Ascension week has traditionally been a popular spring break. Despite a sharply reduced supply of destinations due to the coronavirus, Ascension 2021 shows relatively good numbers. After several destinations were recently assigned Code Orange, TUI has planned additional capacity over the past 2 weeks on a number of flights to the south.
Clearly, the Belgians were expecting this as the majority of flights have very good load factors. Last week, and for the first time in a long time, TUI recorded positive figures every day compared to the same week in 2019, i.e. 14% more bookings. The sky is clearing (gradually) for the travel sector.
Each year, many travellers take advantage of this short work week to take a week’s vacation for Ascension. Even in this difficult spring period, the trend is confirmed: no less than 92% of the seats available on the 87 flights this week are occupied. This is a very encouraging result, especially since some flights were only scheduled very recently. An additional flight has thus been planned for popular Spanish destinations Mallorca, Ibiza and Alicante and planes with greater capacity have been deployed to the Canary Islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria. These flights are now fully booked. Five Greek destinations which were recently assigned the code orange will also welcome Belgian holidaymakers this week: Rhodes, Kos, Corfu, Zakynthos and Lesbos.
Last week TUI had good reason to celebrate. For the first time in months, more trips have been booked than in the same week in 2019 when there was no coronavirus yet, 14% more bookings. The new bookings aren’t just for peak season: May and June are also popular, now that the skies are clearing for many destinations and more and more people have been vaccinated. This striking observation proves once again the need for vacations of many Belgians. At TUI, confidence in a good summer is only growing and colleagues are taking full advantage of this positive trend after too long a period with few prospects.
