Tui soars despite €39 million hit from Air Berlin collapse and crew hitch

Holiday company Tui on Wednesday revealed it took a €39 million (£34 million) hit from the collapse of Air Berlin and crew problems with Tui Fly, its own airline, this summer.

A mass pilot absence, when more than 100 called in sick in October 2016, cost the airline €24 million and renegotiating a lease agreement with Air Berlin €15 million.

But the world’s biggest holiday firm reported a 12% increase in earnings to €1.2 billion, its third consecutive year of profit growth.

Tui, which ditched the Thomson name in the UK in October, said demand for winter bookings was resilient while Bulgaria and Croatia are among Brits’ favourite summer 2018 destinations as the weaker pound pushes them to find cheaper holiday spots.

Tui is urging negotiators to come up with a workable plan for airlines when Britain leaves the EU.

Chief executive Fritz Joussen said his company was putting contingency plans in place in order to manage potential disruption to its operations from Brexit.