The new boss of Tui in the UK and Ireland believes the operator’s steady capacity for the next year is “the right level” – but extra numbers can be added if needed.
In the latest round of Atol renewals, revealed last week, Tui remains in second place in the UK league table, maintaining its capacity at 5.85 million passengers.
Jet2holidays remains the largest Atol holder, increasing its licence to more than seven million, while easyJet holidays moved from fifth to fourth in the list, to just over three million – up from 2.2 million in March.
Neil Swanson, the new managing director of Tui UK & Ireland, told a Travel Weekly webcast: “We are going to be broadly flat year on year.
“There is a lot of growth going in and we’ll have to see what the market can bear.
“We will keep a watching brief; we can be very dynamic in adding extra inventory.
“We believe that’s the right level at the moment, for where the market is, to maximise the profit.”
He said summer 2024 has seen an “incredibly” late booking market, with many consumers booking just four to six weeks before travel.
“The load factors that have been coming in have been incredibly good, though,” he noted.
“The demand is there but the margin is pressured.
“You are also seeing some economic things coming in: 14 nights have definitely slowed down a bit. Long-haul has slowed down.
“People are definitely still going on holiday. The demand is strong…but at the moment it feels right to us to be where we are.”
He noted forward bookings are “looking good” but added: “There is still pressure on winter. Lates [are] continuing into winter.
“People are looking for that flexibility.
“We are definitely seeing big growth in four, five, six nights – and eights and nines are very strong, 12 nights…some quite big growth we are seeing coming through – over 200% on some of those.
“People are definitely looking at different durations to maximise the time they are away.
“People can see they can get more for their money if they get another night for maybe less than they were paying for seven.”
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