TUI Takes $47M Hit as Iran War Disrupts Summer Plans

Tui, Europe’s largest holiday company, has cut its 2026 profit guidance after saying the war in Iran has already added about €40 million ($46.8 million) in costs.

The group said the conflict disrupted cruises and holidays in March, forced large-scale repatriation work, and made customers more cautious about booking trips in parts of the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean.

Tui sells package holidays, but also runs airlines, hotels, destination services, and cruises.

Cruises and regional holidays were hit first

The most visible disruption came in the cruise business. Tui said it brought home around 5,000 passengers from Mein Schiff 4 and Mein Schiff 5, which had been stranded in Abu Dhabi and Doha.

Another 5,000 holidaymakers were repatriated from destinations across the region, while about 1,500 crew members were also returned.

This created more than just transport costs. It also meant canceled itineraries, delayed ship repositioning, and lost revenue from voyages that could not go ahead. Tui said the two ships were able to leave the Gulf on April 19 during a pause in hostilities and are now expected to begin their Mediterranean summer season in mid-May.

Travelers are shifting destinations and booking later

Tui said demand has partly moved from the eastern Mediterranean to the western Mediterranean.

The company said Türkiye, Cyprus, and Egypt were among the markets most affected. It also reported that summer booking revenue and hotel occupancy for the second half are both 7 percent lower than a year earlier. At the same time, customers are booking closer to departure, which makes the rest of the season harder to predict.

The warning reflects a wider travel industry problem

Tui’s statement also points to a broader issue for European travel. Higher oil prices and concerns about jet fuel supply are pushing up pressure on airlines and holiday companies across the region. Tui said it had hedged 83 percent of its summer jet fuel needs and 62 percent of its winter needs, as well as more than 80 percent of its full-year cruise energy costs.

That gives the company some protection from price swings, but it does not remove the cost of disrupted operations or weaker bookings. Other carriers are also reacting. Lufthansa has already said it will cancel 20,000 flights between May and October to save fuel, showing how quickly the conflict is feeding into wider aviation planning.

A strong start to the year has been overtaken by geopolitical risk

Tui now expects full-year underlying EBIT of €1.1 billion to €1.4 billion ($1.29 billion to $1.64 billion), below last year’s €1.413 billion ($1.65 billion). It has also suspended revenue guidance until conditions become more stable. The company said its forecast assumes there is no major escalation in geopolitical tensions and that fuel supplies remain available.

Just two months earlier, TUI had the strongest start to a financial year in the group’s history, with revenue holding at €4.9 billion ($5.8 billion), underlying EBIT rising to €77.1 million ($91.8 million), and guest numbers reaching 7.1 million. That makes the company’s latest profit warning more notable.

Photo by Link Hoang on Unsplash