| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 15/05/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 1 |
| Copyright: Other |
Airtours looks to lift German presence with move on LTU
AIRTOURS chairman David Crossland has confirmed he is in talks with the SAirGroup to acquire German package-holiday operator LTU.Airtours already owns 36% of German operator FTi and Crossland said: “On the face of it, LTU is a good fit with FTi and it was inevitable that eventually we would have talks with Swissair.”
Speaking as Airtours launched its e-commerce strategy (see page 5), Crossland said that combining LTU and FTi would make it the third largest operator in Germany with a 16%-17% share of the market.
“LTU has a good consumer brand, particularly for families, and a good upmarket brand which is very well respected in the marketplace,” he added.
One of the deterrents to Airtours, however, is the size of LTU’s airline. Crossland said this was too big for the tour operator. “This is an issue and if we got as far as doing due diligence, we would have to make sure we could get the airline right.”
Meanwhile, German travel group C&NTouristic is expected to takeover Thomson Travel Group this week.
The two companies have been haggling over the deal for several weeks but are believed to be close to agreeing a price of 155p per Thomson share. C&N originally offered 130p a share and then 145p a share.