“In November I said that 2015 was one of the toughest years I have ever seen and it has not got easier,” he said.
The company has maintained its full-year guidance from which analysts are expecting it to make profits of about £350 million, although Thomas Cook cautioned that it was still very early in the year.
Bookings during the first quarter fell by 2% year on year, while revenues were down 7.2% to £1.4 billion.
However, the company is confident that it can cope with the switch in demand to Western European destinations because it began adding hotel capacity and flights in the autumn, when it became clear that there would be no holidays in Egypt or Tunisia.
Thomas Cook said that it would receive a £100 million benefit from lower jet-fuel costs, which it expected to pass on to customers because the market is so competitive.
