CUTBACKS in holiday places by tour operators has led to summer bookings being down 19 per cent, Airtours reported today.

The Helmshore based firm announced a pre-tax loss of £31 million in the six months to March 31 compared with £34 million at the same time last year.

Holiday firms traditionally report losses in the first half of the financial year as they wait for cash from bookings.

Chairman David Crossland said the fall in bookings reflected the reduction in capacity across the holiday market.

But the company said it believed it had a good future and was in an ideal position for future expansion.

"Although it is early in the season and current UK bookings are below the previous year, indications are that capacity reductions by all the major operators are having a significant effect on the market.

"This is being manifested by higher prices in the late booking market and, because the price differential is less than the previous year, a higher number of brochure sales for the period," said chairman Davis Crossland.

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