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FTI logo in Munich (archive image)
Photo: Rene Ruprecht / dpa
Europe's third largest tour operator FTI is in financial difficulties due to the Corona crisis, is now receiving state aid and is giving up a large part of its business.
As the company announced on Tuesday, it will receive 235 million euros from the Federal Ministry of Economics' rescue fund.
The business magazine "Business Insider" had previously reported on it.
The FTI group, headquartered in Munich, has so far employed 12,000 people worldwide and last year achieved a turnover of over four billion euros with eight million guests.
FTI has been 75 percent owned by the Egyptian investor Samih Sawiris since April.
In order to save the core business, FTI stopped the business operations of its online portal fly.de, the language tour operator LAL and the cruise operator FTI Cruises on October 31 and sold the cruise ship "Berlin".
FTI also closed its Berlin telephone service center touristic24 and introduced "short-time work for almost all employees".
Personnel costs have already been reduced through job cuts.
The management waives part of his salary.
Hope for the next year
"With the new loan and the package of measures we have taken behind us, we are now concentrating with all our might on the next few months," said FTI Group Managing Director Ralph Schiller.
"We already have some encouraging advance booking figures in the classic holiday destinations in the self-travel and flat-rate segment and are also anticipating a strong short-term push for the first half of 2021."
The pandemic hit the tourism business hardest.
The Tui group and Lufthansa are already supported by the state with billions in aid.
The MV Werften, which build cruise ships, are also under the state rescue package.
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dab / dpa
