The Canary Islands will account for almost half of TUI's airline capacity to its main winter-sun destinations this coming season. The travel giant has around 1.3 million airline seats available across its winter programme, with approximately half allocated to the Canary Islands.

Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are all central to the programme, underlining the continued importance of the archipelago to Europe's winter holiday market.

The Canaries will have significantly more TUI capacity than other popular winter destinations such as Egypt and Turkey.

Canaries remain a winter favourite

The islands have long been one of TUI's most important winter destinations, thanks largely to their year-round climate and relatively short flight times from northern Europe.

That becomes particularly important between October and March, when millions of holidaymakers look for warmer weather without travelling long-haul.

TUI's latest programme shows that demand remains strong despite growing competition from destinations around the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Middle East.

The company's winter plans also include the Cape Verde islands, which continue to grow as an alternative winter-sun destination.

More capacity in Fuerteventura

Fuerteventura is among the islands benefiting from TUI's latest expansion.

The company is adding the Elba Corralejo resort to its accommodation programme in the north of the island, increasing the number of holidays it can offer in one of Fuerteventura's most popular resort areas.

Corralejo is particularly popular with British and Irish visitors, alongside other major European markets.

The expansion adds to TUI's already substantial presence across Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Tenerife.

Strong winter ahead for Canary Islands

The scale of TUI's programme is another indication of the strength of the Canary Islands heading into the main winter tourism season.

Winter is traditionally one of the busiest periods of the year for the islands, particularly for visitors travelling from Britain, Ireland, Germany and Scandinavia.

The four main islands are also benefiting from extensive winter flight schedules from airlines and tour operators serving airports across Europe.

For Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, that means the coming months are again expected to bring high numbers of visitors as northern Europe heads into winter.