TUI Group has retired its final Boeing 767 from service after the last aircraft departed TUI Netherlands this week, ending over 40 years of service with the type. PH-OYJ, a 24-year-old airframe named “Sunshine”, completed its final revenue flight on November 3rd before entering storage at Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport.
TUI Group retires last Boeing 767
Flight OR1605 from Lanzarote Airport (ACE) to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) departed at 18:12 local time and arrived at TUI Netherlands’ base in Amsterdam at 22:49. Much like the fate of previous TUI Boeing 767s, the aircraft was ferried to Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport (SAW), where it will be converted into a freighter.
Photo: Flightradar24
PH-OYJ, a Boeing 767-300ER, arrived at Britannia Airways in February 2000 and would subsequently fly with Garuda Indonesia, Thomson Airways, Arke Fly and TUI Belgium before joining the TUI Netherlands fleet in December 2022. According to data from ch-aviation, the airframe accumulated over 97,000 flight hours and 17,500 flight cycles during its 24-year service life. Its configuration offered two cabin classes for up to 295 passengers, with 31 in business and 264 in economy.
During its final climb out of Amsterdam, the flight crew performed a symbolic wave maneuver as TUI Group officially ended over four decades of operating the Boeing 767. However, it won’t be the end of service life for PH-OYJ, which is due to be converted into a freighter in Istanbul. While passenger 767 operations (outside of the United States at least) are dwindling worldwide, the type is a good candidate for a passenger-to-freighter (P2F) conversion that will give it new life as a cargo plane.
Over 40 years of 767 operations
Britannia Airways became the first European carrier to operate the Boeing 767, which had entered service with United Airways in 1982. Britannia accepted delivery of its first airframe, a Boeing 767-200, in February 1984. A year ago, TUI retired the last remaining passenger Boeing 767 in the UK – that aircraft, G-OBYF, was delivered to Britannia in the summer of 1998 and amassed over 94,000 flight hours during its decades in service.
Photo: Mariusz Klarowicz | Shutterstock
Over the years, TUI Group airlines would continue to operate the Boeing 767, with UK-based TUI Airways boasting an 18-strong fleet of 767-300ERs at one point. However, TUI has replaced the 767 with the newer Boeing 787 Dreamliner – ch-aviation data shows the airline group now has 19 Dreamliners (13 787-8s and six 787-9s) in service across its airlines.
The group is also in the process of modernizing its Boeing 737 fleet, with its older 737-800s slowly phasing out in favor of the 737 MAX. It now operates 42 MAX 8 jets as well as 56 737-800s and a handful of 737-700s.
