TUI Group Operators Will Migrate To Single Brand

KarelXWB · Wed May 13, 2015 11:22 am

TUI Group has confirmed it will migrate to a single brand across all its markets. Brands like Jetair (Belgium), Arke (Netherlands) and Thomson (United Kingdom) will disappear.

Quote:
In a call to analysts TUI Group chief executive Peter Long said the migration to the TUI brand would take place over several years.

Migration is expected to start in smaller markets, including France and Holland, with lessons learned there before phasing out its popular brands in other markets.

The UK, TUI’s largest source market, will be the last country to switch.

Articles:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/0...-tui-results-idUKKBN0NY0JB20150513
http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/ne...emise-of-thomson-and-first-choice/
http://www.luchtvaartnieuws.nl/nieuw...tui-definitief-verder-als-een-merk

[Edited 2015-05-13 04:23:49]

enilria · Wed May 13, 2015 11:48 am

I think they first announced this was the plan in 2006. Best of luck.

Armodeen · Wed May 13, 2015 12:01 pm

I think this was widely reported a few months ago?

KarelXWB · Wed May 13, 2015 12:03 pm

Quoting Armodeen (Reply 2):
I think this was widely reported a few months ago?

TUI Group made the official announcement this morning.

acelanzarote · Wed May 13, 2015 12:06 pm

Was this not started in the past, with the plan to have all the planes Yellow with TUI on? That did not last long
either....
I can see their thinking for this, but will they still be reg in different counties?

by738 · Wed May 13, 2015 12:37 pm

The official announcement and plans to investors was today so this is news, as previous attempts had been put on hold. The plan I think now will be to lose the Thomson name but overall to be UK based

United787 · Wed May 13, 2015 12:59 pm

I assume they would all migrate to one operating certificate also? It seems they all fly under different IATA codes now.

BY Thomson
OR Arke
TB Jetairfly
SS Corsair
X3 TUIfly
6B TUIfly Nordic

conrad · Wed May 13, 2015 1:02 pm

As I will think all will go to Thomson.
has Corsair not been sold off?

KarelXWB · Wed May 13, 2015 1:03 pm

Quoting conrad (Reply 7):
has Corsair not been sold off?

The deal was canceled.

conrad · Wed May 13, 2015 1:26 pm

Although the Thomson brand will dissapear, I think the Airline will have headquaters in the UK.

starbucks · Wed May 13, 2015 1:29 pm

Arke just tweeted "Arke will be called TUI as of 1 October"

www.twitter.com/arke

jetblue1965 · Wed May 13, 2015 1:52 pm

Quoting United787 (Reply 6):

BY Thomson
OR Arke
TB Jetairfly
SS Corsair
X3 TUIfly
6B TUIfly Nordic

Ridiculous to have a mid-size holiday / charter airline run 6 separate brands.

conrad · Wed May 13, 2015 1:56 pm

They all have it´s markets.
Condor was tried renaming Thomas Cook years ago, but was a big flop, because in Germany nobody nows Thomas Cook, but then Condor had still a good reputation, which is dissapearing quickly as here lots of problems with the 767and big cutbacks on their service are not excacly improving their image.

smittythepirate · Wed May 13, 2015 2:03 pm

I find the timing slightly weird considering they have rolled out a couple 787s in Charleston with the Thomson painted on the side. Obviously it probably isn't hard to remove or paint over but considering they are brand new planes, you would think they would set a line in the sand on new products with a new name.

A388 · Wed May 13, 2015 2:24 pm

This was indeed speculated before. I would have preferred the airline brands to remain as they are but alright. More power to TUI.

A388

willd · Wed May 13, 2015 7:42 pm

Quoting jetblue1965 (Reply 11):
Ridiculous to have a mid-size holiday / charter airline run 6 separate brands.

Ridiculous to think that the largest leisure, travel and tourism company in the world is mid-sized! Not to mention the fact that the Tui Airline Group is the largest holiday airline fleet in Europe.

