AIRTOURS was poised to complete the purchase of long-haul operator and consolidator Jetset for approximately £1m asTravel Weekly went to press.
Jetset is owned and run by ABTA Tour Operators’ Council chairman John Bond and the dramatic news came to light on the eve of the association’s convention in Cairns, Australia.
It is unclear whether Bond’s position within ABTA will be affected but it is thought that Airtours plans to keep Bond on to continue running the company within its organisation.
Industry sources said Jetset, which carried 100,000 passengers this year, failed to achieve its targeted level of millennium bookings and was looking for a new parent company to inject cash into the operation.
Bond is rumoured to have sold for less than £1m. The financial outlay is small for Airtours, which recently failed with a £300m bid for German operator DER but nevertheless Jetset is a valuable addition and fills a gap in the company’s portfolio.
The deal will give Airtours a quality mass market long-haul operator to run alongside its premium Tradewinds brand.
Airtours UKLG chief executive Peter Rothwell, attending the ABTAconvention along with other senior managers from the business, refused to comment on the deal.
But an industry source said: “It’s not a done deal but it’s getting close. They’re still negotiating but are confident of tying up the loose ends.”
A city source added:”It’s no secret that Airtours is looking to expand and chairman DavidCrossland has stated publicly that it is considering several new deals. This purchase makes sense because it gives Airtours something extra for very little outlay.”
Bond was travelling to Australia for the convention and was unavailable for comment as Travel Weekly went to press.
Jetset is made up of several divisions, including long-haul operator Jetset Tours, UK and Ireland short break specialist Jetset Freedom Breaks, Canada specialist Vacation Canada and air consolidators Jetset Flights and ACCFlights.
The company has 160 staff based in three offices in Manchester, London and Glasgow.
Meanwhile, a deal between Airtours’ Eurosites camping division and Holidaybreak, formerly known as Eurocamp, was muted as Travel Weekly went to press.
Airtours refused to comment and Holidaybreak chief executive Richard Atkinson was unavailable for comment.