Industry analyst GfK reported a second successive week of positive trading as MPs prepared to vote on a revised Brexit ‘deal’ on Tuesday.
Summer 2019 bookings were up 1% year on year in the week to March 9. All-inclusive bookings in the week were up 8% year on year.
David Hope, senior client insight director at GfK, said: “The market has definitely picked up.”
Season-to-date bookings for the summer remain 2% up year on year and winter 2018-19 bookings up 4%. The pick-up in bookings came amid hopes MPs would end the immediate uncertainty around Brexit. Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer told Travel Weekly: “An abrupt departure and no deal would be bad for the industry and customers.
Industry records best trading week of 2019
“This week may remove that possibility. If no deal is taken off the table, we’ll be in a better place.”
Parliament appeared set to reject prime minister May’s Brexit deal for a second time, in which case the government promised MPs a vote on a no-deal Brexit on Wednesday. Previous votes suggest MPs would rule out no deal. They would then vote on whether they want a “limited extension to Article 50” to delay Britain’s exit from the EU.
International Airlines Group chief executive Willie Walsh told an Airlines for Europe Summit in Brussels last week: “We really need the politicians to resolve this. But I’m confident we’ll manage whatever comes.”
The EU confirmed last week that UK-EU flights would operate as normal in the event of no deal and removed a previous threat to cap UK airlines’ capacity to Europe at the level of last summer.