TUI's Chief Airline Officer Talks Summer 2024 and Boeing

03.04.2024 - 10:45 / skift.com / Gordon Smith / Airlines

The TUI Group is a tourism powerhouse. Arguably best known for its family-friendly vacations, the company’s operation spans hotels, cruise ships, travel agencies, and digital platforms. The goal is to offer the entire value chain under a single umbrella brand. 

It is also a major player in the aviation sector.

TUI owns five European carriers which collectively operate 130 medium and long-haul aircraft. These jets – supported by more than 8,000 employees – serve 140 global destinations from the Caribbean to Southeast Asia and many points in between. Around 26 million passengers flew with TUI last year, making it one of the dominant forces in the European leisure market.

At the center of it all is Marco Ciomperlik, TUI Group’s Chief Airline Officer. In a sit-down interview with Skift, he shared valuable insight into the latest travel trends and strategic growth priorities for the company’s airline division. 

Skift: How is the coming summer season shaping up?

Marco Ciomperlik: Right now, it’s very good and we are very confident looking forward. As with most other airlines, we’re appreciating the current situation. If nothing [unexpected] happens then it seems to be a good year.

Do you consider current booking trends as the new normal? Or are we still experiencing a post-pandemic peak?

Nobody knows 100%. I think when you review the pent-up demand, we were all surprised by 2022 because everybody wanted to escape from home and the lockdown. Then I think in 2023, we said, ‘Is this the end of the pent-up demand?’ And then you look to this year, despite all the topics surrounding us, demand remains quite resilient. I believe what we’re now seeing is no longer pent-up demand – the situation is stabilizing. 

The industry is at least back to 2019 levels revenue-wise, including inflation and other effects, but not completely with passengers. We’re almost there, but not yet, and of course, in 2019 there was no ‘pent-up demand’. I think it really depends on the economic outlook how things will develop in the next year.

Premium leisure has been one of the hottest niches of recent years. Is this something you’re also experiencing? 

There’s certainly a demand in that category, but when we look at our core business, around 70% is still the package holiday. Yes, there’s a focus on premium leisure but we’re still serving families quite a lot. The TUI brand is positioned in the middle-to-premium category. When you look at the development of the sector, then yes, people are willing to spend more but also expecting more. For example, they are buying additional services that they haven’t done in the past. 

You fly the Boeing 737 Max 8, would you consider the Max 9 in the future?

The 737 Max 9 is not in our scope as