Had a TUI Airways flight delayed or cancelled? Here is how to claim.

This guide explains who TUI Airways is, how they usually answer claims, what your rights are, and how to send TUI Airways a proper letter by Royal Mail.

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About TUI Airways

TUI Airways is a British leisure airline based in Luton. It is the fourth-largest UK airline by passenger numbers, after easyJet, British Airways and Jet2.com. TUI mostly flies to holiday destinations: the Mediterranean, Spain, the Canaries, Greece, Turkey, and long-haul to places like the Caribbean, Mexico, Florida and Dominican Republic. The fleet is all Boeing: Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737 MAX 8 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner. TUI was the first UK airline to fly the Boeing 787, back in May 2013.

TUI Airways Limited has been around for a very long time. The company was first registered at Companies House in 1947, making it the oldest legal entity in the UK low-cost / leisure airline world. The brand has changed several times: Britannia Airways (from 1962), then Thomsonfly (from 2005), then Thomson Airways (from 2008), and finally TUI Airways from 2 October 2017. Many older travellers still call it "Thomson". The head office is at Wigmore House, right next to London Luton Airport.

TUI Airways is part of the TUI Group, a huge German travel company. TUI Group is dual-listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. TUI is unusual among UK airlines because it is mostly a "package holiday" airline. Most of its passengers booked a holiday (flight plus hotel) rather than a flight on its own. This affects how UK261 claims work, as explained next.

Registered office

TUI Airways Limited
Wigmore House, Wigmore Lane
Luton, Bedfordshire
LU2 9TN
United Kingdom
Companies House number: 00444359 · Incorporated: 28 October 1947 · Parent companies: TUI UK Limited (Companies House 02830117), ultimately TUI AG (Germany) · Regulator: UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) · IATA / ICAO codes: BY / TOM (flight number prefixes TOM, BY and OR)

Group structure

TUI AG / TUI Group

This is the German parent company, based in Hanover. TUI AG is one of the largest travel and tourism companies in the world. It owns five airlines across Europe (TUI Airways in the UK, TUI fly in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, plus TUIfly Nordic), plus thousands of hotels and cruise ships. The group is dual-listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker TUI) and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

London and Frankfurt listed. Founded in Germany.

TUI Airways Limited

This is the UK airline itself, based at Wigmore House in Luton. It runs scheduled and charter flights from 14 UK base airports. The legal entity is TUI Airways Limited. If you need to send a legal letter or sue TUI in the UK for a flight delay claim, this is the company you serve.

Companies House 00444359. Incorporated 1947.

TUI UK Limited

This is the tour operator side of the UK business. It sells package holidays under the TUI, First Choice and Marella Cruises brands. TUI UK Limited holds an ATOL licence (so your money is protected if the company goes bust) and is a member of ABTA. This is a SEPARATE legal entity from TUI Airways. The distinction matters for claims, as explained below.

Companies House 02830117. ATOL and ABTA member.

Brand history (so you know what you booked)

TUI Airways was called Thomson Airways from 2008 to 2017, and before that the airline brand was Thomsonfly (2005 to 2008) or First Choice Airways. If your old paperwork says "Thomson" or "First Choice", it is now the same company. Flight numbers starting with TOM, BY or OR are all TUI Airways. If your flight number starts with anything else, your flight was operated by a partner airline, not TUI.

What a TUI Airways reply usually looks like

1An automated email saying TUI has got your claim from the online claim form on tui.co.uk.
2A first response within about 28 days. TUI is generally good at meeting this window for simple claims.
3A rejection if TUI thinks the delay was "extraordinary circumstances". For TUI, this is often bad weather (lots of Mediterranean and Caribbean weather issues) or air traffic control problems.
4An offer of "refund credit" you can use on a future TUI booking, instead of cash. You do not have to take refund credit. Cash is what UK261 entitles you to.
5A claim that the cancellation was a "package holiday cancellation" rather than a "flight cancellation". This matters legally, and is explained in detail below.
6Silence or a final response if TUI has fully refused. The 8-week mark is when you can escalate to AviationADR.

How much can you claim from TUI Airways under UK261?

Compensation amounts are fixed by flight distance and apply to delays of three hours or more at the final destination, cancellations with less than 14 days' notice, and denied boarding. The flight distance is the “great circle distance” between the departure and arrival airports, not the route flown.

Flight distance	Delay length	Amount per passenger
Up to 1,500 km (e.g. London to Dublin)	3 hours or more	£220
1,500 km to 3,500 km (e.g. London to Athens)	3 hours or more	£350
Over 3,500 km (e.g. London to New York)	3 to 4 hours	£260
Over 3,500 km	4 hours or more	£520

Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority, UK261 compensation guidance.

