TUI will cut up to 8,000 jobs across the globe after losing £747m in 2020

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TUI will cut up to 8,000 jobs across the globe after losing £747m in 2020 as chief exec says Covid is the ‘biggest crisis’ ever faced by holiday industry

  • Anglo-German company said it was working to ‘reduce its cost base’ by 30% 
  • Said this will affect 8,000 roles that will ‘either not be recruited or reduced’ 
  • Tourism industry has been battered by freeze on holidays due to coronavirus 
  • Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19

By Rory Tingle For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Holiday giant Tui is looking to cut up to 8,000 roles worldwide with the firm calling Covid-19 the ‘greatest crisis’ the industry has faced.

The UK’s biggest tour operator posted losses of 845.8 million euro (£747m) in the first half of 2020, compared to 289.1 million (£255m) in the same period 12 months previously.

The Anglo-German company said: ‘We are targeting to permanently reduce our overhead cost base by 30% across the entire group. This will have an impact on potentially 8,000 roles globally that will either not be recruited or reduced.’

The UK’s biggest tour operator posted losses of 845.8 million euro (£747m) in the first half of 2020, compared to 289.1 million (£255m) in the same period 12 months previously

How coronavirus has affected airlines in the UK over the past month 

Flybe: Europe’s largest regional airline collapsed on March 5 after months on the brink, triggering 2,400 job losses and left around 15,000 passengers stranded across the UK and Europe. 

British Airways: The International Airlines Group, which also includes Iberia and Aer Lingus, said on March 16 that there would be a 75 per cent reduction in passenger capacity for two months, with boss Willie Walsh admitting there was ‘no guarantee that many European airlines would survive’. The company has since said it wants to reduce the number of staff by 12,000.

easyJet: The airline with 9,000 UK-based staff including 4,000 cabin crew grounded its entire fleet of 344 planes on March 30. The Luton-based carrier said parking all of its planes ‘removes significant cost’ as the aviation industry struggles to cope with a collapse in demand.

Loganair: The Scottish regional airline said on March 30 that it expects to ask the Government for a bailout to cope with the impact of the pandemic. 

Jet2: The budget holiday airline has suspended all of its flights departing from Britain until April 30. A number of Jet2 flights turned around mid-air last month while travelling to Spain when a lockdown was announced in the country.

Virgin Atlantic: The airline said on March 16 that it would have reduced its lights by 80 per cent by March 26, and this will go up to 85 per cent by April. It has also urged the Government to offer carriers emergency credit facilities worth up to £7.5billion.

Ryanair: More than 90 per cent of the Irish-based airline’s planes are now grounded, with the rest of the aircraft providing repatriation and rescue flights. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said his airline would be forced to shed 3,000 jobs while seeking pay reductions of up to 20 per cent by those who remain. 

Fritz Joussen, chief executive of the firm, said the company should ’emerge from the crisis stronger’.

He added: ‘It will be a different Tui and it will find a different market environment than before the pandemic.

‘This will require cuts: in investments, in costs, in our size and our presence around the world.

‘We must be leaner than before, more efficient, faster and more digital.’

The company’s report said: ‘The tourism industry has weathered a number of macroeconomic shocks throughout the most recent decades, however the Covid-19 pandemic is unquestionably the greatest crisis the industry and Tui has ever faced.’

It added that losses also came as a result of the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft after two crashes with other airlines. 

The global airline industry has been hammered by the impact of coronavirus, with the huge slump in demand for international travel leading to thousands of planes being grounded and staff numbers slashed. 

The company that owns British Airways alongside Iberia and Aer Lingus said on March 16 that there would be a 75 per cent reduction in passenger capacity for two months. 

Its boss, Willie Walsh, admitted there was ‘no guarantee that many European airlines would survive’. 

The company has since said it wants to reduce the number of staff by 12,000.

Easyjet grounded its entire fleet of 344 planes on March 30, while Ryanair is only operating at 10 percent capacity. 

Meanwhile, Richard Branson has already been forced to abandon his Virgin Australia brand and has controversially begged the British government for an emergency loan to rescue Virgin Atlantic from collapse.    

Fritz Joussen, chief executive of the firm, said the company should 'emerge from the crisis stronger'

Fritz Joussen, chief executive of the firm, said the company should ’emerge from the crisis stronger’ 

Countless holidays have been cancelled since the Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel in March.

With no end date in sight, and the Government now looking to enforce a 14-day quarantine period for travellers returning to Britain by air, it is highly likely that many families will be unable to go abroad for the foreseeable future.

Despite this, scores of readers today told Money Mail they are still being asked to pay more money for trips they are certain they won’t be able to take.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said yesterday it was ‘just a reality of life’ that breaks abroad would be off limits after the Government announced a 14-day quarantine for all international arrivals into Britain.

Asked whether ‘summer was cancelled’, Mr Hancock told ITV’s This Morning: ‘I think that’s likely to be the case. I think social distancing of some kind is going to continue and I think the conclusion from that is that it’s unlikely big, lavish international holidays are going to be possible for this summer. I think that’s just a reality of life.’