BUSINESS NEWS
Jet2 signs deal with activities specialist Tui Musement
Jet2 has agreed a partnership deal with Tui Group’s tours and activities platform Musement, meaning the UK’s three largest tour operators and top-four Atol holders now offer Tui Musement activities in destinations. Musement partnered with
easyJet in January 2024 and loveholidays in April 2024, and also with Travel Counsellors last year. Jet2 announced Musement
offers would be rolled out “initially” to customers with direct bookings with
Jet2.com and Jet2holidays and to those booked via an agent “at a later date”. It said the deal would offer agency partners “a diverse portfolio of thousands of experiences to offer
customers”, with “comprehensive inventory covering all beach and city destinations”. Jet2 noted all the activities and attractions offered “meet stringent requirements related to product quality”. Chief executive Steve Heapy
said: “Once live for our travel agency partners, this partnership will mean they can offer a best-in-class choice of things to do, enhancing the Jet2holidays experience.” Tui Musement chief executive
Peter Ulwahn hailed the deal as “an important strategic agreement for Jet2 and Musement.” Tui acquired Italian-based platform Musement in 2018.
‘Strategic agreement’: Jet2 and Musement
Tui upbeat despite 4% dip in UK booked revenue for this summer
Tui hailed the start to its current financial year as the “best in its history” in results for the three months to December on Tuesday. The group reported “robust
demand”, a net profit of €3 million and operating profit of €300 million for the typically loss-making season despite revenue unchanged on last year at €4.9 billion. Tui reported booked revenue
for its tour operator and airline division down 1% year on year for this winter and 2% down for the coming summer but described this as “within our planned risk capacity”, noting both “higher
average prices” and “a trend toward later bookings”. The group described winter
booked revenue in the UK as “stable” year on year but reported revenue in Germany as 1% down. However, the summer 2026 position in the two markets is reversed to date, with UK booked revenue
down 4% year on year but revenue in Germany up 2%. Tui highlighted increase sales
via its app, which accounted for 11% of total sales and almost 23% in the UK in the quarter. However, chief executive Sebastian Ebel (pictured) said: “Travel agencies remain important partners.”
Airports ‘face investment shortfall’ Ian Taylor
European airports association ACI Europe has forecast a slowdown in growth in air traffic this year as travel demand “normalises” post-Covid, with passenger numbers in Europe predicted to rise 3.3% on last year following a 4.4% rise in 2025. But the association warned
EU and UK airports “face massive investment needs” if they are to handle the expected passenger numbers, “strengthen resilience and deliver on climate and sustainability objectives”. An ACI Europe report on
the financial viability of Europe’s airports, based on research by the Boston Consulting Group and published last week, suggests Europe’s airports need investment totalling €360 billion by 2040.
travelweekly.co.uk ACI Europe director general
Olivier Jankovec hailed “a new record” of 2.6 billion European air passengers in 2025, 100 million more than in 2024 despite “lacklustre economies, inflated airfares [and] significant supply and capacity pressures”, and described growth of 6.1% in the final quarter of last year as “a positive signal for 2026”. However, he warned: “Capacity
on the ground and in the air will remain a bottleneck. We’re especially concerned [about] the full rollout of the [EU] Schengen Entry/Exit System from April.” The ACI Europe report, entitled
‘Decoupling Financial Viability from Volume Growth’, notes: “Structural changes in the aviation market and its economics, including slower traffic growth, are putting airports’
financial viability under severe strain . . . creating unprecedented downward pressures on revenues and upward pressures on costs.” It concludes airports “will simply be unable to generate sufficient capital to finance their investment needs”. ACI Europe president Stefan
Schulte, chief executive of Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport, said: “Europe’s airports’ financial viability can no longer rely on the assumption of dynamic traffic growth.” He argued investment would
only come through “growing unit revenue from airport charges and non-aeronautical [retail] activities, along with efficiency gains”, a fact that “national regulators need to wake up to”. Schulte called for “stability
and predictability” in EU and UK rules on airport charges along with
Heathrow
urgent revision of airport slot rules in the EU and UK, aid for smaller regional airports and “regulatory support, rather than regulatory hindrance, for the deployment of biometrics and security”.
12 FEBRUARY 2026 47
PICTURES: Shutterstock/Matthew Ashmore, AV8 Photos, Russ Heinl
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