TUI has started the 2023/24 winter tourism season flights to The Gambia carrying185 passengers. The maiden flight arrived at the Banjul International Airport just after 8pm local time on Wednesday as the British company begin a four weekly flight operation to the "Smiling Coast" of Africa.
The Gambia is "Africa’s smallest nation, and is almost entirely landlocked by its bigger neighbour, Senegal. The country – nicknamed the ‘Smiling Coast’ – is shaped like a horizontal line, with the airport and capital, Banjul, hooked on to the western edge. It’s where most of the action is, due to the beach-belted coastline and offering of resort towns. It takes around six hours to fly from the UK to Banjul International airport."
The tiny West African nation of just over two million people rely heavily on tourism as a major foreign exchange earner as well as source of employment. The country is popular with British holiday makers looking for sun, sand and sea as just six hours away from major UK airports.
TUI began operating direct flights to The Gambia in 2020 following the collapse of Thomas Cook Airlines which operated cheap direct flights to the country form major UK airports.
The Airline will operate four weekly flights to destination Gambia from London Gatwick and Manchester.