NEWS TRAVEL WEEKLY BUSINESS CONTINUED FROM THE BACK


Europe and visa-free travel could be maintained. “If you say no [to freedom of movement] it’s hard to see how any of that works anymore,” he said. Swaffield added: “We have a


skills shortage in this country and we have a demographic time bomb. Our population is ageing. “One of the reasons the UK


market has been so successful is lots of young people have come from eastern Europe and that has enabled the UK to fill the gaps. If that disappears there are not enough young people in the UK.” Swaffield said consumers


have benefited from the EU Common Aviation Area liberalising the market and encouraging competition, something that has enabled the likes of easyJet to flourish. “It would be a very backward


step for this country to give away that,” he said, adding he expected easyJet to secure an EU operating licence “very soon” to insure itself against the possibility of the UK leaving the Common Aviation Area. Terry Williamson, chief


executive of wholesaler JacTravel, said he was confident the travel industry would cope with Brexit. “I have been in travel for 30 years and this is one hell of a resilient industry. Whatever challenges are thrown at it we have a way of working things out. I’m still exceptionally positive about this industry. There will be hiccups along the way, but I’m absolutely certain we can deal with them.” Patrick Richards, chief


operating officer at Cox & Kings, said the industry should work together for the common cause. “Sometimes inbound and


outbound are pitched against each other,” he said. “That ignores the many


synergies there are. We both rely on the same air capacity, the same transport links.”


Travelport blames US election for weaker outlook


Lee Hayhurst lee.hayhurst@travelweekly.co.uk


The US presidential election is having a bigger impact on the travel sector than Brexit, according to Travelport.


Reporting third-quarter results


to September 30 last week, the global distribution system said it saw “robust trading” in the three-month period. Travelport’s net revenue


increased by 6% to $591 million for the quarter, while operating income stood at $62 million and net income at $21 million. Gordon Wilson, president and


chief executive of the US-listed but UK-headquartered firm, described the impact of Brexit as “marginal”. Favourable foreign exchange movements during the quarter helped Travelport achieve a 15% increase in adjusted profit (Ebitda) to $150 million.


Amadeus reports €738m profit for first nine months


Amadeus recorded a 21.3% hike in adjusted profits to €738.1 million for the first nine months of the year.


The year-on-year growth for the period to September 30 was driven by a 14.2% increase in revenue to €3.3 billion. Earnings [Ebitda] were up by


16.4% to €1.3 billion. Air travel agency bookings


rose 5.2% to 409.8 million, outperforming GDS industry


62 travelweekly.co.uk 10 November 2016


“The US election is having more of an effect on US bookings than Brexit is in other markets”


“In all honesty there is


less-certain demand in the industry at the moment,” said Wilson. “I think the US election is having


more of an effect on US bookings than Brexit is in other markets.” Wilson said he did not think this


reflected anything specific about this year’s US presidential election – widely seen as one of the most vitriolic and bad-tempered. “Elections always have an


impact on travel. I’m not sure why that is. We are not that bullish on Q4 in the US. We don’t see it coming back that strongly,” he said. Despite the outlook, Wilson said US business was up 1% if the impact of losing its partnership


growth of 2.4%, according to Amadeus. Distribution revenue was up by 6.3% to €2.2 billion. Low-cost carrier bookings grew


by 15.8% in the third quarter of the year, which saw easyJet renewing a long-term distribution deal with the company. President and chief executive Luis Maroto said: “Our strong financial performance is the result of organic growth in our core businesses and the contribution of last year’s acquisitions. “Our distribution business continues to grow faster than the industry. We have successfully renewed or signed content agreements with 17 airlines in


WILSON: ‘We are not that bullish about Q4 in the US’


with OTA Orbitz, after its sale to Expedia, is stripped out of the figures. However, Travelport said it was seeing encouraging signs of growth in emerging markets in Asia such as Japan, Indonesia and South Korea. Asia and Pacific business is closing in on the US, Travelport’s second-largest market, and growing at 10% per annum. Travelport also reported sustained growth in its non-air business, in particular through payments firm eNett, which saw quarterly revenue grow 60% to $42 million.


MAROTO: ‘Strong performance is due to organic growth’


the quarter, including easyJet. “We are confident that Amadeus


will deliver another strong final quarter to end 2016.”


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