TUI Travel

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TUI Travel PLC
Type Public
Traded as LSE: [http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/prices-and-news/stocks/prices-search/stock-prices-search.html?nameCode=TT. TT.]
Industry Transport
Founded 2007
Headquarters Crawley, England, UK
Key people Friedrich Joussen
(Chairman)
Sir Michael Hodgkinson
(Deputy Chairman)
Peter Long
(Chief Executive)
Products Passenger transport, travel agency, accommodation
Revenue £14.46 billion (2012)[1]
Operating income £301 million (2012)[1]
Net income £137 million (2012)[1]
Owner(s) TUI AG (56.4%)[2]
Employees 54,000 (2012)[3]
Subsidiaries Thomson Airways
Thomson Holidays
Website www.tuitravelplc.com

TUI Travel PLC is an international leisure travel group listed on the London Stock Exchange. It was formed on 3 September 2007 with the merger of First Choice Holidays PLC and the Tourism Division of TUI AG, which owns 56.4%[2] of the company. TUI operates in 180 countries and claims 30 million customers.[4] Its headquarters are in Crawley, West Sussex, England and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

History

TUI AG

The company was founded in 1923 in Berlin, Germany as Preußische Bergwerks und Hütten-Aktiengesellschaft operating in the industrial sector.[5] In 1959 it listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in 1964 was renamed Preussag.[5] In 2000 it acquired Thomson Travel and in 2002 bought Hapag Lloyd, which itself owned the travel firm TUI (formerly Touristik Union International), and renamed itself TUI AG.[6]

First Choice

The First Choice logo

The company was founded in 1973 as Owners Abroad operating as a travel agent.[5] It first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1982.[5] In 1987 it launched Air 2000 and in 1990 acquired Redwing.[5] It changed its name to First Choice in 1994.[7]

In July 2005, First Choice Holidays purchased the Europe Express group of companies consisting of multi-channel distribution companies including: go-today.com for direct to consumer vacation packages, E.E.I. Travel and Brian Moore International Tours (BMIT) with travel agent distribution, Travel Services Europe (TSE), the contracting division for hotels and travel services throughout Europe.[8]

Merger

In March 2007, the merger of the travel division of TUI AG with First Choice was announced.[9] The European Commission approved the merger on 4 June 2007, on the condition that the merged company sell Budget Travel in Ireland.[10] The merged company, TUI Travel PLC, began operations in September 2007.[11]

TUI and First Choice's in-house airlines, Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways, were brought together under the former's Air operator's certificate in May 2008, and the merged airline was rebranded as Thomson Airways in November 2008.[12]

In October 2011 it was announced that under a two-year rebranding programme, the store estate would be rebranded as "Thomson featuring First Choice" to create a single travel agency brand; the First Choice branding and uniform will be phased out, and the First Choice name will be used for all-inclusive package holidays sold by the combined network.[13]

The company confirmed in January 2013 that it had received a proposal from its parent to merge.[14] In May 2013, the chief executive of TUI AG ruled out a merger with TUI Travel.[15]

Operations

The Company is organised into three sectors:[16]

  • Mainstream
    • Central Europe
    • Northern Europe
    • Western Europe
  • Accommodation and Destinations
  • Specialist and Activity

Airlines

TUI Travel owns eight European airlines making it the largest tourism group in Europe. The group airlines operate scheduled flights as well as charter flights to more than 150 destinations worldwide departing from more than 60 airports in 9 European countries.

In 2005 the names and liveries of the group airlines were changed to reflect the name of the group and to increase recognition by using a single marketing name. All airlines in the group were rebranded with the name best known in their local market or the name of the principal tour operator, Jet4you and Britannia Airways name's were changed. Jet4you acquired the suffix "-fly" whereas Britannia Airways had a complete name change, to reflect the tour operator that it was flying for therefore Britannia Airways Became Thomsonfly. Due to the merger of first choice and thomson, thomsonfly dropped the -fly suffix and subsequently became Thomson Airways. Both these airlines had their aircraft repainted in the light blue TUI colours with a red TUI logo on the tail. However, Corsairfly has been renamed Corsair International and has a new livery.

TUI Airlines carries millions of vacation travelers and business passengers every year. In 2005 it had a passenger volume of 25 million and employed more than 8,200 people.