[Edited 2015-05-13 12:44:34]

jetblue1965 · Wed May 13, 2015 7:48 pm

Quoting willd (Reply 15):

Ridiculous to think that the largest leisure, travel and tourism company in the world is mid-sized! Not to mention the fact that the Tui Airline Group is the largest holiday airline fleet in Europe.

The "mid size" comment is about it being an airline. And it has very low brand exposure outside of Europe, so being "world's largest" doesn't mean much ... it's hardly a global company.

FCAA321 · Wed May 13, 2015 8:18 pm

With regards to the above comment I think you'll find that TUI Group already is and will continue to be a global company. There is over 200 brands worldwide that make up TUI Group. I agree that not everyone will know the parent name in that actual country but all brands display being part of TUI l and all documentation and websites too. The 'smile' is already well recognised by many people worldwide.

The airline itself is only a small part of the entire business and is very much focussed in Europe but does make up a part of the worlds largest travel operator.

Also the reference to a mid size airline is unrelevant in relation to the post itself. The airline itself will still be bigger than many other 'worldwide airlines' based on fleet size. It will soon be a truly European airline operating from many countries not just the country of airline origin - what other airline can actually say that?

[Edited 2015-05-13 13:22:48]

[Edited 2015-05-13 13:24:28]

blueflyer · Wed May 13, 2015 10:15 pm

I don't understand the concerns about the brands, to be honest. It is not as if all-inclusive and leisure consumers throw a fit because the brand of the web site that sold them their vacation doesn't match that of the plane. Consumers have been buying from Marmara in France and Holland International in the Netherlands and Oft Reizen in Germany for years without demanding refunds or protesting because they flew on Corsair or Arkefly or TUIfly.

If anything, switching to a single brand is a reflection of current reality. Planes from one operator are routinely spotted operating outside their home market for another operator. Corsair doesn't fly narrowbodies because they can, and do, call on Arkefly and Jetairfly whenever they need one. Another example, Jetairfly's 787 is spending as much time in AMS as in BRU lately...

Viscount724 · Wed May 13, 2015 10:33 pm

Quoting United787 (Reply 6):
I assume they would all migrate to one operating certificate also? It seems they all fly under different IATA codes now.

That would imply a full merger, not just changes to branding. A merger is highly unlikely as it would affect their traffic rights outside the EU where the bilaterals are still mainly with individual countries, not with the EU as a whole.

Armodeen · Thu May 14, 2015 12:07 am

It will be interesting to see how the British consumer copes with the change. Thomson has extremely wide brand recognition in the UK.

Confusion is how I expect people will react, to them TUI will make no sense and 'sound foreign'

DolphinAir747 · Thu May 14, 2015 12:20 am

How much does TUI own outside aviation? I do recall seeing river boats in Amsterdam with that smiley face symbol.

nema · Thu May 14, 2015 7:18 am

It will be sad to see the Thomson name go from the UK travel industry. In the 1960's they used Britannia Airways based at Luton airport.

In 1968 I flew on one of their 4 engined Bristol Britannia 102 turboprop aircraft (nicknamed the whispering giant) just before they were replaced with the new 737 200's.

I got on the flight deck that day, i would have been 15yrs old. We were flying to Italy and i always remember the captain telling me that nearly 50% of the total fuel carried was used during the take off and the climb to cruising altitude.

Later of course we then lost the Britannia name to Thomson. I have happily flown with them dozens of times under both titles and as per this thread, it appears its sadly the end of another era.

JRadier · Thu May 14, 2015 7:18 am

Quoting blueflyer (Reply 18):
Another example, Jetairfly's 787 is spending as much time in AMS as in BRU lately...

Actually, the Jetairfly 787 is flying from it's BRU base exclusively. 767s and 737s are frequent visitors to either base though.

