Airtours ‘cautiously optimistic’ for year ahead
Airtours has released its annual company statement saying that it expects customers, in all markets, to book their holidays later this year.
Commenting on Airtours’ trading position, Tim Byrne, Chief Executive of Airtours plc, said: “As we said when we reported last year’s results in November, growth this year will be challenging. The trading conditions we have seen since then give us no reason to change our view at this time. The improvement in summer bookings seen since Christmas was as expected. We continue to actively manage our capacity in response to the trends in customer demand, particularly as further market research we have carried out suggests that customers, in all markets, will book their holidays later this year.
As a consequence of a poor first quarter following 11 September, we will see significantly increased losses for the first half of this financial year. Whilst it is still early in the booking cycle, we believe supply and demand will be in line in our major markets and we continue to be cautiously optimistic for the full year. The actions we have taken in respect of overhead costs and the continued improvement of markets suggest a very positive outlook thereafter. In addition, we are very pleased with the response of our customers to the launch of the MyTravel.com website and the opening of the initial wave of MyTravel stores.”
*Shareholders approved the decision to change the name of the group from Airtours to MyTravel at the company’s annual general meeting, which took place in Manchester on Thursday (February 7).
Read the full Airtours annual general meeting statement
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