TUI group warns 8,000 jobs could be cut in 'greatest crisis industry has faced'

Travel group Tui has announced that 8,000 jobs could be cut due to the coronavirus pandemic once they resume normal services.

The Tui Group has warned that the 8,000 roles worldwide are at risk as it called Covid-19 the "greatest crisis the industry... has faced".

The Anglo-German giant 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 company said: "We are targeting to permanently reduce our overhead cost base by 30per cent across the entire group.

"This will have an impact on potentially 8,000 roles globally that will either not be recruited or reduced."

Tui posted loses of 845.8 million euro (£747m) in the first half of 2020 (Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

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."

Chief executive Fritz Joussen said the company should "emerge from the crisis stronger" (DPA/AFP via Getty Images)

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 were also borne as a result of the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft after two crashes with other airlines.

The company said the jobs cut could happen as it aims to reduce its overheads by 30 per cent.

The news comes as budget airline Ryanair has said it expects to cut as many as 3,000 jobs as a result of the pandemic.

The airline added that it will be more than a year before things get back to normal, with it not expecting passenger numbers to be at 2019 levels "until summer 2022 at the earliest".

British Airways is set to make up to 12,000 workers redundant on the back of Covid-19 restrictions.

The airline's owner, International Airlines Group (IAG), announced the planned job cuts as it revealed that revenues plunged 13% in the first quarter of 2020.