The chief executive of travel firm TUI has said that he is “very pleased” with his company’s trading in the summer 2014 peak season, particularly in the UK and Germany which are on target to deliver record profits. In a statement, Peter Long added that winter 2014 was also looking promising, leading the company to raise its profit expectations to at least 9% compared to its previous 7% - 10% estimate.

Mr Long added:  “Our strong trading and market performance continues to be driven by increased customer demand for unique holidays and higher conversion rates from our web platforms, driven by our digital transformation strategy.

“Our flexible and resilient business model is enabling us to deliver sustainable, profitable growth against a backdrop of more competitive trading in the commodity space and an increase in airline capacity.”