There has been a flurry of good news from airlines and holiday companies in the last few weeks as the post-pandemic tailwind for the overseas travel sector continues, writes Business Editor Ian McConnell.

And this will hopefully be good news for airports and consumers in Scotland.

The last few weeks have seen a further flurry of good news from airlines and holiday companies.

Amid the broader economic and geopolitical misery, or perhaps at least in part because of it, the demand for overseas travel remains buoyant.

Some questioned how long the tailwind would last as pent-up demand was unleashed in the immediate wake of the ending of those coronavirus pandemic restrictions which saw so many overseas travel plans put on hold, in some cases for years.

The good news, for the overseas travel sector and those employed within it, is that this fair wind has shown no signs of abating.

Airline and package holiday giant TUI last week demonstrated the continuing prioritisation of travel by households in what are very far from boom times in a general sense.

TUI reported its underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) in the three months to December 31, the first quarter of its financial year, were at a record €77.1 million up by €26.3m on the same period of the prior year.

Among the positives highlighted by TUI was that its cruises segment benefited from “continuing strong demand” for its “differentiated cruise offering across both the UK and German cruise markets”.

The cruise division itself achieved record underlying EBIT of €82.3m in TUI’s first quarter, up by €34.1m on the same period of the prior financial year.

TUI said that its overall first-quarter group revenue was “stable” at €4.9 billion – or up 1.3% on a constant-currency basis – “reflecting robust demand” for its “diverse and comprehensive product portfolio across the business”.

Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “TUI continues to deliver for holidaymakers and investors alike, as first-quarter profits landed 22% ahead of market expectations at a record €77.1m. The stellar performance was driven by its cruise business, which saw profits jump 70.8% higher.

“Consumers continue to prioritise travel, which has seen TUI’s occupancy rates rise despite its fleet expansion. All other business segments saw profitability improve over the period, except hotels and resorts, which suffered a double-digit [percentage] decline due to losses resulting from the Jamaican hurricane and the non-repeat of some one-off benefits last year.”

He added: “As long as macroeconomic conditions don’t deteriorate, TUI looks to be on the right flight path to grow underlying operating profits by between 7% and 10% this year, in line with guidance.”

Ryanair reported on January 26 that its after-tax profits in the three months to December 31, the third quarter of its financial year, were down by 22% on the same period a year earlier at €115m.

However, the budget airline raised its forecast of growth in fares and passenger traffic as it flagged buoyancy of demand.

It declared that it now expected traffic in the year to March 2026 to grow 4% to almost 208 million passengers – higher than its previous estimate of 207 million – “due to strong demand and earlier-than-expected Boeing deliveries”.

Ryanair added: “We now believe full-year fares will exceed the +7% growth previously guided by 1% or 2%.”

easyJet, which is based at London Luton Airport, was in upbeat form when it delivered a trading update on January 29 for the three months to December 31, which is the first quarter of its financial year.

It reported year-on-year growth in passenger numbers of 7% over this three-month period.

easyJet chief executive Kenton Jarvis declared: “We have seen continued demand for our flights and holidays over the last quarter, growing airline passenger numbers and load factor with easyJet holidays maintaining its strong growth trajectory attracting 20% more customers year on year. Our focus on, and investment in, customer experience and punctuality is driving strong results with a four-percentage-point rise in customer satisfaction and on-time performance year on year.

“Bookings are building well for the summer season, with our largest-ever January booking period. We remain committed to delivering sustainable value and continue to progress towards our medium-term target of generating over £1 billion in profit before tax.”

easyJet’s UK country manager, Kevin Doyle, in November highlighted the airline’s growth ambitions for its Scottish operations and underlined the popularity of its package holidays from Glasgow.

Mr Doyle highlighted the part which package holiday demand could play in supporting new opportunities for the airline at Glasgow Airport and elsewhere in Scotland.

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He did so in an interview with The Herald as he visited Glasgow Airport to mark the 30th anniversary of easyJet’s first-ever flight, to Glasgow from London Luton Airport on November 10, 1995.

Days later, easyJet announced four new routes from Glasgow for summer 2026, “to popular beach and city-break destinations”: Pisa in Italy, Lisbon in Portugal, Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, and Malta.

And shortly afterwards, on November 25, easyJet revealed it would be basing a seventh aircraft at Glasgow Airport from this summer, supporting around 400 jobs.

easyJet has also expanded its flights from and to Edinburgh Airport very significantly.

Asked in November about the specifics of the demand for easyJet services at Glasgow Airport and if this differs from elsewhere in the UK, Mr Doyle replied: “We have seen a real uptake on easyJet holidays. So since we launched the easyJet holidays product a few years ago, that's been really, really popular for us and also some really good performance on our domestic operations from Glasgow.

“And last year we launched across Scotland 15 new destinations. So we are looking at new opportunities and the demand, particularly with easyJet holidays, is really there.”

Mr Chiekrie highlighted the potential for further growth in easyJet’s package holiday business as the airline delivered its trading update on January 29.

He said: “The package holiday arm delivered another period of impressive growth, with revenue up 26% over the first quarter. Given that the addressable market for package holidays is huge, there’s a long runway ahead for this segment if it can keep nailing delivery.”

Russ Mould, investment director at stockbroker AJ Bell, also flagged easyJet’s success in package holidays.

He said: “easyJet’s share price has not been without turbulence in the post-pandemic era, though the one big success story has been the company’s expansion into package holidays. This part of the business has made an increasing contribution to group revenue, profit and cash flow in recent times and is continuing to grow rapidly.”

Hopefully this will also bode well for further growth in easyJet’s presence at Scotland’s airports.

And hopefully these airports can continue to benefit from the continued strong demand for overseas travel in general, and consumers can gain too in the form of increased connectivity and choice.

© Herald Scotland