TUI fly Netherlands

Is TUI fly Netherlands safe?

Yes. TUI fly Netherlands has never had a fatal accident or lost an aircraft since it started flying as ArkeFly in 2005. Every aircraft it flies itself is a new-generation Boeing, and it works under Dutch oversight within the EU's EASA system. We score it 88, level with KLM and Transavia, its neighbours at Schiphol.

What keeps it out of the top band is the missing IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit, which most TUI airlines lack, and the small size of the operation. Ten aircraft fly far fewer flights than KLM, so a clean record says less.

Which TUI airline is this?

This page covers TUI Airlines Nederland B.V., based in Rijswijk and flying from Amsterdam with the code OR. It started in 2005 as ArkeFly, the airline of the Dutch tour operator Arke, and became TUI on 1 October 2015.

The Dutch and Belgian TUI airlines work closely together, and that matters for reading the record. In 2020 and 2023, two events on Dutch TUI flights from Amsterdam involved a Belgian-registered 737 with a Belgian crew. Those flights ran under TUI fly Belgium's certificate, so we count them on that page:

• October 2020. A 737-800 bound for Funchal returned to Amsterdam with unreliable airspeed after pandemic storage. The Dutch Safety Board called it a serious incident.
• February 2023. A 737-800 struck its tail on take-off for Las Palmas and returned.

In summer TUI fly Netherlands also hires 737-800s with crews from other airlines, and in 2026 TUI added another on such a lease. Those flights count against the airline that supplies the crew.

TUI fly Netherlands' accident record

There is one entry. On 13 December 2007 an ArkeFly Boeing 767-300ER was flying a charter for the Dutch armed forces from the Middle East to Chania on Crete. While a marshaller guided it to its parking place, the right wingtip hit a light pole at the edge of the apron and was badly damaged. The 69 people on board were not hurt, and the aircraft was repaired.

Greece's investigators found that neither the captain nor the marshaller stopped the aircraft when the situation became unsafe, and that the first officer did not step in. They also criticised unclear rules at the airport about who guides aircraft on the apron. A taxiing accident like this weighs lightly in our score, but it counts.

ArkeFly took over the business of HollandExel, the successor of Air Holland, in 2005. We start the record in 2005, because those airlines flew under other certificates.

Which incidents should passengers know about?

Few, and none that we found was classed as serious. The events in the last ten years were technical problems that crews handled normally:

• Groningen, July 2021. A 737-8 rejected its take-off at about 78 knots after a windshear alert in a thunderstorm area, then took off again and reached Las Palmas 50 minutes late.
• Brussels, December 2024. A 787-8 flying a Belgian TUI holiday flight to Hurghada returned to Brussels after a lightning strike. Passengers reported a flash and a faint burning smell; the aircraft landed safely.
• Amsterdam, July 2025. A 787 arriving from Bonaire went around at about 2,000 feet with a hydraulic failure, landed on the second approach and was towed off the runway.

The Dutch Safety Board publishes its investigations, and we found none naming a TUI fly Netherlands aircraft since 2016. Because the airline is small, one serious event would move this factor a lot.

How modern is the TUI fly Netherlands fleet?

Very. The airline flies six Boeing 737-8s on short and medium routes and four Boeing 787-8s on long-haul. Its last Boeing 767, the final one in the TUI group, left in November 2024. In August 2026 TUI said the 737-8s will leave in 2027 for larger 737-10s.

The 787s are TUI's only widebodies outside Britain and Sweden. From 28 March 2027 one will also fly twice a week from Düsseldorf to Curaçao for German customers, still under the Dutch certificate.

Tips for TUI fly Netherlands passengers

• Read the operator line on your booking. With Belgian aircraft and hired crews in the mix, an OR flight number does not tell you which certificate applies.
• Expect weather delays in the Caribbean from June to November. Hurricanes and thunderstorms affect flights to the Caribbean and Mexico; a delay is the system working.
• Allow time after a technical return. When a 787 is grounded far from home, as at Amsterdam in 2025, a replacement can take a day. Pack essential medicines in your hand luggage on long-haul trips.

How we scored it

The accident record (92) is clean apart from the 2007 taxiing accident, with a small volume of flights. Dutch and EASA oversight without IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary scores 86. The fleet (86) is all new-generation. Incidents (84) are few but the data are thin for an airline this size. The network scores 83, lowered by Caribbean weather and Red Sea routes.