An estimated 10,000 Swiss affected by FTI bankruptcy
Published: Wednesday, Jun 5th 2024, 16:20
Updated At: Wednesday, Jun 5th 2024, 17:10
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Around 10,000 customers in Switzerland have been affected by the bankruptcy of FTI, Europe's third-largest travel group. This is estimated by the President of the Swiss Travel Association (SRV), Martin Wittwer, in an interview with the news agency AWP.
In Switzerland, however, customers who had booked with a travel agency would have security. This is because the Swiss travel industry's guarantee fund protects customers' money. "No one who has booked with a travel agency will be harmed," said Wittwer. Travel agencies are also looking for solutions for people whose FTI trips have now been canceled.
"That's the added value compared to online bookings. Those affected are now stuck in a queue somewhere," said Wittwer.
In some cases, they may have to make additional payments at the destination for the trip they have already paid for. Those affected have reported to several media outlets that hoteliers, for example, have demanded more money.
However, the travel industry guarantee fund is not yet able to take action in Switzerland. "We will only be able to take action once the Swiss subsidiary FTI Touristik AG, based in Allschwil, has been declared bankrupt," Guarantee Fund Managing Director Marco Amos told AWP. Therefore, Swiss customers affected by travel annulations should first contact FTI Touristik AG and demand their money back.
German parent company insolvent
The situation is different in Germany, where FTI Touristik GmbH, the parent company of the FTI Group, filed for insolvency at Munich Local Court on Monday. However, the company announced that corresponding applications would subsequently also be filed for other Group companies.
This means that customers who had booked their package tours with FTI Touristik GmbH are protected by the German Travel Security Fund (DRSF), the provisional insolvency administrator Axel Bierbach told the news agency DPA.
Insolvency administrator Bierbach is currently working at full speed to find solutions for affected customers and employees. The top priority is to support the approximately 60,000 customers who are currently traveling with FTI, Bierbach said.
So far, this process has been very structured and largely orderly. Contact persons from the company are available to FTI customers on site in the event of any problems. FTI has set up a hotline for customer inquiries.
Do not travel in June
According to Bierbach, the trips of FTI customers who wanted to depart in the coming days must be canceled, as a smooth process in the destination countries cannot be guaranteed. This applies to all trips booked via FTI Touristik GmbH up to and including Monday, June 10.
Solutions are currently being sought for trips after this date. "We are exploring all options at full speed to have the booked trips carried out by other travel providers as planned from the earliest possible date," said Bierbach. According to him, talks are already underway with other providers. "We hope to find a solution for trips from July 1 at the latest."
Package tour customers would therefore not have to worry about losing money as a result of the insolvency. The DRSF will also refund any advance payments made by package tour customers if it is not possible to carry out these trips. The proportion of package tour bookings at FTI is more than 90 percent.
The provisional insolvency administrator now wants to examine all options as to whether and in what form the insolvent company can continue as a going concern. Possibilities for the sale of business divisions in Germany and abroad are also under discussion.
Sawiris acquires 75 percent stake
The tour operator's bankruptcy is also likely to affect Egyptian real estate and hotel investor Samih Sawiris, who acquired a 75.1% stake in the parent company FTI Finanzholding GmbH in 2020. He joined the FTI Group in October 2014 and held a 33.66% stake in the tourism company until then. However, it is unclear whether Sawiris still holds a stake in the travel group.
A month ago, a consortium led by the US financial investor Certares wanted to take over the FTI Group for one euro and inject 125 million euros of fresh capital into the company. The competition authorities still had to approve the deal.
According to the information provided, however, booking figures have recently fallen well short of expectations. "In addition, numerous suppliers insisted on advance payment. As a result, there was an increased need for liquidity, which could no longer be bridged until the closing of the investor process," FTI announced on Monday.
According to the German newspaper "Handelsblatt", FTI is said to have had a short-term shortfall in cover in the double-digit millions. The German government rejected new state aid for the travel group.
©Keystone/SDA
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