PHILIPSBURG/The Hague:--- This coming Friday, October 30th, the TUIfly Dreamliner will land on Sint Maarten for the very first time. TUI Netherlands looks forward to this moment as this defines the official increase in their number of flights to the Dutch Antilles. Sint Maarten is a welcome addition to TUI’s existing portfolio, as the demand in the Netherlands is high for vacationing on the beautiful islands of the Dutch Antilles.
TUIfly ‘s new flight schedule as of November 2015 consists of 9 flights per week to the Dutch Antilles, of which 4 flights per week to Aruba, 3 flights per week to Bonaire and 2 flights per week to Sint Maarten. All flights are triangle flights, and are combined with a stop in Curacao, with the exception of one direct flight to Curacao every Saturday.
With this new schedule, the flight capacity to Bonaire will also increase substantially by appr. 40%.
The fact that the entire flight operation to the Dutch Antilles is executed by Boeing 787 Dreamliners (TUIfly has 3 in the meantime), is an extra advantage for any vacationer and is so appealing that it also attracts new clients. A comfortable flight leads to well-rested passengers who can start enjoying their holiday from the moment they arrive. “Our surveys indicate that overall client satisfaction about the enjoyed holiday actually increases if passengers fly with a Dreamliner” says Arjan Kers, General Manager of TUI Netherlands. Just before his departure to Sint Maarten this coming Friday, he underlines that he is very pleased with the addition of Sint Maarten as a holiday destination to the Dutch Antilles: “Each island has its own charm, style and type of client which will definitely create repeat customers, yet allowing the curious traveler to visit one of the other islands, or a combination of islands during their next holiday. The addition of Sint Maarten with its dual charm (French and Dutch side) is like adding an extra color to an already beautiful painting. We are very proud of the fact that TUI Netherlands can make the Dutch Antilles accessible to a large group of vacationers by offering them affordable holidays to the various destinations”.
With 9 flights weekly by the end of this year, the Dutch Antilles are as a group by far the largest long haul holiday destination for TUI Netherlands. Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao welcome about 280.000 Dutch guests every year which consist of people going on vacation, visiting family or doing business on the islands. About half of them book their holiday packages with TUI, who is also an important employer on the islands, with a total of up to 80 local employees.
TUI is considering opening a sales office on Sint Maarten, where ticket only sales will be promoted. Sint Maarten welcomes 17.000 Dutch vacationers annually. TUI expects that with the 2 extra TUIfly Dreamliner filghts, they can add almost 15.000 Dutch tourists to this number, resulting in double the present number of travelers.
