European tour operator TUI warned Wednesday that its 2019-20 business year will be burdened by continuing massive costs from its fleet of grounded Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
In a forecast, TUI said costs from the flight ban for the 15 planes would sap adjusted operating profit (EBIT) by 130 million euros ($144 million) if they can return to the air by the end of April.
But if the 737 MAX remains grounded until the end of its financial year in September, further costs of between 220 and 270 million euros would result, the company added.
Neither figure includes possible compensation payments from Boeing.
The MAX has been grounded worldwide since March following a pair of deadly crashes that killed 346 people.
Last month, Boeing unveiled a new version of the aircraft including an updated flight handling system that has been singled out as a key factor in both disasters.
The mechanism, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), has been tweaked to give the pilot more control. But regulators, including the US Federal Aviation Administration, have yet to sign off on the changes.
Boeing said in November that it hopes to get the green light from regulators before the end of the year, but delayed its estimate for the resumption of commercial flights until January to allow for pilot training.
For 2018-19, TUI reported net profit attributable to shareholders of 416 million euros, down 42.8 percent on 2017-18.
On revenues of 18.9 billion euros, up 2.5 percent year-on-year, the group booked adjusted operating profits (EBITA) of 893 million euros, down 25.6 percent.
"Counting out the impact from the 737 MAX grounding, adjusted EBITA of 1.186 billion euros was stable at last year's level," the company said.
