Thomas Cook Flies Again Out of the Red

German tour operator Thomas Cook closed 2004 with $30 million worth of gross benefits, thus reversing the financial woes that pounded the Frankfurt-based company for more than a year.

The yearend spreadsheets of Europe´s second-largest travel company, though, had wrapped up 2003 with a $104 million shortfall.

However, sales through the Condor and Neckerman groups ratcheted up 3.3 percent to $9.9 million, moving some 13.1 million tourists compared to 12.5 the company had catered to the year before.

TC´s payroll shrank worldwide in 2004, with 5.2 percent of its workforce getting the running papers.

Nevertheless, the German wholesaler is hoping to be fully back on track this year with sales ramping up 3 percent and bookings climbing by 4 percent, Thomas Cook´s President and CEO Wolfgang Beeser explained in a press conference held in Frankfurt.