Arkefly
Encyclopedia
ArkeFly is a Dutch
charter airline headquartered in Schiphol-Rijk
on the grounds of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Haarlemmermeer
, Netherlands
. It is the charter carrier of the Dutch arm of the German travel conglomerate TUI
and its main base is Schiphol Airport. It carries out regular and chartered flights, although most of the chartered flights are operated for the Dutch tour operator Arke. It operates to destinations in the Mediterranean, Red Sea
, Mexico
, Caribbean
, Canary Islands
, Scandinavia
, Africa
, Asia
, Brazil
and the Netherlands Antilles
.
, which was founded in 1981. After financial problems Air Holland was taken over by the Exel Aviation Group and took a new start as HollandExel
in March 2004. In May 2005 the Exel Aviation Group was declared bankrupt. The German TUI Group
took over the airline's activities and renamed it ArkeFly. It is now wholly owned by the TUI Group. Its name was based on the biggest Dutch tour operator, Arke, which is also a subsidiary of the TUI Group. The newly reorganized airline operated its first flight in September 2005.
Operations in Curaçao
, Netherlands Antilles
, began on 15 July 2004 as DutchCaribbeanExel
, which was originally part of the Exel Aviation Group, but was later taken over, together with parent airline, HollandExel
, by TUI Nederland
, and renamed ArkeFly Curaçao. ArkeFly started weekly flights to St. Maarten from Amsterdam on December 2, 2007, but discontinued this service in November 2008. TUI Nederland
holds that flights may resume if the volume of tourists traveling to St. Maarten increases.
Operations to Orlando, Florida
and Miami, Florida
began in 2011.
As of November 2011, the ArkeFly fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 9.4 years:
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
charter airline headquartered in Schiphol-Rijk
Schiphol-Rijk
Schiphol-Rijk is an industrial estate in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and lies in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer...
on the grounds of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water, and the name Haarlemmermeer means Haarlem's Lake, still referring to the body of water from which the region was reclaimed in the 19th century.Its main...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. It is the charter carrier of the Dutch arm of the German travel conglomerate TUI
TUI AG
TUI AG is a German multinational travel and tourism company headquartered in Hanover. Until 2001 it was an industrial and transportation company named Preussag AG, which in the mid-1990s decided to reinvent itself as a tourism, shipping, and logistics company...
and its main base is Schiphol Airport. It carries out regular and chartered flights, although most of the chartered flights are operated for the Dutch tour operator Arke. It operates to destinations in the Mediterranean, Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
, Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and the Netherlands Antilles
Netherlands Antilles
The Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint...
.
History
ArkeFly traces its roots to Air HollandAir Holland
Air Holland was an airline based in the Netherlands. It operated passenger and cargo charters to Africa, Asia and the Mediterranean, as well as dry and wet leasing of aircraft to other airlines. It ceased operations on 25 March 2004. The airline was headquartered in Oude Meer, Haarlemmermeer.-...
, which was founded in 1981. After financial problems Air Holland was taken over by the Exel Aviation Group and took a new start as HollandExel
HollandExel
HollandExel was an airline based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It operated charter services for tour operators. It ceased operations in 2005.- History :...
in March 2004. In May 2005 the Exel Aviation Group was declared bankrupt. The German TUI Group
TUI AG
TUI AG is a German multinational travel and tourism company headquartered in Hanover. Until 2001 it was an industrial and transportation company named Preussag AG, which in the mid-1990s decided to reinvent itself as a tourism, shipping, and logistics company...
took over the airline's activities and renamed it ArkeFly. It is now wholly owned by the TUI Group. Its name was based on the biggest Dutch tour operator, Arke, which is also a subsidiary of the TUI Group. The newly reorganized airline operated its first flight in September 2005.
Operations in Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, Netherlands Antilles
Netherlands Antilles
The Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint...
, began on 15 July 2004 as DutchCaribbeanExel
DutchCaribbeanExel
DutchCaribbeanExel was an airline with its head office in Amsterdam.- History :The airline was established in 2004 and started operations on 15 July 2004. It was wholly owned by ExelAviationGroup...
, which was originally part of the Exel Aviation Group, but was later taken over, together with parent airline, HollandExel
HollandExel
HollandExel was an airline based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It operated charter services for tour operators. It ceased operations in 2005.- History :...
, by TUI Nederland
TUI AG
TUI AG is a German multinational travel and tourism company headquartered in Hanover. Until 2001 it was an industrial and transportation company named Preussag AG, which in the mid-1990s decided to reinvent itself as a tourism, shipping, and logistics company...
, and renamed ArkeFly Curaçao. ArkeFly started weekly flights to St. Maarten from Amsterdam on December 2, 2007, but discontinued this service in November 2008. TUI Nederland
TUI AG
TUI AG is a German multinational travel and tourism company headquartered in Hanover. Until 2001 it was an industrial and transportation company named Preussag AG, which in the mid-1990s decided to reinvent itself as a tourism, shipping, and logistics company...
holds that flights may resume if the volume of tourists traveling to St. Maarten increases.
Operations to Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
and Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
began in 2011.
Fleet
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | J | Y | Total | ||||
| Boeing 737-800 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 72 | 96 | 180 | |
| Boeing 767-300ER | 5 | 1 | 31 | 154 | 98 | 272 | |
| Boeing 787-8 | 0 | 3 | TBA | replacing older 767s | |||
| Total | 10 | 5 | |||||