B777LRF · Thu May 14, 2015 9:19 am

Quoting jetblue1965 (Reply 16):
The "mid size" comment is about it being an airline. And it has very low brand exposure outside of Europe, so being "world's largest" doesn't mean much ... it's hardly a global company.

What this poster is trying to say is 'We don't have TUI in the US, therefore it's largely unknown'.

bgm · Thu May 14, 2015 10:34 am

Quoting B777LRF (Reply 24):
What this poster is trying to say is 'We don't have TUI in the US, therefore it's largely unknown'.

Wait, there's a world outside of the US?

Best of luck to them. Anyone have an idea which IATA code/callsign they will use?

jetblue1965 · Thu May 14, 2015 10:41 am

Quoting B777LRF (Reply 24):

Does TUI have a presence in north am south am Asia Middle East Australia ? If not then it's regional. Similar story to Ryanair - giant airline in Europe, and basically irrelevant for anyone outside Europe.

bgm · Thu May 14, 2015 11:25 am

Quoting jetblue1965 (Reply 26):
Does TUI have a presence in north am south am Asia Middle East Australia ?

It most certainly does (they even fly to 'Murca). Below are just Thomas Cook destinations. I haven't checked the other TUI airlines.

AFRICA:

Egypt:
Hurghada, Luxor, Marsa Adam, Sharm el-Sheikh

Gambia:
Banjul

Tunisia:
Enfidha, Djerba

AMERICA

Caribbean:
Antigua, Barbados, Cuba (Cayo Coco, Holguin, Santa Clara, Varadero), Dominican Republic, Jamaica, St Lucia

North America:
Mexico (Acapulco, Cancun), USA (BOS, LAS, LAX, JFK, MCO, MIA)

ASIA:
India, Israel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cook_Airlines_destinations

acelanzarote · Thu May 14, 2015 11:48 am

Think you need to look at Thomson,Thomas Cook nothing to do with TUI!

jetblue1965 · Thu May 14, 2015 12:01 pm

Quoting bgm (Reply 27):
It most certainly does (they even fly to 'Murca). Below are just Thomas Cook destinations. I haven't checked the other TUI airlines.

99% of the traffic is European-orignating passengers visiting those resort towns. Do you think someone from St Lucia would be flying TUI to visit the British Midlands ?

smbukas · Thu May 14, 2015 12:14 pm

Quoting United787 (Reply 6):
I assume they would all migrate to one operating certificate also? It seems they all fly under different IATA codes now.

Thay can't do that. They need separate AOC's to get permission to fly to third party countries, what is almost always the case for charter airlines.

frostyj · Thu May 14, 2015 12:16 pm

I don't like the idea of TUI at all! No one will know that name, it sounds foreign!

[Edited 2015-05-14 05:18:16]

mwhcvt · Thu May 14, 2015 12:32 pm

Quoting frostyj (Reply 31):

Rubbish, give it a few months and most of the general public will not even notice

dstc47 · Thu May 14, 2015 12:33 pm

Quoting Armodeen (Reply 20):
Thomson has extremely wide brand recognition in the UK.

Yes, and now TUI are going to throw it away and for what, neatness?, fewer signs at holiday airports?, a saving on stationery?
New Coke anyone?

richcandy · Thu May 14, 2015 2:11 pm

The low cost carries like Ryanair and Easyjet have changed the holiday market from the UK completely. Go back 20 years and most people went on packaged trips. With charter airlines operating the flights. Today a lot of people looking for a beach holiday in the Med will put together their own trip, with the flights from one source and accommodation from another.

However some older people, some families with young children and travellers who don't want to do any of the planning will still buy a package holiday. To those people a brand name means security, and Thomson is one of the oldest brands in the industry.

Alex

bgm · Thu May 14, 2015 4:43 pm

Quoting acelanzarote (Reply 28):
Think you need to look at Thomson,Thomas Cook nothing to do with TUI!

