TUI Group CEO Fritz Joussen has written to employees to allay concerns over how war in Ukraine could affect business and to address questions over the operator’s largest single shareholder, Russian oligarch Alexey Mordashov.

Mr Joussen said the attack on Ukraine had left him stunned, and said TUI is ‘monitoring the developments intensively in order to assess possible consequences and to be able to put plans into place if necessary.’

He told staff: “We ourselves are no longer represented with companies in Russia and Ukraine. As you know, we sold our shareholdings in the tour operators in Russia and Ukraine some time ago.

“However, in order to ensure the safety of our customers, we will make or have already made adjustments in some areas, such as flight routes and cruise destinations.

“We are in contact with the employees of service providers in Ukraine who work for us and are supporting them as best we can to keep themselves and their families safe. TUI Cruises is also intensively looking after crew members from Ukraine who are employed on board our fleet of ships.”

He added: “Some of you have also asked me about our largest single shareholder Alexey Mordashov and our position with him.

“Mr Mordashov has been a TUI shareholder for around 15 years and has held about a third of our company since he propped it up during the Corona crisis.

“Two thirds of our shareholders are from Germany, the EU, the UK, the US or are funds. Mr Mordashov is also one of 20 representatives on the Supervisory Board elected by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting.

“However, our company is run by the Executive Board, like any German public limited company, and not by the shareholders or the Supervisory Board. We therefore assume that any restrictions or sanctions against Mr Mordashov will not have any lasting negative consequences for us as a company.”