Travel Company TUI is planning to operate 80% of 2019’s capacity this summer, saying it already had 2.8 million bookings, the Company said as it reported its first quarter results this morning.
With the approval of highly effective vaccines, more vaccinations and reliable and widely available rapid tests, the groundwork has been laid for a return to basic freedoms and also open borders it said in a trading statement.
In the COVID-19 hit summer of 2020, it operated about 25% of capacity.
The uncertainties of the ongoing pandemic and ever-changing quarantine and travel requirements are also having an impact on the timing of bookings, as expected. As was already the case last summer and autumn, customers are booking at shorter notice and thus later in the year.
The German based Company said it currently had 2.1 billion euros of financial resources.
CEO Fritz Joussen said:
“The English market has a special significance for our company. We see an impressive pace and ambitious targets for vaccinations there. Vaccinations and rapid tests make an end to the standstill in tourism possible. I am hopeful that after a slow start, more energy is now being put on vaccination and the availability of rapid tests in other countries. We should do everything we can to quickly return to basic freedoms and make travel possible again.”
