TUI Travel

TUI Travel PLC
Company type	Public limited company
Industry	Leisure travel
Predecessor	First Choice Holidays PLC, Tourism Division of TUI AG
Founded	September 3, 2007; 19 years ago in Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom
Defunct	2014
Fate	Merged with TUI AG to form TUI Group
Headquarters	Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom
Area served	180 countries
Products	Leisure travel services
Owner	TUI AG (56.4% ownership stake at founding)
Parent	TUI AG (until merger)

TUI Travel PLC was a leisure travel corporation based in Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom. Established on 3 September 2007 through the combination of First Choice Holidays PLC and the Tourism Division of TUI AG, which held a 56.4% ownership stake, the company operated across 180 countries, catering to 30 million customers.

The firm was publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange and formed part of the FTSE 100 Index. In 2014, TUI Travel merged with its German parent company to form the TUI Group.

TUI AG

Originally founded in 1923 in Berlin, Germany under the name Preußische Bergwerks und Hütten-Aktiengesellschaft within the industrial sector, the company went public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 1959 and adopted the name Preussag in 1964. It expanded by acquiring Thomson Travel in 2000 and Hapag Lloyd in 2002. Since Hapag Lloyd owned the travel business TUI (formerly Touristik Union International), this led to a corporate rebranding as TUI AG. In June 2014, TUI AG and TUI Travel revealed plans to merge.

First Choice

First Choice began operations in 1973 under the name Owners Abroad, functioning as a travel agent. It became listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1982. The company launched Air 2000 in 1987 and purchased Redwing in 1990.

Merger

In March 2007, the travel division of TUI AG joined forces with First Choice, receiving approval from the European Commission in June 2007 contingent upon divesting Budget Travel in Ireland. The newly formed entity, TUI Travel PLC, commenced operations in September of that year.

The airlines operated by both groups—Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways—were merged under Thomsonfly’s operating license in May 2008 and rebranded as Thomson Airways by November that year.

Starting from October 2011, a two-year phased rebranding effort discontinued the First Choice brand from retail outlets, consolidating under "Thomson featuring First Choice," while reserving the First Choice name exclusively for all-inclusive holiday packages.

Although merger discussions between TUI Travel and its parent company TUI AG were intermittent during 2013 and 2014, an agreement was reached in June 2014. The merger was finalized when TUI Travel was removed from the London Stock Exchange on 17 December 2014.

Selloffvacations.com

In 2009, Selloffvacations.com was divested along with Signature Vacations to Sunwing Travel Group.

Operations

The organization structured its business into three main divisions:

Mainstream
- Central Europe
- Northern Europe
- Western Europe
Specialist and Activity

Airlines

In 2005, airline brands within the group were rebranded to align with either the group’s identity or their principal tour operator. Jet4you adopted a "-fly" suffix, while Britannia Airways was renamed Thomsonfly to correspond with its tour operator. Following the merger of First Choice Airways and Thomsonfly, their combined airline was renamed Thomson Airways. Both fleets embraced a light blue livery featuring a red TUI logo on their tails. Additionally, Corsairfly was renamed Corsair International and received an updated paint scheme.

Airlines prior to merger

Airline	Country	Description
Corsair International	Template:Country data FRA Template:Namespace detect showall France	Corsair International operates flights to 15 destinations located in French overseas regions, the Mediterranean, Thailand, North Africa, and North America. It stands out as the only airline within the TUI group not featuring TUI branding.
Thomson Airways (currently TUI Airways)	Template:Country data GBR Template:Namespace detect showall United Kingdom Template:Country data IRL Template:Namespace detect showall Ireland	As the largest charter airline owned by TUI and globally, it manages 64 aircraft flying from 26 UK airports to 109 destinations. It was created through the consolidation of Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways.
Arkefly (now TUI fly Netherlands)	Template:Country data NLD Template:Namespace detect showall Netherlands	Since 2005, Arkefly has operated charter services from Amsterdam Schiphol to destinations in Southern Europe, North Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
TUIfly (now TUI fly Deutschland)	Germany Germany	Based at Hannover Airport, this German leisure airline ranks as the fourth largest in Germany. It offers charter flights to Southern Europe, North Africa, the Canary Islands, and the Middle East.
Jetairfly (now TUI fly Belgium)	Template:Country data BEL Template:Namespace detect showall Belgium	Operating since late 2005 from Ostend, this Belgian carrier covers 180 routes to over 100 airports spanning the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Caribbean, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Africa, and the United States.
TUI fly Nordic	Template:Country data SWE Template:Namespace detect showall Sweden Template:Country data DEN Template:Namespace detect showall Denmark Template:Country data NOR Template:Namespace detect showall Norway Template:Country data FIN Template:Namespace detect showall Finland	Provides holiday flight services for tour operators Fritidsresor, Finnmatkat, and Star Tour across Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway.

Defunct airlines

Airline	Country	Description
Aladia Airlines	Mexico	Launched in 2006 as a partnership between TUI Group and Mexican investors, Aladia was the only North American carrier within TUI. Its operations ceased in October 2008 and have not recommenced since.
Britannia Airways	United Kingdom	Once the largest charter airline in the UK, Britannia Airways was rebranded as Thomsonfly in 2005. Its principal hubs included London Gatwick, Luton, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle, and Glasgow airports.
Jet4you	Morocco	Jet4you operated flights connecting Morocco with France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, and Italy before its operations were integrated into Jetairfly.
Britannia Nordic	Template:Country data SWE Template:Namespace detect showall Sweden Template:Country data DEN Template:Namespace detect showall Denmark Template:Country data NOR Template:Namespace detect showall Norway Template:Country data FIN Template:Namespace detect showall Finland	Britannia Nordic provided services across Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Norway prior to its merger into TUIfly Nordic.
First Choice Airways	United Kingdom	This charter airline under TUI Travel PLC flew to more than 60 destinations from 14 airports in the UK and Ireland. Following the merger of TUI UK with First Choice Holidays in 2007, it operated alongside Thomsonfly until November 2008 when both combined into Thomson Airways.
Hapag-Lloyd Express	Germany	Based in Langenhagen, Germany, Hapag-Lloyd Express (HLX.com) was a low-cost carrier that merged with Hapag-Lloyd Flug in January 2007 to form TUIfly.
Hapag-Lloyd Flug	Germany	Operating under the brand Hapagfly between 2005 and 2007 and headquartered in Langenhagen, Germany, this airline merged with Hapag-Lloyd Express to create TUIfly.
Metrojet	Russia	Originally established as Kolavia in 1993 and later rebranded as Metrojet, it was TUI Group's only operator serving Eastern Europe and Asia until August 2014 when it left the group after negotiations.
Neos	Italy	Founded in 2001 as a joint venture between IFIL (parent company of Alpitour controlled by the Agnelli Group) and TUI. TUI divested its shares in 2004.
Thomsonfly	United Kingdom	Formerly known as Britannia and part of TUI UK before merging with First Choice Holidays in 2007. It operated alongside First Choice Airways until their consolidation into Thomson Airways in November 2008.

External links

Official corporate website