Thomas Cook revenue down £100m in wake of Brussels and Turkey terror attacks

Terrorist attacks in Brussels and Turkey cost the Thomas Cook Group £100m in lost revenue between April and June this year. The firm’s third-quarter results show bookings down 5 per cent compared with 2015. The drop is due to a sharp cut in capacity to Turkey; elsewhere, bookings rose 8 per cent as planes were moved to serve Spain, Portugal and long-haul destinations.

Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook’s Chief Executive, said: "We are operating in a challenging geopolitical environment, with repeated disruption in some of our key source and destination markets."

He said that Brexit had so far had “no noticeable impact” on bookings, but said: “It has added to a general sense of uncertainty - for our business and our customers alike.”

Price cuts are possible as the firm tries to offload capacity for Summer 2016. A year ago, all but 16 per cent of holidays had been sold at this stage; this year, 19 per cent remains unsold.

The Brussels attacks caused “significantly lower demand in Belgium”. Thomas Cook’s German airline, Condor, has been “impacted by overcapacity and increased pricing pressure due to intense competition in the short- and medium-haul market”. In other words, too many seats are chasing too few passengers.

Two weeks ago, a leading online travel agent, Lowcostholidays, collapsed. The Chief Executive, Paul Evans, blamed “currency, terrorism and Brexit” for the failure to find a buyer for the bankrupt firm.