Holiday giant TUI has warned that the continued grounding of its Boeing 737 MAX jets after two fatal crashes could cost it £172 million.
The Anglo-German company told the stock market in an update that it expected profits to be hit as its 15 MAX planes gather dust while investigators probe potential links between the two incidents.
TUI, which used to trade as Thomson and also owns the First Choice brand, said it was “utilising spare aircraft of its fleet, extending expiring leases for aircraft that were supposed to be replaced by 737 MAX aircraft, as well as leasing in additional aircraft” to reduce disruption.
The German-based firm owns 15 of the planes, including five within its UK operation. A sixth was due to be delivered this month.
The crash earlier this month of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX shortly after take-off in the country echoed a similar incident involving a MAX operated by Indonesian carrier Lion Air last October.
Both planes crashed after erratic movements were recorded immediately after take-off. The New York Times reported the issue onboard that crashed Indonesian plane “created a tug of war between the plane and the pilots”.
TUI shares plunged following its profit warning, down more than 8% in both Frankfurt and London.
The company sent a team of “management pilots” to visit Boeing in the US this week to learn more about a potential software fix which could prevent the issue described during the Lion Air crash.
No report has yet been released on the Ethiopian crash but, if issues with software were the cause of both accidents, the planes could be flying again sooner rather than later.