Shares at Thomas Cook have slipped 19% to a three-year low, after the travel company revealed summer bookings had fallen 5% compared to last year.

The tour operator said it was seeing a “sharp decline in demand” as a result of the Brussels terror attacks and holidaymakers were delaying travel plans to popular destinations such as Turkey and Egypt amid safety fears.
“The attack at Brussels airport in March has significantly impacted our Belgian business, due to operational disruption to our flying programme, a high level of cancellations and a significant drop in customer demand,” Thomas Cook said.

Chief executive Peter Fankhauser said: “As we look ahead to our busiest period, Thomas Cook is trading well to destinations other than Turkey, with particularly strong bookings to Spain and the USA.”