TUI to buy 60 next generation Boeing 737s
TUI is planning to buy 60 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for £4 billion.
It says the deal, subject to shareholder approval, will help it "re-define mainstream holidays".
Deliveries will start in 2018 and will run until March 2023.
TUI said it has secured a significant discount to the list price of each aircraft through "concessions, allowances and support from Boeing".
It also has the right to purchase a further 30 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft at a later date.
Chief executive Peter Long said: "A major part of TUI Travel’s strategy is to provide our customers with unique holiday experiences they can only get from us.
"This multi-billion pound investment in the B737 MAX – representing the future generation of more fuel-efficient aircraft for our short and medium- haul programmes – will be a further driver in delivering this."
"I can confidently say that being able to offer our customers the most advanced, comfortable aircraft, whether they are travelling with us to short or long-haul destinations, while reducing our environmental impact, will only strengthen our position."
TUI Travel owns and operates six European airlines across its Mainstream Sector – Thomson Airways, TUIfly, TUIfly Nordic, ArkeFly, Jetairfly and Corsair – and around 80% of its passengers travelled on narrow-bodied aircraft to short and medium-haul destinations during the last financial year.
The 737 MAX aircraft uses a new technology engine type from CFM which Boeing claims gives a 13% improvement in fuel efficiency and a 40% noise reduction over today’s main competitors.
Today’s announcement comes as the first of TUI’s Boeing 787s touches down in the UK. The Thomson 787 Dreamliner flies into Manchester today at 11am, having flown from the Boeing Everett Factory in Seattle.
It will be followed with the delivery of a further three Thomson 787 aircraft this summer.
Thomson will fly the 787 from London Gatwick, Manchester, East Midlands and Glasgow airports, on long haul routes to Sanford, Florida and Cancun in Mexico, starting from July 8.
by Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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