TUI says new bookings in the last six weeks have been higher than summer 2019.

Across all of its markets it has already reached 85% of sales achieved in summer 2019, with UK sales up 11% on two years ago.

Announcing a pre-tax loss for the last quarter of €330m, which was almost half the loss made in Q2 2021, the travel giant said it expects 2022 to be ‘a good financial year’, despite the €603.5m loss made in the first half of the year.

CEO Fritz Joussen added: “The strong Easter business was already the first important indicator. The high demand for travel and the good business performance now confirm our forecasts. 2022 will be a good financial year with a strong travel summer.

“In terms of capacity utilisation, we are almost reaching the pre-Corona level of 2019. After two years of crisis, things are clearly progressing and we expect to become profitable again in the current financial year with a significantly positive underlying EBIT (earnings before interest and tax). This is the basis for new growth.”