By Javi West Larrañaga and Gemma Guasch
July 31 (Reuters) – Amadeus’ CEO said on Friday that air travel bookings were improving after the Iran war hit the travel technology company’s second-quarter results, adding that the worst impact was likely now over.
The turmoil in the Middle East caused an increased number of booking cancellations and air traffic disruptions, leading to a 7.6% decline in Amadeus’ quarterly bookings, it reported earlier in the day.
“Our feeling is that the worst has happened already with all these cancellations, adjustments of routes, adjustment of capacity of the airlines,” CEO Luis Maroto said in a call with analysts, citing a progressive improvement of bookings since June.
The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran also affected bookings in some domestic markets, including the United States, as airlines rearranged capacity and increased prices, Maroto added.
Still, he warned it was yet to be seen whether the recent improvement was part of a catch-up from people who had delayed bookings with a “wait-and-see” attitude, or whether it was a new trend.
Amadeus posted adjusted second-quarter core earnings of €672.8 million ($774.2 million), which beat analyst expectations, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Javi West Larrañaga and Gemma Guasch in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
