TUI connects Hamburg with the Caribbean

Hanover / Hamburg, 18 March, 2013. Starting in the 2013/14 winter season, TUI will link Hamburg non-stop with the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Barbados. A Boeing 767-300 will fly from Hamburg to Punta Cana in the Caribbean and to Cancun on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, serving both of these destinations twice weekly. And Germany’s leading tour operator will also operate alternate non-stop weekly flights to Barbados and to La Romana in the Dominican Republic.

The full charter services from Hamburg represent an additional capacity of 35,000 seats that TUI is bringing to the northern German market over the winter season, starting in November 2013. “Long-haul travel is the future. We see great growth potential here and want to further expand our market share, currently around 15 percent,” says Christian Clemens, CEO of TUI Deutschland GmbH. He continues, “Our choice of Hamburg as departure airport was very deliberate. We have a unique selling proposition here, because there are, to date, no non-stop long-haul flights from Hamburg to the Caribbean or Mexico.”

“With these new long-haul services, TUI is engaging with significant demand at Hamburg Airport. Already, some 50,000 passengers per year fly from Hamburg to the Caribbean via connecting flights. With the new direct services, this volume of passengers is certain to increase significantly. We are absolutely delighted by TUI’s commitment and convinced that passengers from northern Germany will take advantage of this new service,” says Michael Eggenschwiler, CEO of Hamburg Airport.

The full-charter flights will be operated by TUIfly. As the airline does not have its own long-haul aircraft, a Boeing 767-300 from the Dutch affiliate, Arkefly, will be used. For German holidaymakers, the wide bodied jet will be fitted with 265 seats, divided between Economy and Comfort classes. TUIfly’s German product and service concepts will be in place. This includes, for example, in-flight entertainment, catering and on-board shopping.  

One in four Germans wants to undertake long-haul travel. This was one of the findings of a representative survey conducted by TUI and TNS Emnid at the end of February, 2013. TUI is presently reporting 30 percent bookings growth for long-haul flights in winter. Never before has the market leader seen so many long-distance holidays booked. TUI is consistently pursuing its long-haul growth strategy with these new services.

Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and the Riviera Maya in Mexico are amongst TUI’s most important long-haul destinations. With a 16 percent share of TUI’s long-haul business, the Dominican Republic was the clear leader in the previous tourist year, 2011/2012. Mexico follows in fifth place. TUI is well represented at both destinations through its hotel partnership with Riu. In recent years, the Spanish hotel chain has invested majorly in modernising its hotels and opening new hotels in the region.

TUI is pushing ahead with its exclusivity strategy for long-haul routes. The demand for target group hotels is growing not only around the Mediterranean, but also increasingly in countries further afield. TUI already offers individually tailored hotel concepts in the Dominican Republic.

Sensimar Punta Cana Villas & Suites is the first TUI hotel for couples and families in a long-haul destination. Other target group hotels here are already being planned.

Information: Alongside the Boeing 767-300, which exclusively serves long-haul destinations, TUIfly is also stationing a Boeing 737-800 in Hamburg to serve nine popular medium-haul destinations: Arrecife, Boa Vista, Sal, Fuerteventura, Las Palmas, Palma de Mallorca, Salzburg, Tenerife und Jerez.

With a market share of almost 20 percent, TUI Deutschland GmbH is Germany’s leading tour operator. As well as the core TUI brand, the TUI Group also includes numerous other well-known brands such as 1-2-FLY, airtours, the TUIfly airline, and the specialist companies Gebeco and L'tur. TUI is thus able to cover the entire range of travel requirements, from premium to customised and low budget. TUI Deutschland is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TUI Travel PLC, the world’s largest tourism company. The company, listed on the London Stock Exchange, is represented in 180 countries and serves more than 30 million customers.

With more than 13.7 million passengers per year, Hamburg Airport is Germany’s fifth largest airport. Passengers can choose from a route network spanning the globe. More than 60 airlines fly to 115 domestic and international destinations. Incorporating Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and parts of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Lower Pomerania and Denmark, Hamburg Airport's large catchment area, with its substantial passenger potential, is extremely interesting for all airlines. Hamburg Airport, with a modern infrastructure equally accessible to all airlines and a flexible price structure that enables differentiation, is preparing for the many challenges that will be presented by the aviation industry of the future. Almost 250 businesses based at the airport employ approximately 15,000 staff (incl. 1,615 directly employed by the airport group). The partially privatised airport is owned by the Free & Hanseatic City of Hamburg, with a 51 percent holding, and HOCHTIEF AirPort GmbH with a 49 percent stake.