While companies such as Easyjet, Etihad and Eurowings are increasingly getting into the touristic business under their own brands and starting to sell travel packages, this situation causes the tourism sector to question why package tours have suddenly become so attractive.
Etihad Airways, which has recently joined this trend, has become a tour operator, while Easyjet Holidays has entered the German market after the UK. Ryanair is cooperating with major tour operators such as TUI and Weloveholidays. With the increase in these news, it is clear that airline companies want to sell not only flights but also package tours. Industry experts state that this trend is actually not new, reminding that Air Berlin, which went bankrupt in 2017, successfully entered the package tour business with Air Berlin Holidays.
Pointing out that the balance sheets of Jet2, the UK's budget airline company, show that there is great potential in this field, experts state that Jet2 Holidays has reached 5.3 million passengers in 2022-23, while serving 1 million passengers in 2014, making Jet2 Holidays the largest tour operator in the country, leaving TUI UK, Weloveholidays and Booking behind. However, noting that tour operators provide higher profitability for airline companies, experts point out that the profit margin on regular flights is between 4-6 per cent, while this rate is much higher on package tours, and that marketing costs may also decrease with the increasing preference of package tours.
A similar trend is observed in the German market. Jet2Holidays currently operates only in the UK, while Easyjet Holidays organises flights from Berlin, Hamburg and Munich to 47 destinations and 3,000 hotels. Eurowings plans to enter the tour operator business in Germany through Eurowings Holidays and aims to be one of the top ten tour operators in Germany by 2026.
Emphasising that the tour operator business provides airline companies with flexibility in capacity utilisation and higher profitability, tourism industry experts noted that for this reason, many airlines are turning to this field and more growth and competition is expected in the future.
