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Founded | 2005 (as Arkefly) | ||||||
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Hubs | Amsterdam Airport Schiphol | ||||||
Alliance | TUI Airlines | ||||||
Fleet size | 9 | ||||||
Destinations | 72 | ||||||
Parent company | TUI Airlines (TUI Group) | ||||||
Headquarters | Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands | ||||||
Website | www |
TUI Airlines Netherlands (formerly Arkefly and shortened to Arke in the corporate design to match the travel agency) is a Dutch charter airline headquartered in Schiphol-Rijk on the grounds of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands. It is the charter carrier of the Dutch arm of the German travel conglomerate TUI Group and its main base is Schiphol Airport.
TUI Airlines Netherlands traces its roots to Air Holland, which was founded in 1981. After financial problems Air Holland was taken over by the Exel Aviation Group and took a new start as HollandExel in March 2004. In May 2005 the Exel Aviation Group was declared bankrupt. The German TUI Group took over the airline's activities and renamed it ArkeFly. It is now wholly owned by the TUI Group. Its name was based on the biggest Dutch tour operator, Arke, which is also a subsidiary of the TUI Group. The newly reorganised airline operated its first flight in September 2005.
Operations in Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles, began on 15 July 2004 as DutchCaribbeanExel, which was originally part of the Exel Aviation Group, but was later taken over, together with parent airline, HollandExel, by the TUI Group, and renamed ArkeFly Curaçao. ArkeFly started weekly flights to St. Maarten from Amsterdam on 2 December 2007, but discontinued this service in November 2008. TUI holds that flights may resume if the volume of tourists travelling to St. Maarten increases. Operations to Orlando, Miami and Israel began in 2011.
In October 2013, Arkefly changed its marketing name to Arke to reflect the partnership with the travel agency of the same name.
On 13 May 2015, it was announced by the TUI Group that all five of TUI's airline subsidiaries will be named TUI, whilst keeping their separate Air Operator's Certificate, taking over three years to complete. Arke was the first to undergo the change, and was renamed TUI on 1 October 2015 - therefore changing the airline's name also.