A cold, dark and misty morning. A strong, sweet smell. A red smile looming through the darkness. It might sound like the beginning of a horror story, but that could simply not be further from the truth.

This was in fact my greeting upon stepping out of the car having arrived at Glasgow airport, for an early morning flight. In spite of the fact that it was not due to depart until 0650, being an avgeek, I felt the need to be there early, to do some spotting, and it was owing to this that I was the first person to check in for my flight, TOM1788 to Lanzarote.

Having breezed through security (Glasgow is having no issues whatsoever with delays in my experience), I headed directly to the middle pier, in an attempt to locate my aircraft. 

Unfortunately, TUI have no form of inflight entertainment on this aircraft, either personal or communal. While this is pretty standard for a short-haul holiday flight, I do miss having a safety video, as opposed to the rather more generic safety demonstration.

But that was quickly forgotten, as there’s simply nothing better than being pushed backwards into your seat, as you hear 30000bhp of LEAP engines spooling up to either side of you, and before you even know it, you’re cruising at 37000ft.

TUI Airways have, in general, some of the friendliest, and best staff of all the UK holiday airlines. Nothing demonstrates this more than the recent story of one of their First Officers leaving the cockpit to go and help the baggage handlers, who were struggling to keep up, and had delayed the flight. It was to be expected then that they played their roles in a professional manner onboard this flight too. No surprises there.

After completing their first drinks service, the crew came round to take orders for hot meals. Knowing TUI Airways as I do, I had instead chosen to board with a Boots £5 meal deal, which, while not fantastic, cost significantly less than what the onboard menu had to offer. For me, TUI’s onboard menu is pretty poor on short haul. Up until pre-Covid, I considered their selection to be reasonable, though overpriced. It was quite varied, and I could find several items I fancied. Unfortunately, the menu has downsized significantly, and I am glad I took my meal, as I could not find a single item that I would have picked. Chocolate fingers are NOT enough for breakfast.

And yet, surprisingly quickly, we drew level with Marrakesh, and began our descent into Arrecife-Cesar Manrique International. While typically arrivals into ACE take an approach onto Runway 03 over the coast, the island was experiencing high winds, so we made our landing onto Runway 21. Despite the gusts, our flight crew made a firm, but altogether good landing. Unfortunately, due to a lack of taxiways at the southern end of the runway, this meant rolling all the way to Matagorda beach, before making a right turn onto taxiway E4.

Once we’d came to a stop at one of the remote stands - an avgeek’s dream come true! - the aircraft began to empty. What I can never understand of passengers is the urgency to remove themselves from their aluminium tube – surely you want more time onboard, no? But that really does not matter. The most important bit had now arrived. Being up-close and personal one of TUI’s newest aircraft.

At only 3 years old at time of flight, G-TUMT is just a toddler of its service life. If TUI intend to hang on to them as long as they did their pocket rockets, they will no doubt still be operating into the 2050s, and I have no problem with that whatsoever. Not only is this aircraft one of the safest in the skies, it also provides the best short-haul experience of any UK airline I have encountered so far.

As for the operator itself, TUI is among the best for this route. While the lack of IFE and a good menu is a little disappointing, it is not surprising when compared among its competition. What makes it is the crew. A member of the cabin crew took time out of their turnaround to assist a person with vision difficulties down the air stairs and onboard the shuttle bus. I doubt this would happen on Ryanair, or other ULCAs who generally leave such duties to a ground handler, such as Swissport, but this passenger was treated just like any other, and that is where TUI excels. Ensuring that passenger experience is good, and that it is delivered in the professional manner that we have come to expect from a charter.