Repatriation Flights: Over 550 package holidaymakers arrived in Germany overnight

Repatriation Flights: Over 550 package holidaymakers arrived in Germany overnight

• Special flight from the Maldives lands in Frankfurt
• Two TUI Airline aircraft fly from Al Ain in the UAE via Heraklion to Hanover
• Passengers from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland and Poland on board

Frankfurt/Hanover, 8 March 2026 - During the night from Saturday to Sunday, a total of three special flights landed in Germany, bringing more than 550 package holidaymakers safely back to Frankfurt and Hanover.

Around 300 travellers from the Maldives had the longest journey: due to cancelled connecting flights in the Gulf, they were flown directly to Germany.

Another 250 guests were on board two Boeing 737-8 that flew from Al-Ain Airport in the United Arab Emirates to Hanover. The planes made a short technical stopover in Heraklion (Greece) beforehand.

In addition to German guests, the passengers included citizens of other EU countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Poland, as well as travellers from the United Kingdom.

Sebastian Ebel, CEO of the TUI Group, said at Hanover-Langenhagen Airport: "Tonight we reached another important milestone in organising additional flight connections for our package holiday guests and ensuring their return to Germany and other European home markets.

Our airline team has achieved a remarkable feat: from the smaller departure airport of Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates, we were able to establish a connection to Hanover via Heraklion with our medium-haul aircraft. I would like to express my special thanks to our colleagues from all five national airlines, who worked together to carry out the necessary safety checks for TUI Airline and then made flight planning possible in close coordination with the relevant authorities.

The safety of our guests and crews - both on the ground and in the air - remains our top priority. At the same time, we would like to thank our guests for their patience and understanding during their return journey.

In order to enable the journey home as quickly as possible, we are using our own fleet of aircraft, working closely with partner airlines and chartering additional aircraft as needed. Further flights by our TUI Airline will take place in the coming days. In addition, we are also making available seats to other travel companies and the respective governments to support the repatriation process."

TUI flew its first guests back to Germany with Emirates on Tuesday. TUI Cruises had booked further full charters with Emirates for the return journey in recent days and has now been able to fly the guests of Mein Schiff 4 home. The return journey for the guests of Mein Schiff 5, which is in Doha, begins today, Sunday.

Sebastian Ebel had already thanked his colleagues in the travel agencies, call centres and customer service departments the day before. They are currently the first point of contact for many customers and are also doing an outstanding job in these challenging times. He also expressed his particular thanks to the crews who are working on TUI's own flights.