HANOVER (dpa-AFX) - TUI AG (TUIFF.PK), a German travel and tourism company, Wednesday said it is returning the first part of the credit lines of around 700 million euros provided during the pandemic on April 1.
Regarding its outlook, the company said it expects a stable business development for 2022, especially for the main months of the summer season. In the morning trading in Germany, the shares were losing around 3 percent.
The financial resources were made available by the German government and private banks in the framework of the three stabilisation packages. The company said the state credit lines granted were a safety buffer during the pandemic and lockdown.
The pandemic aid from the state was mostly interest-bearing credit lines, and it already stopped using the state credit lines in recent weeks with the recovery of the business.
Fritz Joussen, CEO TUI Group, said, 'The worldwide travel restrictions, especially at the beginning of the pandemic, almost completely deprived us of our business basis. That is why temporary aid was important and right. Thanks to the credit lines from the German federal government and from the private banks and the contribution of our shareholders, we have steered TUI safely through its most serious crisis.'
The company added that the KfW RCF credit line, which was still drawn at around 500 million euros at the beginning of February, could be reduced to zero at today's date due to the expected good operational performance.
TUI further said it is well positioned for growth in the post-Corona period with travel restrictions largely lifted and sustained stable business development.
Demand for holidays and booking momentum remains strong. Summer 22 is currently at 80% of Summer 19 bookings, compared to 72% at the first quarter beginning of February.
With 2.8 million additional bookings since the end of January, the total number currently stands at 8.9 million for Winter 21/22 and Summer 22 combined.
The company expects to close the Winter 21/22 programme as expected with capacity in the low to mid-range of assumed range of 60% to 80% of pre-crisis levels.
In Germany, TUI shares were trading at 2.87 euros, down 2.62 percent.
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