better for these and not BRS...

 

[Jerry]

So not really a programme then, a handful of flights. Would still like to know why they feel Cardiff would work better for these and not BRS...

I'd say it was a programme. It's hardly just 1 or 2 flights. Maybe the Caribbean is more popular from South Wales than Bristol. There are flights that that will work from Cardiff that may not work from BRS, Burgas is an example of that.

 

[Severn]

I'd disagree that it will be a "programme". There are 6 flights over the 6 months of Winter 17/18. These are multiple "one off" flights to the Caribbean which operate from a lot of the airports in the U.K. that TUI don’t operate long haul Sumer schedules from, like BOH for instance.
A lot of these flights to the Caribbean tie up with TUI Cruises don’t they? And if so plenty of seats will be filled for this reason. I would also assume that the cruise market may be larger in Wales hence more flights from CWL over the Winter periods going back over the years.

Regarding Burgas, can you expand?... Summer 18 will see 4 flights each from CWL and BRS.....?
CWL:
BGH - 2pw (A320)
TUI - 1pw (B738)
TCX - 1pw (A320)

BRS:
BGH - 1pw (A320)
TUI - 2pw (B752/B738)
TCX - 1pw (A320)

 

[Jerry]

A lot of these flights to the Caribbean tie up with TUI Cruises don’t they?

These flights aren't for cruises they are package holiday flights, as far i can find out they connect to any cruises. There are 4 cruise flights put on by P&O cruises over the winter. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree about whether it would be classed as a programme.

Regarding Burgas, can you expand?... Summer 18 will see 4 flights each from CWL and BRS.....?
CWL:
BGH - 2pw (A320)
TUI - 1pw (B738)
TCX - 1pw (A320)

BRS:
BGH - 1pw (A320)
TUI - 2pw (B752/B738)
TCX - 1pw (A320)

Exactly. Only 4 flights a week from BRS and 4 from CWL and CWL is the much smaller airport. Strangely though with TCX i couldn't find anything on the holiday site yet there are flights.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I've long wondered why CWL does so well with cruise and other Caribbean flights in winter. The BRS catchment is home to a large number of people who you might think would be the type to travel on this type of flight - older and often retired, comfortably off with the time, means and will to fly. It might be historical to an extent in that in the past airlines often eschewed BRS on long haul charters because of its runway and this has followed through to the present day. However, that doesn't explain why BRS currently does better than CWL on summer transatlantic charters when in the past CWL held the whip hand.

I've asked on other message boards over the years but I never received a consensus.

As for Burgas, in terms of passenger numbers these are the CAA annual totals in recent years with BRS shown first and CWL in the right-hand column:

2013 12,534 13,727
2014 20,720 12,173
2015 19,727 12,882
2016 13,155 18,199
2017 13,939 17,311 (to date)

During this period the BH flight has operated each year but in those years where the BRS total was less than CWL either TUI or TCX didn't operate, including this year which saw no TCX but it's back next summer as Severn points out.

In terms of a percentage of overall airport passenger numbers CWL does better but for BRS to have a similar percentage would mean they'd need over 20 weekly rotations to Burgas each summer. Does any UK airport have that many?

 

[Jerry]

The BRS catchment is home to a large number of people who you might think would be the type to travel on this type of flight - older and often retired, comfortably off with the time, means and will to fly.

I wonder with those type of people they are more than likely to go for the more upmarket and expensive cruises? Caribbean cruises aren't cheap but they are probably the more affordable generally in the cruise market. Plus Heathrow and Gatwick are closer to the BRS catchment area not to mention Southampton port which is a big departure point for cruises.
As for Burgas considering BRS's size i would've expected more than 4 weekly flights, i'm also surprised Easyjet doesn't operate any but if there is only limited demand then they may feel their aircraft will make more money elsewhere.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I wonder with those type of people they are more than likely to go for the more upmarket and expensive cruises? Caribbean cruises aren't cheap but they are probably the more affordable generally in the cruise market. Plus Heathrow and Gatwick are closer to the BRS catchment area not to mention Southampton port which is a big departure point for cruises.
As for Burgas considering BRS's size i would've expected more than 4 weekly flights, i'm also surprised Easyjet doesn't operate any but if there is only limited demand then they may feel their aircraft will make more money elsewhere.

Our son and his family who are Bristol-based used to go to Barbados regularly for winter holidays but they never considered looking anywhere but LHR so there might be something in what you say.

As for Burgas, in 2016 when BRS was a weekly flight down they carried 13,000; BHX carried 28,000 but in 2015 when BRS had 19,000 BHX was less than 2,000 more.

I wouldn't say that Burgas doesn't work at BRS - in terms of passenger numbers anyway - although I will concede it's nowhere near as popular as some of the other sun routes. CWL actually had Bulgaria as a summer sun destination some years before BRS. In the 1990s or it might have been the late 80s CWL had summer sun routes to both Burgas and Varna. easyJet doesn't operate to Burgas from anywhere.

 

[Marko1]

Changes again for next summer. Verona back to tba , skiathos dropped and still no filling for Monday am plus a gap now on Tuesday am.