Originally Posted by
Say again s l o w l y
There are plenty of reasons why you might get a situation like this. First off, the seats that had been in that position may have had to be removed to be refurbed. Not all parts on some seats are Line Replaceable. There may not have been a spare, certified triple available to be put in its place, hence the gap. Running them through the workshop can take as little as 24 hrs and that is a much better tactical decision than leaving a row of seats inop until the aircraft is next in the hangar. Ops should be well aware of the restriction though and if that wasn't updated, then a mistake has been made.
The last statement is almost certainly true, given that the flight in question was a return leg MAH-BHX, so the aircraft would almost certainly have flown outbound with those seats missing as well (presumably not full).
TUI would do well to take any punishment (albeit unlikely) on the chin and treat it as a lesson in PPPPP.