Your rights

UK Regulation 261/2004, Article 5 (cancellations)

Did TUI cancel your flight less than 14 days before take-off? You have two choices. Get your money back. Or ask TUI to put you on a different flight. The choice is yours, not theirs. On top of that, you can usually get cash too. How much cash depends on how far you were flying.

UK Regulation 261/2004, Article 6 and the Sturgeon ruling

What if your flight was just late, not cancelled? Article 6 covers delays. In 2009, a big court case called Sturgeon said that any delay of 3 hours or more should be paid out, the same as a cancellation. The UK kept this rule after Brexit. TUI has to follow it.

UK Regulation 261/2004, Article 7 (compensation amounts)

This is the rule that sets the cash amount. The four amounts are £220, £350, £260 and £520 per passenger. Which one you get depends on how far the flight was and how late you arrived. TUI cannot pay you less just because your ticket was part of a cheap package deal.

UK Regulation 261/2004, Articles 8 and 9 (refund and care)

On top of the cash, two other rules look after you. Article 8 lets you pick between a refund or a new flight. Article 9 says TUI has to look after you while you wait. That means free food, free drinks, two phone calls or emails, and a hotel if you have to stay overnight. If you had to pay for any of this yourself, keep the receipts and claim them back.

UK Regulation 261/2004, Recital 16 (the package holiday gap)

Recital 16 says that if a package tour is cancelled for reasons OTHER than the flight being cancelled, then UK261 does NOT apply to the flight. This is the gap that catches out lots of TUI package customers. For example, if TUI cancels your package because the hotel cannot host you, the flight is "cancelled" too but the LEGAL cause is the package failure, not the flight. So you cannot claim £350 under UK261 for that flight. You can still claim under the Package Travel Regulations through ABTA, which often gives you MORE back than UK261, but the route is different.

UK Regulation 261/2004, Article 5(3) (the "extraordinary circumstances" rule)

TUI can get out of paying only if BOTH of these are true. One, the cause was outside their control. Two, they could not have stopped it even if they tried hard. Things that DO count are bad weather at the airport (very common for TUI Caribbean and Mediterranean flights), war, real security alerts, and volcanic ash clouds. Things that DO NOT count are TUI's own staff going on strike, a normal aircraft fault, or crew illness (after Lipton v BA CityFlyer 2024).

Limitation Act 1980, section 9

How long do you have to claim? In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, you have 6 years from the date of the flight. In Scotland, you have 5 years. A 2014 court case called Dawson v Thomson Airways made this clear. Interesting fact: that case was actually about Thomson Airways, which is now TUI Airways.

Common TUI Airways situations

TUI cancelled your package holiday and now refuses to pay UK261

This is the Recital 16 issue. If TUI cancelled the whole package (flight, hotel, transfers) for a reason that was not the flight itself failing, AviationADR has agreed with TUI in similar cases. UK261 does not apply when the package was cancelled for a separate reason. BUT you have a different and often better claim under the Package Travel Regulations 2018. That goes through ABTA, not AviationADR. Always check the LEGAL cause of the cancellation, not just what got cancelled.

Only your TUI flight was cancelled and the package stayed in place

This is a straightforward UK261 claim. The flight was cancelled, so Article 7 compensation applies. £220, £350, £260 or £520 per passenger depending on distance and length of delay. Claim through the TUI Airways form, then AviationADR if TUI says no.

Your long-haul TUI flight to the Caribbean was delayed

TUI flies routes like Manchester to Cancun (around 8,000 km) and Gatwick to Punta Cana (over 6,500 km). For these long-haul routes, the £520 amount applies if you were 4 or more hours late. A family of four can claim £2,080. The amount is the same whether you flew Economy or TUI's "Premium" cabin.

TUI said it was bad weather

Bad weather at the airport you were flying to or from usually IS extraordinary circumstances, so TUI does not have to pay compensation. The TUI route map is heavy on the Mediterranean, Canary Islands and Caribbean, all of which see severe weather. But TUI still has to look after you at the airport (free food, drinks, hotel if needed). Keep receipts. If TUI claims weather but you can see other flights took off and landed fine that day, push back and demand evidence.

TUI offered you "refund credit" instead of cash

TUI Refund Credit is a voucher you can use on a future TUI booking. It is not the same as cash. UK261 (Article 7) gives you the right to a cash payment to your bank account, not credit. You can take refund credit if you want to, but you do not have to. Write back and ask for the cash. If TUI refuses, take the case to AviationADR.

