Amadeus, eTtravelworld, returns to profit as air travel drops

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Amadeus, the world’s largest travel reservations company, posted its first-ever profit in the third quarter on Friday thanks to a gradual increase in air traffic. The Spanish company, which operates a reservation platform for airlines, travel agencies and internet bookings, reported 23 million euros ($27.5 million) in September, compared to 24 million euros ($27.5 million) in the previous quarter.

About 271 million passengers flew on reservations made through travel agencies using Amadeus’ reservation system, compared with 165 million in the second quarter of 2021, it said. The Madrid-based company’s sales jumped 76.6 percent to 739.1 million euros in the third quarter over the same period last year.

The airline said new bookings are currently at 80 percent of 2019 levels.

“During the third quarter, we continued to make progress in volume performance, with positive trends in both air bookings and passengers, passengers across all regions,” he said. “Looking ahead to the rest of the year, our trading momentum will allow us to continue this positive momentum despite our upward trend in travel volumes.”

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasts total passenger numbers for 2021 from 2.3 billion to 2.3 billion, but down from 4.5 billion in 2019 before the pandemic. It sees passenger numbers climbing to 3.4 billion in 2022.

Norwegian Cruise said the overall total booked position for 2022 is in line with pandemic record levels and even higher prices, as orders for the fourth quarter and early 2022 Covid-19 Delta variant.

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