TUI etc
TUI will be restarting Tunisia (Enfidha) from May this year from Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Bristol. BRS will have a weekly Tuesday rotation commencing 1 May.
In summer 2018 TUI will have 2 x B 757, 2 x B 738 (+ 1 from 2017) based with 1 x B 788 part-based for four days each week. There is still a need for at least three non-based or third party aircraft to fulfil the remainder of the timetable.
Thomas Cook is adding a third based aircraft (an A 320 likely to be third party) to join its 2 x A321s and easyJet is introducing its customary annual additional based aircraft (the 15th), with a 16th needed for August according to the timetables.
From speaking with airport management at a recent master plan consultation drop-in event it seems that 2018 ought to see circa 8.7 million passengers. This will be a smaller increase (about 450,000) than the last three years that have seen annual passenger numbers rise from 6.3 million to over 8.2 million this year.
The management people to whom I spoke are adamant that there is no need for a runway extension and that it will not feature in the new master plan consultation. Only time will tell whether this turns out to be a wise decision.