The package holiday operator Tui has experienced its first profitable April to June period since before the pandemic, but cautioned that it anticipates a €25m impact from the wildfires in Rhodes last month.
Tui stated that the entire cost of the wildfires would be accounted for in its full-year results. This includes expenses related to holiday cancellations, customer compensation, covering welfare expenses, and repatriating customers.
The tour operator reported underlying pretax profits of €169.4m (£146m) from April to June. This marks its first profit during the key spring and early summer period since the onset of the Covid crisis and is almost €197m higher compared to the same quarter last year.
During this three-month period, Tui served 5.5 million holidaymakers, which is 0.4 million more passengers or a 9% increase compared to the previous year. The company also stated that current booking levels for summer getaways have met its expectations for a strong season.
Despite the cost of living crisis, these booking levels are a significant step towards returning to pre-pandemic levels, as Tui carried 95% of the same number of passengers as in the same quarter in 2019.
In recent weeks, Tui, along with other travel companies, cancelled package holidays to Rhodes due to wildfires on the Greek island. Full refunds were provided to affected passengers.
The company confirmed that it evacuated a total of 8,000 customers and conducted 12 repatriation flights to bring them home. However, it also stated that approximately 80% of the holidaymakers on the island at the time were unaffected by the fires.
Consumer groups urged Tui and other travel companies to reimburse individuals who chose not to travel to any location on the island while the fires were burning.
Tui mentioned that Rhodes accounted for around 5% of its summer holiday offerings this year. Bookings were initially affected after the fires, but quickly recovered. The company’s foundation has launched a fundraising campaign to support those directly affected by the fires on Rhodes, and it has committed to doubling every donation received.