TUI moves planes between Belgium and the Netherlands
SCHIPHOL – TUI fly Netherlands will say goodbye to its Boeing 767-300ER until recently this quarter. But that does not mean that all long-haul flights will be operated with the 787 Dreamliner. TUI fly took over the 767 from TUI Belgium just before Christmas. As a result, the Dutch holiday company now temporarily has two Boeing 767s. That reports aviation news.nl
The formerly Belgian aircraft with the name ‘Sunshine’ was used for the first time on 2 January with the new registration, on a flight from Amsterdam to Tenerife. These 767s have already been replaced in Dutch service by Arke until 2015, as TUI fly was then called, while this copy was transferred to Belgium. The first Boeing 767 will be used until 2024 according to current plans.
In addition, a Belgian 787 will also fly from Schiphol early for TUI Netherlands, as previously announced, but that aircraft will not receive a Dutch registration. “A Belgian Boeing 787 will be deployed in the Netherlands for the time being, also to handle maintenance of the Dutch 787s. However, the Dreamliner that we are temporarily using will remain registered in Belgium,” said a TUI spokeswoman.
TUI fly Belgium has a total of two Boeing 787s, several of which will be used for flight operations from Schiphol. “There is no specific aircraft that permanent Dutch travelers fly, both registrations are used,” the spokeswoman continues. The Dutch and Belgian branches of TUI fly have been working together very intensively for some time and behind the scenes largely form one airline.
The separation of the 767 and the lending of one of the two 787s does have less long-haul capacity than before, but the reduction in the number of distant destinations and the flight frequency means that this does not cause any problems. TUI announced last year that it would only fly longhaul from Brussels to Cancun, Varadero, Montego Bay and Punta Cana. The demand for long-haul flights is greater from the Netherlands, partly due to the ABC islands.