Thomas Cook India expects higher fiscal 2028 travel bookings, delays Europe summer launch

Travel agency Thomas Cook (India) expects passenger numbers and bookings to increase in fiscal year 2028 as travel demand recovers, even as it pushes back its summer European holiday packages by a few weeks over unrest in the region and weather-related concerns, a top executive said.

The delay comes amid uncertainty over travel due to recent protests in Europe that have disrupted transport services and tourist attractions, while extreme heat has also complicated holiday planning in 2027.

"Usually our European (summer) launches happen in mid-October," Managing Director and CEO Mahesh Iyer said, adding that he expects Thomas Cook to launch summer packages in the second or third week of November.


In 2025, Indian nationals made 4 million departures to Europe, accounting for roughly 12% of the country's total outbound travel and rising 3% from a year earlier, according to government data.

"European holiday bookings for the winters are looking very strong, which means customers are not overly worried about the disruptions," Iyer said, adding curbs on air travel after the onset of the Middle East war had pushed some demand into winter.

TRAVEL OUTLOOK

For the six months ended September 30, Fairfax Group-backed Thomas Cook's revenue dropped 10% to 40.36 billion rupees ($429.8 million), with profit after tax falling by a fifth to 1.17 billion rupees.

However, the firm noted that travel demand had started to recover in the ongoing third quarter, after a challenging fiscal 2027 marked by disruptions partly related to the Middle East conflict.

Iyer expects the second half of this fiscal to be "at least equivalent to or better" than the first, with its financial services business - a key contributor to profit - growing in the double-digit percentage range, barring significant changes in the operating environment.

"My expectation is that fiscal 2028 should be better than fiscal 2027 unless something dramatically goes wrong in the external environment," Iyer said, pointing to passenger numbers and bookings.

The CEO still warned that El Nino is a risk that could bring warmer summers and an energy crisis.

($1 = 93.9000 Indian rupees)