It was confirmed on Monday (26 September) that operations at DSA would begin to be wound down at the end of October following a strategic review, with DSA owner Peel Group stating the airport was no longer financially viable.
Tui managing director UK and Ireland Andrew Flintham branded the decision was "incredibly disappointing". He confirmed Tui’s last flight from DSA would be on 4 November, and that Tui staff at DSA would be offered alternative roles.
In response to the closure, additional weekly flights will be available from Leeds Bradford, East Midlands and Manchester airports next summer to a range of the group’s most popular destinations. These include services to the mainland Spain, the Balearics and the Canaries, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and Egypt.
Tui will also launch two new routes from East Midlands to Antalya and Hurghada and three new routes from Leeds Bradford to Dalaman, Antalya and Dubrovnik.
In total, the three airports will offer flights to 54 destinations across 17 countries next summer. This includes 67 flights a week to Greece offering more than 600,000 seats and 34 flights a week to Turkey providing more than 300,000 seats.
Tui will operate both new routes at East Midlands airport twice-a-week, with Antalya flights on Wednesdays and Saturdays and Hurghada flights on Tuesdays and Fridays.
It will also operate two of the three new routes at Leeds Bradford twice-a-week, with both its Dalaman and Antalya flights operating on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The new Dubrovnik flights from Leeds Bradford will be on Thursdays, timed to allow customers to connect with Marella Cruises itineraries.
Elsewhere, Tui is upping capacity to several other destinations next summer. It will put on 175,000 seats to Cyprus, 10 flights a week to Egypt, 60,000 seats to Cape Verde and 18 flights a week to support it Marella Cruises programmes in Dubrovnik, Palma, Corfu and the US.
Richard Sofer, Tui UK and Ireland commercial and business development director, said: "With the unfortunate closure of Doncaster Sheffield airport, we know these customers will still want access to a great variety of holiday destinations, so it’s exciting to be able to offer this from other surrounding airports.
"Not only does this reconfirm our commitment to customers in the region, but it also shows our support for regional airports and the value they bring to the UK."
