Flight Centre Travel Group’s leisure sector has taken a $10 million blow in April from Middle East conflict – but the crisis is also driving travellers back through its doors, with a 20 per cent spike in customers returning to store after a multi-year absence.
The dual finding emerged in a trading update released this morning, painting a complex picture of a travel market simultaneously disrupted and reinvigorated by the ongoing war.
Mass-market travel was the hardest hit, with 5 per cent of flights cancelled, while cruise and touring suffered in the specialist segment due to gulf disruption, longer routing and customer hesitation. Luxury proved more resilient, with travellers rerouting rather than cancelling, and corporate and South Pacific-bound customers remaining largely insulated.
The carrier shift has been dramatic – 92 per cent of UK bookings have now moved to non-gulf routes.
Despite the turbulence, Flight Centre posted underlying profit before tax growth of 9.7 per cent to $226.4 million and total transaction value growth of 7.6 per cent to $19.5 billion for the nine months to 31 March.
Shares lifted more than 3 per cent following the trading update.
