Volcanic ash, freezing weather and recession damages TUI Profits.

TUI, owners of Thomson and First Choice, announced a pre-tax loss of £36 million for the year ending September, 2010. It is currently the only travel company listed on the FTSE 100 and is the largest of its kind in Europe.

Factors blamed for the losses include expenses from the volcanic ash cloud and consumers' reluctance to travel abroad due to the UK's credit crunch. The ash cloud is reported to have directly cost TUI around £104 million - excluding one-off expenses such as these, the company made a £337 million profit.

Other reasons which contributed towards damaged profits include the World Cup and airport closures due to cold weather earlier in the year. This comes at a time when snow has gripped most of the country once again, with major airports such as Gatwick and Glasgow suffering from major disruptions. TUI are not the only company to have suffered over the last year as the global aviation industry as a whole lost around $9.9bn in 2009.

Despite new wave of icy weather, Peter Long, chief of TUI, remains confident that business will see a minimal impact, claiming in an interview with Sky News "we are very good in crises and I think we proved that very demonstrably earlier on in the year."

Peter Long is joined by Sir Michael Hodgkinson (deputy chairman) and Dr. Michael Frenzel (chairman) in heading up the company. TUI incorporates 192 brands, among the most recognizable to the public are Thomson and First Choice which were acquired in 2000 and 2007 respectively. The company was established in 1923 in Berlin and currently operates in as many as 180 countries and serves around 30m customers.

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