Your flight number was not TOM, BY or OR

TUI sometimes sells you a flight that is actually operated by a partner airline. The flight number gives this away. If the prefix is anything other than TOM, BY or OR (for example, "BA" or "LH"), the flight was operated by another airline. Your UK261 claim then goes against the OPERATING airline, not TUI. TUI cannot pay a UK261 claim for a flight they did not actually operate.

Your flight was on the way home and you missed connections, work or other plans

Compensation under UK261 is fixed by distance, not by what the delay actually cost you. So a 3+ hour late return flight from Tenerife pays the same £350 whether you missed a single day of work or a whole week of plans. For BIGGER consequential losses, look at the Package Travel Regulations (if you booked a package) or your travel insurance. UK261 is a flat-rate scheme.

Send your TUI Airways claim letter via Royal Mail

PostRight writes your UK261 claim letter for you. Answer a few simple questions. Check the letter. Pay. We print it and post it by Royal Mail the next working day. A real letter is much harder for Ryanair to ignore than an online form.

✓Quotes the right part of UK Regulation 261/2004 for your situation
✓States the exact cash amount you are owed under Article 7
✓Asks TUI to confirm whether the cancellation was a flight cancellation or a package cancellation (important for Recital 16)
✓Gives TUI a clear 14-day deadline to reply
✓Explains the next step (AviationADR or ABTA) depending on your booking type
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Send a TUI Airways letter from £2.79

Frequently asked questions

How much can I claim from TUI?

It depends on how far the flight was meant to go and how late you arrived. Short flights under 1,500 km pay £220 per passenger. Flights between 1,500 km and 3,500 km (like London to Tenerife) pay £350. Long-haul over 3,500 km (like Manchester to Cancun or Gatwick to Punta Cana) pays £260 if you were 3 to 4 hours late, or £520 if you were 4 hours or more late. The amount is per passenger. A family of four on a long-haul TUI flight could claim up to £2,080.

Does it matter whether I booked a flight only or a package holiday?

Yes, a lot. If you booked a flight only on TUI Airways, the claim is straightforward UK261 against TUI Airways. If you booked a package (flight plus hotel) and the WHOLE package was cancelled for a reason other than the flight (for example, a hotel issue), then UK261 may not apply under Recital 16. In that case your route is through ABTA under the Package Travel Regulations, which is a different system but often gives you MORE money back than UK261.

What if TUI says my flight was extraordinary circumstances?

A vague reply is not enough. The law says TUI has to PROVE the cause was outside their control AND that they could not have stopped it. Bad weather at the airport usually counts. A normal aircraft fault does NOT count. Crew illness does NOT count after the 2024 Lipton ruling. If TUI just says "weather" without evidence, write back and ask for the exact weather data and the air traffic decisions made that day.

What is TUI Refund Credit and do I have to take it?

TUI Refund Credit is a voucher you can use towards a future TUI booking. You can take it if you want, but you do NOT have to. The law (Article 7 of UK261) gives you the right to a cash payment to your bank account. If TUI has only offered Refund Credit, write back and ask for the cash. Quote Article 7. If TUI refuses, take it to AviationADR.

How long do I have to claim from TUI?

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, you have 6 years from the date of the flight. In Scotland, you have 5 years. A 2014 court case called Dawson v Thomson Airways made this clear. That case was actually about Thomson Airways, which has since changed its name to TUI Airways.

Is TUI a member of an ADR scheme?

Yes. TUI Airways is a member of AviationADR, which is approved by the CAA. You can escalate to AviationADR after 8 weeks of no proper reply from TUI, or after getting a final response. AviationADR is free for passengers and decisions are binding on TUI. For PACKAGE complaints (rather than flight-only), TUI UK is a member of ABTA, which is a separate scheme.

My TUI flight number was different from TOM, BY or OR. Am I in the right place?

TUI Airways flights always have a flight number starting with TOM, BY or OR. If your flight number was different (for example, "BA" or "LH" or "AA"), the flight was operated by another airline that TUI booked you onto. Your UK261 claim goes against the OPERATING airline, not TUI. Check your booking confirmation for the "operated by" line.

My old paperwork says "Thomson Airways". Is that the same company?

Yes. Thomson Airways changed its legal name to TUI Airways on 2 October 2017. It is the same legal entity (Companies House 00444359). If your old booking or claim refers to Thomson Airways, it is still valid against TUI Airways today. Older claims (going back up to 6 years) can still be made against TUI under the same Companies House number.

Ready to claim from TUI Airways?

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