Current

Airline Country Image Description
Arkefly Netherlands Since 2005 Arkefly has operated charter flights from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to destinations in Southern Europe, North Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
Corsair International France
(Previous livery)		 Corsair International flies to 15 destinations in French overseas territories around the Mediterranean, Thailand, North Africa, and North America.
Jetairfly Belgium, Morocco Jetairfly has operated since March 2004 to more than 70 airports in the Europe, Red Sea, Caribbean, Canary Islands, and North Africa.
Thomson Airways United Kingdom
(Still In Thomsonfly livery)		 Thomson Airways is the largest of the TUI airlines and the largest charter airline in the world. It has 64 aircraft and flies from 26 British airports to 109 destinations worldwide. It was formed by the merger of Thomsonfly (formerly Britannia Airways) and First Choice Airways.
TUIfly Germany The former German Airlines of the TUIfly-alliance Hapag-Lloyd Flug and Hapag-Lloyd Express (now defunct as an air carrier) operated together under the brand TUIfly. Since Summer 2010 Hapag-Lloyd Flug is now officially named TUIfly.
TUIfly Nordic Sweden

Denmark

Norway

Finland

 TUIfly Nordic flies from Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway. They fly holidaymakers travelling with the tour operators Fritidsresor, Finnmatkat and Star Tour.

Former airlines

Airline Country Image Description
Britannia Airways United Kingdom Britannia Airways was the largest charter airline in the United Kingdom, rebranded as Thomsonfly in 2005. Its main bases were London Gatwick, London Luton, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow.
Jet4you Morocco Jet4you operated services between Moroccan cities and destinations in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain and Italy. Operations have now been merged with Jetairfly.
Britannia Nordic Sweden Britannia Nordic flew from Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway.
First Choice Airways United Kingdom First Choice Airways was a charter airline of European tour operator TUI Travel PLC, based in Crawley, England. It flew to more than 60 destinations worldwide from 14 UK and Irish airports. Following TUI UK merging with First Choice Holidays in September 2007 it became part of TUI Travel PLC. The new holiday company continued with both in-house airlines (Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways) through Winter 07 and Summer 08 however from 1 November 2008 it became Thomson Airways.
Hapag-Lloyd Express Germany Hapag-Lloyd Express (previously also marketed as HLX.com) was a no-frills, high-frequency, express airline based in Langenhagen, Germany. It operated services within Germany and to destinations in Europe. In January 2007 in a restructuring, it combined its operations with Hapag-Lloyd Flug to become TUIfly.
Hapag-Lloyd Flug Germany Hapag-Lloyd Flug (between 2005 and 2007 it was also marketed as Hapagfly) was an airline based in Langenhagen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Mergered with Hapag-Lloyd Express and became TUIfly
Neos Italy Neos was established on 22 June 2001 and started operations on 8 March 2002. It was started as a joint venture between Alpitour parent firm Finanziaria di Partecipazioni (IFIL), which is controlled by the Agnelli Group and the German tour operator, TUI. TUI sold its shares in 2004.
Thomsonfly United Kingdom Thomsonfly was a British airline, previously known as Britannia and a business within TUI UK prior to September 2007. Following TUI UK merging with First Choice Holidays in September 2007 it became part of TUI Travel PLC. The new holiday company continued with both in-house airlines (Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways) through Winter 07 and Summer 08 however from 1 November 2008 it became Thomson Airways.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Annual Report 2012
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Shareholder Information
  3. ↑ TUI Travel: At a glance
  4. ↑ "TUI and First Choice plan to merge amid competition in European travel", The New York Times (19 March 2007)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 TUI Travel History
  6. ↑ TUI AG Chairman Frenzel to Speak at WTM’s Captains of Industry Association of Event Organisers
  7. ↑ Bray, Roger (2001). Flight to the Sun: The Story of the Holiday Revolution. Cengage Learning. p. 235. ISBN 978-0826448293. 
  8. ↑ "Europe Express & First Choice Holidays PLC Partnership". Businesswire. 8 July 2005. Retrieved 24 June 2013. 
  9. ↑ "First Choice to tie up with TUI". BBC News. 19 March 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2013. 
  10. ↑ "First Choice-TUI merger cleared". BBC News. 4 June 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2013. 
  11. ↑ Simon Lambert (28 September 2007). "Tui and First Choice to merge". This is Money. Retrieved 24 June 2013. 
  12. ↑ "FSX Thomson Airways Boeing 767-300ER". Flyaway Simulation. Retrieved 24 June 2013. 
  13. ↑ Branwell Johnson (1 November 2011). "Thomson and First Choice to merge on high street". Marketing Week. Retrieved 24 June 2013. 
  14. ↑ Nathalie Thomas (16 January 2013). "TUI Travel in merger talks with German parent company". The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 June 2013. 
  15. ↑ "TUI AG CEO says no plans for merger with TUI Travel". Reuters. 15 May 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2013. 
  16. ↑ Our business | TUI Travel PLC

External links

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