By Yunus S Saliu
TUI maiden flight to destination Gambia for the 2021/2022 winter tourist season was Friday, 5th November, received at the Banjul International Airport.
The Airbus which landed at the airport at approximate 8pm local time flew direct from Gatwick to the destination with 180 passengers onboard and it was received at the tarmac of the airport by some senior officials of the Gambia Tourism Board (GTBoard) and Gambia Tours.
TUI is one of the biggest tour operators in the world and it flies to the Gambia from different destinations including UK, Holland and Belgium. The TUI maiden flights from Holland and Belgium for the ongoing tourist season is scheduled to commence on 1st and 23rd December respectively to Destination Gambia.
Speaking to Hobeika Charbel, Managing Director of Gambia Tours and Travel Limited at the arrival hall of the airport he expressed satisfaction over the TUI maiden flight from UK.
He noted that the over twenty months of no business has been a very difficult period for the stakeholders in the industry and country.
He disclosed that there will be more TUI flights to the country from Manchester which will carry about 184 passengers while looking forward into additional two flights soon to increase the frequency but “all depend on the booking. Hence we are just starting to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, so, slowly, people have just started to book their holidays again.”
However, he disclosed that passengers are happy to see the preparation by the authorities for the winter tourist season especially that if you are vaccinated you can enter without a visa and still those that doesn’t have vaccination have to do the PCR at the airport on arrival; “it is a very good proof that the season will be prospective for everybody.”
