Tui lost £1bn through coronavirus stoppage but remaining optimistic

Europe's largest holiday group Tui Group recorded third-quarter losses of €1.1 billion as the coronavirus pandemic put a brake on holidays and cruises, but insisted demand was "very high" with 1.7 million new bookings made since it began operating again.

Since the refoundation of the travel company in mid-June with a pilot project from Germany to Mallorca, Spain, we have been able to sell 1.7 million new bookings.

The Anglo-German group, which secured an extra 1.2 billion euros (£10.5 billion) in government assistance, reported a 98 per cent slump in revenue to 75 million euros (£68 million) year on year from 4.2 billion in the same period last year, reflecting its halt for most of April, May and June, when it partially resumed operations from mid-May.

The company expects a cash break still, with 57 percent of its summer facilities being sold, between July and September.

Tui has announced that service between Aberdeen and Tenerife is due to resume from October, which will include some routes from Edinburgh, while Tui will not operate the service from Inverness until next year.

Tui said that its booking for summer 2021 was 'highly encouraging '. Tui boss Fritz Joussen says: 'Our integrated business model with aircraft, transfers, hotels and cruise ships is intact and has proved its worth in this difficult environment. During the crisis it has enabled us to be the first travel company to fly guests on holiday.'