The figure was revealed in TUI Travel’s interim management statement, which showed an increased operating profit for the group of £102m in the three months to 30 June, up £37m on the same period last year.
TUI reported UK charter bookings for summer 2009 are down 12%, an improvement on the previous quarter's 16% decline.
Volumes are up 2%, and average selling prices are 7% ahead of last year.
Egypt and Turkey are selling particularly well, with all inclusive sales up 33%.
Elsewhere within the group, TUI has seen a strengthening in summer 2009 charter bookings in Germany, although scheduled flights are down.
The company described trading in Poland as ‘difficult to the continued devaluation of the zloty which has substantially increased the cost of overseas travel’.
The lates market in Belgium is described as ‘robust’ with load factors at 91%.
Overall sales in specialist and emerging markets are down 15% across the group, although TUI’s premium UK brands, including Sovereign and Hayes & Jarvis, have experienced higher demand and volumes.
LateRooms is also performing strongly, with the number of bed nights up more than 50%.
Trading for winter 2009/10 is down 21% over the period, although it has picked up over the past four weeks, with bookings down 6% compared to the same period last year.
Average winter prices are up 9%.
TUI’s summer 2010 programme, launched two months later than its 2009 programme, is achieving a 3% average selling price increase.
Bookings for First Choice Holiday Villages have been particularly strong in early trading, up 11% on last year.
TUI UK delivered synergies of £23m in Q£09, an increase of £16m over the previous year.
TUI Travel chief executive, Peter Long, said: ‘We are pleased with these results and remain well positioned to meet the board’s expectations for the year ending 30 September 2009.
‘We anticipate market conditions will remain challenging and expect the later booking pattern to continue in the next financial year.
'We will continue to maintain a high degree of flexibility in our business model to allow us to alter capacity in line with market conditions.’
Click here to see the results in full (134KB pdf).
See also:
TUI Travel outlines green credentials (03/08/2009)
TUI UK introduces coach/excess bag fees on lates (01/06/2009)
TUI Travel set to deliver £440m FY profits (20/05/2009)
TUI Travel to focus on scale (19/05/2009)
TUI Travel plans further adventure acquisitions (15/05/2009)
TUI Travel cuts operating loss (25/03/2009)