UK tour operator TUI has announced plans to boost its holiday offering from Bristol Airport in winter 2015/2016 as part of its programme to offer travellers the opportunity to take advantage of local airports for holiday departures.

The company’s inventory for its Thomson and all-inclusive First Choice businesses includes holiday packages from Bristol to Cape Verde, Cyprus and Egypt which will see Thomson Airways and its partners offer new links to Sal in Cape Verde, Hurghada in Egypt and Paphos in Cyprus.

The new route on Thomson Airways to Paphos will capitalise on the popularity of Cyprus and allow customers from Bristol and the local area to make the most of Thomson Cruises’ exclusive Cruise & Stay programmes in the region, which includes calls at Ashdod, Israel (for Jerusalem and Bethlehem) and Athens, Greece.

Thomson and First Choice have also announced that in winter 2015/16 its current Fuerteventura flight will now operate on a Saturday allowing holidaymakers to maximise their time in the sun with as few days annual leave as possible.

“Regional airports are an important part of our strategy and this latest announcement of new routes and increased capacity demonstrates our commitment to Bristol Airport and the local area,” said Karen Switzer, director of aviation planning for Thomson and First Choice.

“We know from the success of similar routes across a number of regional airports that customers like the flexibility and ease of travelling from their local airport and we expect these routes to be popular with customers from the West of England next year,” she added.

Bristol travellers will now have even easier access to some of Thomson and First Choice’s most popular flagship hotels. These include Thomson Platinum Lifestyle Melia Dunas Resort in Sal, Cape Verde, Thomson Couples Constantinou Bros Pioneer Beach Hotel in Paphos, Cyprus and the new Thomson Sensatori Aprohodite Hills in Cyprus opening in May 2015.

“We are delighted Thomson and First Choice have chosen Bristol Airport to offer these exciting new destinations, building on their strong existing programme. This is great news for holidaymakers across the West of England, for whom the combination of exotic new destinations and improved flight options to popular favourites is sure to be a winner,” said Shaun Browne, aviation director, Bristol Airport

TUI UK and Ireland’s airline, Thomson Airways is the UK’s third largest airline with 57 aircraft operating to over 73 destinations in 20 countries. In our analysis, below, we look in greater detail at the airline’s network capacity from Bristol over the past ten schedule periods.

The data shows that the current winter schedule represents its largest programme from Bristol over the past five years, but also the significant seasonal variation in its offering from the airport.

Data provided by