In spring 2022, Orlando Melbourne International Airport will start serving more United Kingdom cities than every airport in the nation except JFK in New York — generating “tremendous ramifications” for the Space Coast's economy, airport official Jack Ryals says.

TUI, the U.K.'s leading holiday travel conglomerate, has inked a seven-year contract to fly Boeing 787 Dreamliners from nine cities in England and Scotland to MLB.

Melbourne will serve as TUI's Central Florida gateway, replacing Sanford. To handle an estimated 156,000 new trans-Atlantic passengers per year, airport officials are launching an expansion project to renovate the aging terminal. Ballpark cost: $30 million.

"We'll be No. 3 in Florida for all international traffic," Ryals, who chairs the Melbourne Airport Authority, said during a Thursday chamber speech.

"MCO (Orlando) and Miami will be handling more international traffic. But we'll be handling more than Tampa, St. Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville and any other Florida city you can think of," Ryals said.

Ryals delivered the airport's first TUI public presentation during a Melbourne Regional Chamber breakfast speech at Hilton Melbourne Rialto Place.

Labeling TUI's 2022 debut “a turning point in MLB’s history,” Ryals said the company's typical travel season lasts from Easter to Oct. 31 — the opposite of a Canadian snowbird. An estimated 5,895 tourists will arrive in Melbourne per week.

Estimated local annual economic impact is $155 million. Ryals said the typical TUI U.K. tourist:

Books a nine-night stay.

Spends $3,241 per visit.

Has a $102,183 average household income.

Airport officials expect 70% of TUI customers to rent vehicles, rather than take arranged transportation.

"They are going to want to see our area, whether it be the zoo, or it be the port, or be the space center. It might be the theme parks. It might be some of the eco-tours that are going to be offered," Ryals told the audience.

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What's more, TUI owns the 867-foot-long Marella Discovery — capacity 1,830 guests — which will begin sailing next year from Port Canaveral as the company's first U.S.-home-ported ship.

Officials estimate 30,000 of TUI's 156,000 annual visitors will be cruise passengers. On Sundays, MLB will handle four Boeing 787 Dreamliners carrying Marella Discovery guests.

In terms of numbers, TUI's 156,000 Florida tourists will comprise 312,000 airport passengers, counting arrivals and departures. Melbourne's airport serves nearly 500,000 passengers a year — so TUI represents a 60% increase, said Rob Himler, airport spokesman.

"We may have as many as four (Dreamliners) on the tarmac at any one time. We're used to servicing (and) refueling planes that hold 100, 150 people. These hold 345 each — and there might be four on the ground at the same time," Ryals said.

"That's going to take a little planning," he said.

On March 25, the airport authority may hire a design-build team for the terminal reconstruction project. Ryals said this undertaking will add updated ticketing areas and a new security checkpoint, expanded federal inspection station, international concourse with four boarding locations, foreign currency exchange, and dining-shopping-concessions.

MLB officials describe TUI as the world's leading tourism group, including 1,600 travel agencies, six airlines operating 150 aircraft, more than 380 hotels and resorts, 17 cruise liners and 70,000 employees in more than 100 countries.

Labeling the mystery company "Tango 2" to conceal its identity, Melbourne airport administrators engaged in negotiations with TUI in 2015. Officials hope the revamped passenger terminal will also help MLB attract more domestic flights.

Ryals said TUI's arrival was made possible by $100 million in airport infrastructure work the past four years, including three rehabilitated runways, a new 115-foot air traffic control tower that opened in October and a new federal inspection station.

TUI flights will be occupied by U.K. tour group visitors. However, Himler said airport officials are in discussions to potentially open seats for people who want to travel from Melbourne to England or Scotland.

Save Miami, Ryals said MLB is the only Florida airport that TUI can fly to from 2022 to 2029, per contractual terms.

Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1. To subscribe: https://cm.floridatoday.com/specialoffer/