Oops, apologies!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomson_Airways_destinations

frostyj · Thu May 14, 2015 6:42 pm

Quoting MWHCVT (Reply 32):

Well its hardly rubbish now. I'm entitled to my opinion.

B777LRF · Fri May 15, 2015 4:05 am

Quoting jetblue1965 (Reply 26):
Does TUI have a presence in north am south am Asia Middle East Australia ? If not then it's regional. Similar story to Ryanair - giant airline in Europe, and basically irrelevant for anyone outside Europe.

You seemed fit to contend that TUI is 'the worlds largest' travel group. Nobody said they were global, or relevant to travelers going from NRT to SYD. Let me try to put it in terms that might resonate better with you: SWA is the worlds largest LCC, but for anyone outside it's selected markets in the US is utterly irrelevant. Does that mean SWA is no longer the world's largest LCC? No, of course it doesn't.

FYI, TUI is serving 5 out of the 7 continents, which is on par with the coverage offered by AA, UA and DL. I suppose you're going to postulate they're 'regional' too ...

Quoting frostyj (Reply 31):

I don't like the idea of TUI at all! No one will know that name, it sounds foreign!

I see your xenophobia driven ignorance is still alive and well.

JRadier · Fri May 15, 2015 10:37 am

Quoting B777LRF (Reply 37):
FYI, TUI is serving 5 out of the 7 continents, which is on par with the coverage offered by AA, UA and DL. I suppose you're going to postulate they're 'regional' too ...

Actually, if you were to include tour operators as well TUI companies serve every single continent, including Antarctica

LX138 · Fri May 15, 2015 10:51 am

I actually hope and predict it will just be another 'phase' - while boards sitting in offices like to plan one uniform brand across all subsidiaries the reality is that those brands exist because they are centric and popular to those specific markets or countries they serve.

Corsair - to me has always seemed like a really 4th rate airline and the name doesn't help but they are still around and that's because they are known in the markets (French?) they serve well.

Thomson - I really do think it's only a matter of time before Britannia does get brought back. It happened with Condor (not TUI owned I know).

richcandy · Fri May 15, 2015 12:58 pm

If a brand is really well know in one country, I don't really see why it should be changed just to have a common brand through the EU.

kasimir · Fri May 15, 2015 1:28 pm

Quoting jetblue1965 (Reply 26):

This link might be of interest for you:
http://www.tuitravelplc.com/investors-media/explore-all-our-brands

BlueShamu330s · Fri May 15, 2015 3:47 pm

I wouldn't normally link to a Daily Mail article, but they have, to their credit, at least tried to make a credible article on the history of Thomson.

Some nostalgic pics, and look at that swim cap.

Rgds

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/tr...r-climes-king-package-holiday.html

gkirk · Sat May 16, 2015 7:40 am

Quoting jetblue1965 (Reply 26):

Does Baseball have much of a presence outside of North America? Nope, so you can't call it the World Series then

Openside007 · Sat May 16, 2015 5:58 pm

For the uninitiated, the TUI Group is a leisure travel group and not a pure airline. This means that it operates a number of airlines that go where the tour operator in each country tell them to go to (with the exception of Corsair). This is the inviolable rule - the tour operator is the "brains" of the operation and the in-house airlines provide airlift capacity to get the holidaymakers to their destinations. If the airlines ran the show and flew to speculative destinations, the whole business would be loss making very quickly. For those who want a more detailed description and definition, search the web under "vertically integrated tour operator" (meaning the tour operator owns its distribution arm, the tour operator, the hotels where it sends its pax and, very often, the destination services organisation that transfers the pax to the hotel).

The majority of TUI airline passengers are customers of the in-house tour operator in the same country who have bought a "package" holiday from the tour operator. There is a small amount of third party seat sales on the airlines (this varies between the different airlines), but these are small compared to the in-house business. This is different from the "pure" airlines.

If you want to find out how the airline branding is going to work, it's available on the TUI Group website in the investors section (look for the capital markets update presentation from 13 May 2015). Basically a central organisation with local AOCs.

