Boeing 787 To Be Scrapped

TUI has said goodbye to its very first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, registered as G-TUID.

The 787-8 model has now arrived at Cotswold Airport, where it’ll be scrapped just 12 years after its first delivery.

G-TUID was initially delivered to Thomson Airways on 16 August 2013. The aircraft, named Angel of the Sky and powered by 2 GEnx-1B64 engines, was leased from ORIX Aviation and ferried to Manchester on the delivery flight.

The jet was eventually deployed to TUI Airways in October 2017, when the aircraft was reconfigured, remaining so until April 2023. The plane underwent several reconfigurations based on available fleet data, thanks to planespotters.net, in the last couple of years.

G-TUID was then withdrawn from service on 28 November 2025 and stored at Glasgow Prestwick Airport (PIK) before completing what would be its farewell flight through to Cotswold Airport (GBA) on 10 December, 2025.

Before these flights, TUI Airways had the jet operate a service on 27 November 2025 between London Gatwick (LGW) and Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI). Before this, the aircraft was deployed from Gatwick (LGW) through to Melbourne Orlando International (MLB) in Florida, on 26 November, 2025.

Throughout this plane’s history, the jet’s owner was ORIX Aviation, and given who it was flying to/from, as flagged by “iselljetparts” on Reddit, the plane was utilised quite heavily over 12 years and certainly flew to many markets with high temperatures.

However, 12 years for a Boeing 787 Dreamliner is still relatively young, especially given the aircraft type’s hoped-for durability in airlines’ fleets, which should be double this, if not longer, for some operators.

This aircraft, which will now be scrapped, will have its crucial parts slated for the spare parts pool, which will continue to be required as the Boeing 787 fleet ages and more operators need spare parts to keep the widebody program flying.

While planes are certainly valuable for airlines and lessors, there can come a point where they’re also more useful as spare parts, and entering the market here is a decision driven by a range of factors.

The TUI Boeing 787 Fleet

With TUI Airways having said goodbye to its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the airline now has 11 remaining, spread across the -8 and -9 models.

The company has seven remaining aircraft for the 787-9, one model, G-TUIE, not currently active, with five aircraft remaining active; all are 10 to 12 years old.

Meanwhile, a commitment to the larger 787-9 also exists. The airline has five 787-9s to its name, with its oldest, G-TUIJ, at 9.5 years old and the youngest at 6.1 years old.