Travel giant TUI Group has revealed a 10% drop in UK summer holiday bookings as customer uncertainty due to the Iran war continues to impact the travel sector. The travel operator said demand patterns have shifted noticeably in recent months, with travellers choosing western Mediterranean destinations over eastern Mediterranean locations. Customers are also increasingly booking trips much closer to departure dates rather than planning months in advance.

TUI is now reducing the number of airline seats it purchases from partner carriers by between 4% and 5% during the summer period, although its own flight programme will remain unchanged. Chief executive Sebastien Ebel has said he believes there will be no fuel shortages caused by the Iran conflict "for the next 10 weeks".

Tui Group's Chief Financial Officer, Mathias Kiep, told The Independent: "I’m very much convinced that we will see no shortage in the next 10 weeks. There’s definitely enough fuel.

"We think that the discussion on fuel is a little bit artificial as we do see no shortages for the next weeks. I would also see no impact in the summer at all except prices – and for the higher prices we are luckily hedged.

"We do see that Europe now gets more oil from other countries like Nigeria because the increased prices made the production there profitable. We see that consumption is significantly lower than a year before and refinery capacity is also up."

He added that even if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed in the long term, there will be no shortage.

The update comes after TUI confirmed in April that it had taken a €40 million (£34.7 million) hit to profits during the first three months of 2026 due to "repatriation efforts and related operational disruptions" caused by the Iran war.

The company previously repatriated about 10,000 guests and 1,500 crew members after a disruption in the Gulf region affected cruise operations and flights.

The company’s latest financial update also showed an underlying loss before interest and tax of €188 million (£163 million) for the quarter, an improvement from €207 million (£179 million) during the same period last year.

TUI added that its Markets and Airline division has seen summer 2026 booked revenue overall fall by 7% compared with last year, while hotel occupancy for the second half of the financial year has also dropped by 7%.

According to the company, the slowdown has been driven largely by the impact of the Iran war on key holiday destinations including Türkiye, Cyprus and Egypt and the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.