Travel company TUI on Tuesday said it expected pent up demand to drive summer holiday bookings towards pre-Covid pandemic levels as it narrowed losses and planned to repay some of the German state aid it received during the crisis.
The Anglo-German company said first quarter revenue rise to €2.37bn (£2bn) from €468m (£395m). The quarterly loss fell 60% to €274m.
TUI said 3.5 million customers had signed up for summer holidays, as of January 30, around 72% of pre-pandemic 2019 levels, but new reservations were at 100% of pre-crisis levels, it added, albeit with a trend towards short-term bookings.
The Omicron Covid variant was “a short-term dampener,” the company said.
“We expect a strong summer 2022,” said chief executive Fritz Joussen. “There is pent-up demand among customers. We see this in all European source markets.”
“The last two financial quarters have shown that the group continues to stabilise. The path out of the pandemic is becoming increasingly clear. Every step towards normality gives people confidence, and the demand for holidays increases immediately.”
“Despite the still ongoing trend towards very short-term bookings, we see the strong demand for the upcoming summer 2022.”
Tui also reported that it is handing back €700m in state aid.
