European tour operator TUI Group is reconsidering its options insofar as the establishment of a new leisure carrier is concerned Bloomberg has reported quoted people familiar with the situation.
TUI Group last month ended talks with Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) to form a new airline which would have been based around TUI fly (Germany) (X3, Hannover) and Austrian carrier Niki (Austria) (Vienna). Under the plan, Etihad would have owned 25% of the new airline, TUI 24.8%, and Austria's NIKI Privatstiftung foundation holding the remaining 50.2%. The carrier project was to have come online in time for the start of the 2017 Summer Season but was repeatedly delayed by regulatory concerns.
As such, Bloomberg says TUI's renewed interest in the project could see it take a majority stake, or even full ownership, of the proposed leisure airline. However, the firm's unwillingness to add capacity to its German operations is an obstacle to a final deal, the sources said.
Had the original version of the carrier gone ahead, it would have allowed Etihad unit Air Berlin (1991) (Berlin Tegel) to dispose of its Niki operations while allowing TUI to revive loss-making TUIfly.
As it stands, TUI told the news service that it is focussing on improving its cost efficiencies after reducing aircraft procurement costs and maintenance and ground operating expenses.
