TUI AG to restructure Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten unit after its deep interim losses
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- Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen
- Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines
- Published: 15 May 2013 15 May 2013
The cruise operations of TUI AG, the German travel group that owns Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten in full and which has a 50% stake in TUI Cruises, have reported a deep operating loss, mainly due to weak performance of Hapag-Lloyd, which will face restructuring while TUI Cruises performed well, the parent company said in a statement.
In three months to 31 March, TUI’s cruisr operations generated a revenue of €69.1 million an increase from €62.2 million in the same period a year earlier. Operating result (EBITA) showed a loss of €48.8 million, a marked deterioration from a profit of €2.5 million in the same period last year.
In the six months to the end of March, i.e. the first half of the company’s financial year, revenues rose to €120.6 million from €102.3 million, but EBITA deteriorated to negative by €60.0 million from a figure negative by €5.7 million a yrar earlier.
“In the period under review, Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten had to carry an adjustment of €49.0m. As current trading fell short of the planned levels, above all for Europa 2, the resulting occupancy risks caused charter shortfalls, which led to the formation of a provision for pending losses from onerous contracts,’ TUI sad in a statement.
In the first half of 2012-13, occupancy of the fleet operated by Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten declined by 7.2 percentage points versus the prior year to 69.6%. In the period under review, 176,194 passenger days were generated, up 13.2% year-on-year.
“The development of these indicators was impacted by the operation of Columbus 2 in the period under review, while the substantially smaller Columbus had still been operated one year earlier. Due to the renewal of the fleet, passenger days rose in the period under review, while occupancy declined due to the capacity increase associated with Columbus 2. The average rate per passenger per day benefited from the fleet renewal, growing by around 7.2% to €417,” TUI said
By contrast, TUI Cruises that operated two ships in the first half of the 2012-13 financial year performed well, as in the prior year. “At 698,636 passenger days, capacity was flat on the prior year. At 100.1%, occupancy continued on the successful development of the prior year. Both ships contributed to this high load factor with the respective winter trade lanes Caribbean and Arabian Gulf. The average rate per passenger per day was €135, up 3.8% year-on-year,” TUI said.
In the Cruises Sector, TUI Cruises will continue the planned growth path and focus even more strongly on generating its cash flow contribution to TUI AG. “A restructuring programme has been launched for Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten. The planned measures include reductions in material and staff costs. Fleet occupancy is to be improved in the short term by means of ad-ditional marketing measures. In addition, a potential adjustment of the fleet structure will be examined,” the company said.
RCCL to revitalise Voyager of the Seas before 2014-15 Australasia deployment
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- Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen
- Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines
- Published: 14 May 2013 14 May 2013
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL), the world’s second largest cruise shipping company, says that the 1999 built Voyager of the Seas will undergo a multi-million dollar refurbishment before starting its 2014-15 cruise season in Australasia.
The shipyard which will carry out the work has not been disclosed. However, RCCL has signed an agreement with the Sembawang shipyard in Singapore, which makes it a strategic partner for RCCL in refurbishment and repair work in the Far East.
RCCL commercial director Adam Armstrong said:“We began with the revitalisations of Radiance of the Seas and Rhapsody of the Seas in 2011-12, and now we’ve come full circle as Voyager of the Seas will undergo a bow-to-stern refurbishment to offer even more amazing features.”
The company will announce more details later this year, but Armstrong hinted the revitalisation will see Voyager of the Seas fitted with many of the features found on the cruise line’s newest Oasis Class ships, it said in royalcaribbeanblog.com
Radiance and Rhapsody will arrive in Sydney in October 2014 for the season’s start with Voyager to join them in December 2014. The programme features 55 cruises from two to 18 nights in length, calling at 37 ports across Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific before the season’s end in April 2015.
High airfares force Carnival Cruise Lines out of Europe 2014
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- Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen
- Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines
- Published: 10 May 2013 10 May 2013
Carnival Cruise Lines is to send a letter to the UK trade today telling them it will have no ships in Europe next year, Travel Weekly reports in a news alert emailed to Cruise Business in the UK.
Carnival Cruise Lines, which has the 86,000 gross ton Carnival Legend based in Dover and the 102,000 gross ton Carnival Sunshine operating from Barcelona and Venice this year, said it did not think Americans, who make up the vast majority of its passengers, would pay increased airfares to cross the Atlantic.
Itineraries for 2014 have yet to be announced, but UK director Adolfo Perez said agents may be expecting Carnival to have European sailings next year. He stressed the deployment did not mean any scaling back of the UK office and said he was very hopeful that Carnival would bring a ship back in Europe for the 2015 season.
Carnival Legend will reposition to Australia this autumn, where it will become the second ship of the company to cater for the local market.
"The important thing is that our sales team is staying exactly the same size. In fact, we're even recruiting someone right now to replace one of the team that has just left to move overseas. The trade has really supported us and sales have grown significantly from this market and so we will remain as committed as ever with the same great commissions and marketing support."
"We are really hopeful of getting a ship back in Europe in 2015 and you can't just pull out for a year and then expect to just come back again when we need the trade, so it will be business as usual with us really engaged with the trade. Unfortunately, we just don't think the airfares for Americans will be affordable."
The letter to agents said: “Given the current market conditions, increasing air fares, and the fact that most of our guests are from the US, we have decided to not deploy a Carnival ship to Europe in 2014. This was a difficult decision for us, as we realise our guests truly love sailing with Carnival in Europe, largely because we provide great holidays at great value for money. We are hopeful we will return in the future.”
“Carnival continues to be committed to the UK and Irish markets. Whilst we have relied on you all for our European deployment in 2013, you continue to bring guests to Carnival in the Caribbean… and they love it. In fact, the majority of our UK customers choose a cruising holiday that departs from North America. After all, we are the cruise industry leader in year-round Caribbean cruise holidays including departures from all of the major Florida ports and we are the only cruise line to offer year-round departures from Barbados, a true British favourite.”
Following last year’s decision to split the UK-based team overseeing the line from fellow Carnival Corporation operator Holland America Line, it has had a dedicated sales and marketing team under Perez based in London.
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