Beleaguered tour operator MyTravel reported slightly improved bookings after the end of hostilities in Iraq but warned there was "ground to make up" in some markets.
It said group summer bookings for the past two weeks were 3 per cent behind last year on a 10 per cent reduction in capacity. Winter bookings fell 4 per cent on a like-for-like basis, in line with capacity reductions.
The company said it was also in talks over the longer-term refinancing of the group and has proposed an extension of all its credit facilities to May 2006.
In a trading statement, the package holiday group said its summer business is in better shape than last year, with 500,000 fewer summer holidays left to sell this year than it was last year.
Chief executive Mr Peter McHugh said trading conditions make it difficult to comment with any certainty on the outlook for the rest of the year. But he said bookings over the last two weeks, since the apparent end of the war in Iraq, have been encouraging, particularly in Britain.
AFP