Ahead of final results from TUI AG (LSE:TUI) on Wednesday, the tour operator has signalled growth in both its airline and holiday experience markets as it nears pre-pandemic levels, but a strike-ridden Christmas period may dampen the mood.
A strong fourth quarter saw summer bookings increase by 1.4mln to 12.9mln will have bolstered the FTSE 100 group's full-year results.
The Anglo-German company reported bookings over the summer reached 91% of 2019 levels for the same period, with July and August closing the gap to pre-Covid levels by 94%.
Average selling prices over summer increased by 18% vs 2019 in a bid to “soften the impact from the current higher inflationary environment”, winter last year saw a 26% rise to average prices.
While struggles to break even may be marred by inflation, management re-confirmed expectations to "return to significant positive underlying EBIT" and the mid-term ambition for underlying EBIT to "significantly build" on 2019 from growing sales and restructuring benefits.
The share price still sits 62% down on February 2020 levels, not helped in May by the step-up in payback to the German government after the pandemic bail-out, leading to the shares shrinking by 25% in a week, and the planned retirement of chief executive Friedrich Joussen.
In October, a few weeks after the company released its pre-close trading update, the shares fell to an all-time low of 105p, but have rallied to 144p but are still worse performers than sector rivals easyjet, ryanair, IAG and IHG.