Attacks force 1,600 job losses at Airtours

Airtours says it has had to cut 1,600 jobs after the US terror attacks, including 200 in the UK.

But it says its "operational flexibility" means it can be back on course for next summer.

The group has posted record full-year operational profits of £147.4m, up by 57% on last year, although its reporting year ended just three weeks after the attacks.

Chief executive Tim Byrne says that it has already deliberately undercut its supply of holidays for Winter 2001, cutting back holidays by 15% when bookings are only down 8%.

"This is the key distinction between us and the scheduled carriers," he says. "We have the flexibility to cut capacity in times of weakness."

He says the company's market research indicates bookings for Summer 2002 will return to a level similar to summer 2001.

Almost half of the job cuts have been in the company's USA divisions, which returned to make a full-year profit of £2.9m this year, compared with a loss of £16.2m last year.

Mr Byrne expects these operations to be relatively protected from the effect of the attacks, as they are largely based on the US domestic market.

As widely announced before, the company is also changing its name to MyTravel. Mr Byrne says the cost of rebranding will be contained within existing refurbishment budgets.

Final dividend is 7.5p per share, giving a total dividend of 9.5p per share - an increase of 5.6%.