Travel company TUI AG (LON:TUI) has vowed to step in and rescue tourists stranded after Thomas Cook’s collapse.
“TUI is preparing measures to support,” said chief executive Friedrich Joussen, adding the short-term impact is still in evaluation.
“Where TUI customers are booked on Thomas Cook Airlines flights and these are no longer operated, replacement flights will be offered.”
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TUI said it was finishing its own summer season as expected and keep its previous guidance for earnings unchanged.
The German group has already warned underlying earnings will fall by up to 26% from last year’s €1.18bn with its airline operation hit by the grounding of Boeing’s 737 MAX, airline overcapacities and the looming Brexit uncertainty.
TUI doesn’t expect things to simmer down in the coming financial year.
Customer bookings picked up in the last weeks of the summer season but remained flat compared to last year.
One-third of the winter programme has been sold, similar to 2018, with bookings down 2% and the average selling price up 4%.
Hotel & Resorts and Cruises are expected to deliver better results, with 70 new hotels and three new ships added to the fleet.
The demand is shifting from Western to Eastern Mediterranean, with higher numbers in Turkey offsetting the normalisation of demand for Spain.
Shares rose 1.5% to 915p to follow a strong rise yesterday as investors factored in a potential windfall from Thomas Cook’s demise.