eDreams's booking numbers 30% above pre-pandemic levels in February

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish online travel group eDreams ODIGEO said on Friday the number of bookings via its platforms in February were 30% above pre-pandemic levels as its business recovers faster than the rest of the travel industry.

"eDreams ODIGEO is still surpassing the market and competitors, thanks to its position of leadership in the sector and its innovation capacity," its CEO Dana Dunne said in a statement.

The company said bookings during the October-December period were 26% above pre-pandemic levels, which helped narrow its net loss during the period, the third quarter of its fiscal year, to 17.4 million euros ($19.50 million) from 24.4 million euros a year earlier.

The company said it was recovering faster from the COVID-induced crisis than the rest of the air travel industry thanks to its subscription model.

The company had 2.4 million subscribers, up from 1.5 million at the end of August, and expects to reach 7.25 million paying members in 2025. The company's original target was to sign up 2 million subscribers in the first half 2022.

While subscriptions are common in other industries, such as music, television and telecoms, eDreams is a pioneer in developing it for the travel industry.

($1 = 0.8922 euros)

(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Editing by Mark Potter)