On the Beach prepares for September relaunch
On the Beach has seen adjusted revenue for the six months to the end of March fall to just £12 million.
This is down 77 per cent from the £53 million reported for the same period last year.
The company reported £22 million in losses for the first half of the year, having taken the majority of its trips off sale while waiting for the outbound market from the UK to reopen.
Simon Cooper, chief executive of On the Beach Group, commented: “The group has experienced continued disruption through the first half, and this has remained as we head into the summer.
“As announced on May 12th, the board took the decision to extend the group’s off-sale period from June 30th to August 31st.
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“Given the recent change in status of Portugal from green to amber, the board is pleased to have taken this decision early, so as to avoid customers suffering yet more turmoil and disappointment.”
Looking ahead, On the Beach said booking volumes for summer 2022 remain low, but are “significantly ahead” of normal trading patterns.
This was partially due to the early release of flights for next year by most major airlines, a statement explained.
Cooper also offered praise to the authorities for enforcement action taken against airlines he said had been mistreating customers.
He added: “On the Beach has long championed the rights of both its customers and wider holiday consumers and the board was pleased to see that the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has opened cases to investigate whether certain airlines have broken consumer law, by failing to offer refunds for flights customers could not legally take, thereby leaving people unfairly out of pocket.
“It is pleasing to see increased regulatory scrutiny on the travel sector and I would like to see this taken one step further with other travel companies establishing trust accounts, similar to ours, so that all customer monies are ringfenced and can be immediately returned should their holiday be cancelled.”