Also, if you check out the TUI Group website, you'll see that their operations are huge. They operate in 180 countries (I think the UN counts 196 countries in total - including such lovely vacation spots s North Korea, Iraq, Iran and South Sudan!!!). This means either having subsidiaries in some of these countries or organising tours to countries

Bongodog1964 · Sat May 16, 2015 10:16 pm

Quoting richcandy (Reply 34):
However some older people, some families with young children and travellers who don't want to do any of the planning will still buy a package holiday. To those people a brand name means security, and Thomson is one of the oldest brands in the industry.

To my mind, thats the problem, many long standing customers look to Thomson as its a well trusted mid market brand. These are people resistant to change.
The branding on the aircraft however doesn't matter, buying a Thomson holiday never guaranteed you a flight on a company aircraft, indeed many will have been clueless right up to the point of check in as to who they were flying with. As we well know some would have still been clueless as to airline and aircraft after the flight !!!
They will however be acutely aware that the brochure had Thomson on the front cover.

Semaex · Sun May 17, 2015 10:18 am

Quoting B777LRF (Reply 37):
I see your xenophobia driven ignorance is still alive and well.

Easy easy.

I can understand that Thomson is a well-known and respected brand in the UK. Time will tell whether "TUI" will gain recognition or not.
"Thomas Cook" certainly didn't get much credit in Germany after re-branding of Condor, hence they changed it back again - as has been stated before. I wouldn't call all of the german folks xenophobic merely based on the fact that they didn't recognize their favourite holiday airline anymore back in the days.
If "TUI" will not have the economic effect which management foresees, then things will return to the status quo. No need to be offensive about it.

Quoting Viscount724 (Reply 19):
Quoting United787 (Reply 6):
I assume they would all migrate to one operating certificate also? It seems they all fly under different IATA codes now.

That would imply a full merger, not just changes to branding. A merger is highly unlikely as it would affect their traffic rights outside the EU where the bilaterals are still mainly with individual countries, not with the EU as a whole.

So they will fly in the same colours and have the same brand name printed on the aircraft and all other pictures, but have differing callsigns?
I can only assume that crews will also not be inter-changeable in the network due to the different AOCs?

FlyCaledonian · Sun May 17, 2015 12:10 pm

Quoting LX138 (Reply 39):
Thomson - I really do think it's only a matter of time before Britannia does get brought back. It happened with Condor (not TUI owned I know).

The Britannia name has been gone too long now. Plus with the merger of First Choice (formerly Air 2000) a lot of the BY crew will be new hires who have no memory of Britannia or former First Choice employees.

TUI has been standardising its feelt selections for a few years now, so the one brand makes it even easier to switch aircraft between the different local carriers whilst minimising any rebranding needed. The BY Boeing customer code of 04 hasn't been used for years, with the 737-800 fleet being delievered as 737-8K5s - the former Hapag-Lloyd code. Not an issue with the 787, and neither will it be with the 737MAX.

With regards ICAO codes, a few of the TUx codes are free (TUI is TUIfly in Germany), so in theory the local carriers could adopt a TUx ICAO code: -

TUB - TUI Belgium (Jetairfly)
TUF - TUI France (Corsair - but I know planned to be sold off)
TUH - TUI Netherlands (Arke - I used H for Holland)
TUI - TUI Germany (TUIfly)
TUK - TUI UK (Thomson)
TUN - TUI Nordic (TUIfly Nordic)

HELyes · Sun May 17, 2015 7:34 pm

Quoting FlyCaledonian (Reply 47):
TUN - TUI Nordic (TUIfly Nordic)

TUN not the best choice for TUINordic, Swedish word 'tunn' means thin, diluted, scanty, lacking substance Wink

[Edited 2015-05-17 12:37:04]

Vasu · Sat May 23, 2015 12:27 am

Quoting HELyes (Reply 48):

Like the service on a modern-day charter airline?

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