AIRTOURS is rumoured to be lining up Greek specialist Manos as its first purchase of the new millennium.
The specialist would be a profitable addition to Airtours’ portfolio of niche operators. Manos made around £500,000 in the year to October 1999 and is bonded in the UK for around £50m. It is also one of the biggest outbound operators from Greece and flies domestic routes in the country.
Greece-based owner Manos Tsatsakis has been reluctant to sell the operator in the past but may feel the time is now right as observers believe there are currently too many Greek specialists in the market.
Airtours and Manos declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Landmark Travel Channel chief executive Richard Wolfe denied rumours that the company is to sell a stake to Airtours.
Landmark recently poached Airtours head of specialist products Gary Wardrope to run its Travel Shop Direct channel, which launches on satellite television on Friday and will compete with Harry Goodman’s TVTravel Shop.