ColOrd wrote:Don’t be frightened, TUI aren’t trying to muscle in on the Kangaroo route! They are moving their Orlando operations to Orlando Melbourne...an hour and a half drive from Disney!
Seems like they are handing the market to VS?
I can only assume airport charges have had some influence - that's one reason why a lot of UK charter airlines moved to SFB in the 1990's - but it's also been pointed out elsewhere that TUI's cruise line Marella Cruises are beginning sailings from Port Canaveral which MLB is geographically closer than MCO or SFB where they currently fly to.
I'm not sure if VS stand to gain much from this. TUI aren't pulling out of the Florida market and it's an extra 20 minutes to the Orlando area from MLB compared to SFB which might be too much for some, but given that TUI stand to gain extra custom anyway following Thomas Cook's demise and some people aren't bothered by the airport if the price is right, it's probably not going to be detrimental for them. Despite the extra drive, it seems straightforward to get to from the Orlando area by simply going along Hwy 192 or I-95/SR 528. Time will tell of course given that Icelandair once moved from MCO to SFB before reverting and, conversely, Allegiant moved some flights from SFB to MCO before consolidating everything at SFB again.
That said, the driving time to Disney from MLB is almost comparable to TPA which is another alternative gateway for some.
Posted: 04 Nov 2019, 22:49