TUI Group's markets and airlines operations saw an improvement from a loss of €259 million in the first quarter of 2022 (Q1 2022) to a loss of €193 million in Q1 2023 as it reported overall revenue increasing by €1.4bn over the same period to €3.8bn.
The improved result for the group's airlines-related operations was driven by higher prices and good demand", it reported, with 8.7 million bookings in the sector taken across winter 2022/23 and summer 2023, almost 90% of winter 2018-19 summer 2019 and already up 50% on 2022.
"The start into the new year has seen significant booking momentum with record booking days online in both the UK and Germany. Volumes overall in the last four weeks are now above pre-pandemic at higher prices, underlining the popularity of our product offering and a testament to the importance of travel for our customers," the group said.
TUI's overall "usual seasonal minus" was almost halved to €153 million, when Q1 2023 is weighed against Q1 2022, with one million more guests recorded and the group's hotels up around €10 million over the time with hotel occupancy around 70% compared with 56% a year ago.
"In a continuing challenging market environment, TUI benefited from people's continued willingness to travel, so that almost all business sectors contributed to the improvement in Group earnings," TUI said, with overall bookings up around pre-pandemic levels and with higher average prices.
Net debt of €5.3bn at the end of 2022 "was broadly in line with [the] prior year", the group said.
"Our strategy is clear: quality, cost discipline and market share. New products, additional customers and as a result more market share and above average growth are the basis for future increases in revenue and earnings," said chief executive Sebastian Ebel.