As Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook’s chief executive, presented the holiday giant’s half-year results on Thursday, news began to filter through of the missing EgyptAir plane, perhaps a casualty of terrorism.
It was a tragic way to underline the pressures facing Thomas Cook and the travel industry.
Terror attacks in Tunisia, Egypt, Paris and Belgium — to name only the most obvious — give holidaymakers pause for thought before travelling.
Thomas Cook’s bookings for summer are down 5%. The company saw its shares plunge 19% after the results, at one point sinking to a three-year low of close to 70p. A minor rally on Friday did little to lift the gloom among investors. As the chart shows, the stock has been drifting down for the past