THOMSON has given Airtours a helping hand by its reaction to the bid for First Choice, finance director Tim Byrne has claimed.
He predicted Thomson’s intention of hiking capacity and offering cheap holidays could help win the competition arguments with the European Commission. “Thomson has proved the point that this is an extremely competitive industry which is one of the obstacles to the deal going through,” said Byrne.
Airtours would not enter any price war if it meant sacrificing profit for its shareholders, he added. “That is all we are interested in. Our bid is not an attack on Thomson’s number one spot.”
Byrne confirmed that a new airline would replace Airtours International and First Choice’s charter airline Air 2000. The youth brands – Escapades and 2wentys – will also be merged with only one seat-only brand retained.
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