Thomas Cook is looking to make "substantial" savings in the UK after admitting that its costs this summer were about £10m higher than expected, mainly due to its airline.
In a trading update released today, Thomas Cook said it had started a review of its UK cost base and it planned to streamline its operations.
"We will report back to shareholders on the outcome of the exercise and actions being taken at the time of our full year results announcement," said the statement. Thomas Cook’s end of year results will be announced on December 1.
In the UK, bookings for summer 2010 were down 1% over last year, which was in line with its capacity cuts, but the average selling price was up 3%.
The operator said it had made ‘an encouraging start’ to the winter season with bookings in the UK up 4% year on year and the average selling price up 1%. Bookings for past four weeks were up 13% over last year.
Its UK programme is now 34% booked, which is 1% ahead of 2009, and early bookings for summer 2011 are up 9% year on year with average prices 4% ahead.
By Linsey McNeill
