X3 TUI Website tuifly.com Destinations 39 | Fleet size 40 Key people Klaus Wellmann, CEO Customer service 00 49 180 5 424140 Founded 2007 | |
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Focus cities Cologne Bonn AirportDüsseldorf AirportFrankfurt AirportHannover AirportMunich AirportSaarbrücken AirportStuttgart Airport Profiles | ||
TUI fly Deutschland, formerly TUIfly, is a German leisure airline owned by the travel and tourism company TUI Group. It is headquartered at Hannover Airport with bases at several other German airports. TUI fly Deutschland is part of the TUI Airlines "alliance".
Contents
Formation
The airline was formed in 2007 by the merger of Hapag Lloyd Flug and Hapag Lloyd Express as a branch of TUI Travel. The airline codes of its predecessor are still in use, and the former callsign YELLOWCAB remained in use until it was changed to TUIJET on 24 September 2010.
In the second quarter of 2007, the load factor was at about 79%, after about 92% in the year before. Subsequently, the company closed its Leipzig/Halle and Bremen bases. On 29 January 2008, plans were announced to merge TUIfly with Eurowings and Germanwings (the Lufthansa low-cost brands) into a joint and independent holding company, but were withdrawn as talks turned out to be unsuccessful.
TUI Travel confirmed on 27 March 2009 that it had sealed a strategic partnership with Air Berlin that would see TUI Travel take a 20% stake in Air Berlin, and Air Berlin 20% in TUI fly Deutschland. Due to regulatory matters, this was changed to 9.9%. Air Berlin will also wet-lease 17 aircraft from TUI fly and take over all of TUI fly Deutschland's city connections. TUI will focus on serving the charter market with 21 aircraft of the remaining fleet. From 25 October 2009, all German domestic flights previously operated by TUI fly Deutschland were taken over by Air Berlin, as well as all flights to Austria, Italy and Croatia. Most of these flights are still operated by TUI fly Deutschland aircraft, but are marketed by Air Berlin.
Development since 2013
In December 2013, TUI fly Deutschland abandoned their distinctive yellow livery, and replaced it by the new blue design already introduced at TUI Airlines Netherlands, TUI fly Belgium and Thomson Airways. The first plane in the new colours arrived in Hannover on 17 February 2014. The livery has been updated once again, as of 2016, with new revised titles shortened from "TUIfly" to "TUI".
In September 2014, TUI fly Deutschland decided to relocate their operations at Zweibrücken Airport to nearby Saarbrücken Airport as Zweibrücken Airport faced bankruptcy and an uncertain future. In January 2016, TUI fly Deutschland also announced to leave Hamburg Airport entirely due to the increasing competition from low-cost carriers. The summer seasonal routes have not resumed, and all remaining destinations were cancelled by March 2016.
In September 2016 plans have been announced to merge TUI fly Deutschland into a new company together with the leisure operations of Air Berlin - which are currently partially operated by TUI fly Deutschland - as well as Air Berlin's entire Austrian subsidiary Niki. This move faced heavy criticism by labour unions as the new company would be based in Austria, therefore neglecting German labour contracts. Therefore, in early October 2016, TUI fly Deutschland reported unexpected crew shortages due to heavily increased sick notes from crews. On 5 October 2016, TUI fly Deutschland confirmed to be in talks with Air Berlin and Etihad Airways to create a new holding company for leisure operations. The new company is planned serve important holiday destinations from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In November 2016, the TUI board of directors agreed to merge TUI fly Deutschland with Air Berlin's Austrian subsdiary Niki under a new joint-venture with Etihad Airways. TUI Group AG is to hold a stake of 24.8% in the joint venture with Etihad holding 25% and the majority 50.2% to be held by the existing Austrian private foundation Niki Privatstiftung.
Operations
TUI fly Deutschland offers both charter and scheduled flights with about 60% of all seats are sold directly, 30% as a part of a TUI holiday package and 10% by other agencies.
All flights within Germany and other non-tourist destinations are operated on behalf of Air Berlin, with Air Berlin's service concept. TUI fly Deutschland itself offers free drinks, snacks, and meals on flights to and from Cape Verde, Egypt, Greece, Israel, southern Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Spain including the Canary Islands, and Tunisia. Hot meals are served on the longest flights, including those to the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Egypt, and Madeira.
Fleet
As of November 2016, the TUI fly Deutschland fleet consists of the following aircraft: