TUI Airways UK Gran Canaria-Manchester Boeing 767-300

Background

As an almost monthly visitor to the Canary Islands and keen traveller, I'm always looking for new flights to try out.  There's nothing wrong with the airlines that I usually use to the Canaries such as easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair or British Airways.  But, I do appreciate a novel flight when I find one and there's nothing more novel these days than finding a short haul widebody Boeing 767 flight, an aircraft I flew on regularly as a child.  Cue TUI Airways UK Ltd, the UK airline of German leisure giant TUI AG.

TUI Airways UK traces its ancestry back to Britannia Airways, once one of the UK's largest and most successful charter airlines and succumbed to TUI in 2005.  With a grand heritage such as Britannia, I was eager to get this flight booked and get on board! My YouTube video of the trip is right here.

As TUI UK moves to standardise on the Boeing 787 for long haul and 737MAX aircraft for short/mid haul, at the time of writing, just two 767's (OBYF & OBYK) remain in the TUI UK fleet.  You can find some 787 flights down to the Canaries on some days/times of the year, but these are the exception.

Delivered in 1998/9, the two Manchester-based 767 aircraft are prone to being a bit temperamental these days as they age (aren't we all), but like the sibling 757 that left the TUI fleet in 2021, these stalwarts of the sky continue to transport TUI's mostly package holiday leisure travellers in a maximum density all-economy 328 seat layout.  

The best bit?  The TUI UK 767's are solely short & mid haul assigned now, so it's a relatively inexpensive way to fly them while you still can.

Check In

Check in was a sign of things to come, sadly.  At the time of this flight the world was just emerging from the pandemic and whilst other airlines on this route had started to lift restrictions, TUI was still enforcing the checking of vaccination documents even though the UK government had dropped the requirement some weeks prior.

To complicate things further, TUI wouldn't let me check in online or through their app, so a long queue was congealed at the check in desks, even for people like me who never check in a bag.  I was sternly informed "you cannot take a laptop bag and case on board, TUI only allows one bag in the cabin" nb: all other airlines on this route allow a small bag plus carry-on case.

So, after a miserable 45 minute check in experience, I left to go through security which was well managed by the airport, and on to the lounge.

The Lounge

Excellent food and views from the excellent Sala Galdos (Priority Pass) lounge

As with other island airports in the Canaries, there is a large third party lounge for the premium passengers of airlines such as Iberia and British Airways, along with Priority Pass cardholders. 

Today, as usual, using my Priority Pass card, I was swiftly dealt with at the reception of the Sala Galdos lounge.  The lounge was busy, but not uncomfortably so.

The range of food and drink on offer in the lounge was better than on my previous visit and, as with the lounge at Tenerife South airport, has a decent patio from which you can get those last rays of sunshine whilst watching the aircraft arrive and depart.

As I had eaten a little too well(!), as I always do in the Canaries, I opted for this fresh salad for lunch, which tasted very good, along with a complimentary Heineken beer.  With the temperature hitting 30c, I was in my element and spent a very happy four hours here.

Boarding

TUI 767's are in a maximum density - 328 seats - 2x4x2 configuration

Fortunately (or not, for those cruise passengers affected), a Canarian TUI cruise had been cancelled so we had a very light load of just 75 passengers on board our behemoth 328 seat airliner, today.  Boarding was therefore swift and I soon found myself in my pre-booked extra legroom window seat right behind the left side mid-cabin toilet cubicle.

The Flight

The overhead panels give away the age of the 767!

To its credit, TUI has maintained its 767 fleet very well indeed.  Both my seat and the bathrooms were very pleasant and had a very modern feel.  Bear in mind that both of TUI's UK 767's are now nearly 25 years old and have flown millions of miles.  The only clue of the age of this aircraft was the overhead panels.  

The 767 itself remains one of my personal favourite aircraft of all time and having been lucky enough to fly the final ever British Airways 767 flight back from Larnaca some years ago, I'm always happy to be on one.

Hot on the heels of the check in experience though, then came in-flight service.  Not only did they have pretty much nothing available (see Food and Drink, below), when my card didn't work the first time in their point of sale machine, the cabin crew attendant rudely snapped "your card's failed".  

As I settled back in my seat, we were once again reminded of the need to remain seated (this was an endless chorus throughout the flight), with our masks on, except for eating but that we must eat as quickly as possible.  I'm not sure what people were actually eating though.

Food and Drink

Earlier in the day I received a text from TUI letting me know that there would be no hot food on tonight's flight.  I was actually happy to have been informed, as it set my expectations.  Sadly, once airborne, we were told that there was actually no food at all available.  When the cart came around, I was offered either Fruit Pastilles or Pringles.  There was also no hot water available, so they only had fizzy drinks for sale. 

Being someone who spends a great deal of time on the go, either in hotels or in the air, I rely on airline catering a great deal of the time to get me through the day - several days a week the airline meal makes up breakfast, lunch or dinner for me.  To not have it as an option is a massive inconvenience, and unusual, in my experience.

By way of comparison, Jet2, easyJet and Ryanair all managed to provide hot food and a full menu on exactly the same route and all flights were taken within four weeks of each other.

I settled for a Sprite.  And hunger.

The mouth watering menu (top images) versus what they actually had in stock (lower image)

Arrival

It's fair to say that by the time we began our descent into Manchester, with the sun setting, I was fed up with TUI and its people. TUI Airways UK had seemingly managed to achieve the impossible - to make me unhappy on a flight.  

The crew sat down for the last two hours of the flight and the only time we saw them before landing was for them to ensure that all passengers were abiding by their rules.  I'm certain they got their charm from traffic warden school.

With a near enough on time arrival, clearing immigration at Manchester was fairly quick and I was in my hotel just over an hour after landing.

Verdict

Some airlines are great, some are average, and then there's TUI Airways UK. Honestly, it was one of the worst flights I've ever had.

The core issue with TUI Airways is its identity. It’s hard to tell what they’re aiming for. Take Ryanair, for instance—they make it clear what they’re about. They won’t offer you a free coffee, and they don’t pretend otherwise. And you know what? Their customers don’t expect one. Ryanair knows what it is and sticks to it, which is why their brand works.

TUI Airways, on the other hand, is all over the place. I think their main goal is transporting TUI package holiday customers, but they also sell standalone seats for people like me who don’t use travel agencies. This makes them a bit of everything and excellent at none. They aren’t a budget airline, a full-service airline, or even a charter airline like they were back when they were called Britannia. While TUI will sell you a flight-only deal, most of their passengers are package holiday travelers who have no choice but to fly with them. Standalone seat buyers like me do have other options, but TUI doesn’t seem too fussed about making their product appealing—the flight feels like an afterthought, just a means to get people from point A to point B for their holiday. With TUI package deals to Gran Canaria starting at just £199 a week, their attitude seems to be, “Why bother making the flight good?”

I’ve flown with Jet2, easyJet, and Ryanair on the same route from Manchester to the Canary Islands, and all three are better in every single way. TUI Airways is also the priciest option for a seat-only ticket.

From the miserable check-in process, strict rules, unfriendly crew, and the inability to pay for an extra cabin bag, to the total lack of basic onboard catering, the only thing remotely positive about this flight was getting to fly on the increasingly rare Boeing 767.

If you’re on a TUI package holiday and have no other option, or if like me, you’re specifically after the chance to fly on a 767, then fine. But otherwise, the other airlines on this route are miles better than TUI Airways UK.

Overall, the experience left me frustrated and unimpressed. Best to avoid them if you can.

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