17:16

A TUI fly Belgium Boeing 737 airplane takes off from the airport in Palma de Mallorca. Photograph: Paul Hanna/Reuters

Tui, the travel and tourism giant, is to be kept afloat with a €1.8bn bridging loan from the German state bank.

The German government gave its approval for the emergency funding after Tui was forced to suspend all its products - holidays, tours and cruises – on 16 March, as countries around the world restricted travel until the coronavirus crisis passes.

Fritz Joussen, chief executive of Tui Group, said it was a “very healthy company”.

We were economically successful before the crisis and will be again … However, we are temporarily a company with no product and no revenue. This situation must be bridged.

In 2019, Tui posted operating profits of almost €900m – hit last year to the tune of €300m by the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max.

January 2020 was the strongest booking month in the company’s history – just before the pandemic erupted, making months of bookings redundant.