Alternative solutions that will allow travel based on FTI’s bookings after 10 June through other tour operators are being considered by insolvency administrator Axel Bierbach.
According to the company’s announcement, “…all trips with departure dates up to Monday, June 10, 2024, will be cancelled by FTI, while the remaining package holiday bookings will be made by other providers. New gateway travel bookings are no longer possible, as business operations continue with restrictions. The main guarantee is that the wages and salaries of the 843 employees of FTI Touristik GmbH will be secured up to the end of August through insolvency benefits.”
On Monday, 3 June 2024, FTI Touristik GmbH, the parent company of the FTI Group, filed an application with the Munich Local Court to open insolvency proceedings due to
insolvency and over-indebtedness. The local court granted the application on the same day and appointed the restructuring expert and lawyer Axel Bierbach from the law firm Müller-Heydenreich Bierbach & Kollegen (Munich) as provisional insolvency administrator. Bierbach and his team have been gaining an initial overview of the current situation at the company since Monday afternoon.Discussions with the management and key stakeholders are ongoing.
In co-operation with the German Travel Security Fund (DRSF), which also already has a team on site in Munich, FTI is now working with Bierbach and his team to find the quickest possible solutions for all FTI Touristik GmbH customers affected by the insolvency. The German Travel Security Fund is mandated to protect consumers who have booked a package holiday or trip with associated travel services with FTI Touristik GmbH and are affected by the insolvency.
“FTI, the DRSF and I know what a difficult and emotionally stressful situation the holidaymakers affected are now in and together we are doing everything we can to find quick and good solutions for the customers in order to avert as much damage as possible”, said the provisional insolvency administrator Axel Bierbach on Wednesday. Top priority would be given to the approximately 60,000 holidaymakers who are currently travelling to the destinations. “We are making every effort to ensure that travellers can complete their holiday and return home safely and on schedule”, he said. So far, this process has been very structured and largely organised. In order to be able to solve any problems on site, contact persons from the company are available for FTI customers; FTI has set up a hotline for customer enquiries.
According to the provisional insolvency administrator, the trips of those FTI customers who wanted to start their journey in the coming days will have to be cancelled, as a smooth travel process in the destination countries cannot be guaranteed. According to Bierbach, this applies to all trips booked via FTI Touristik GmbH up to and including Monday, 10 June 2024.
Solutions are currently being sought for trips after this date in order to be able to carry out the trips in an orderly manner. “We are working at full speed to explore all possibilities to have the booked trips carried out as planned by other travel providers from the earliest possible date”, said Bierbach. Customers will be informed by FTI as soon as possible as to whether and how this can actually work. According to the provisional insolvency administrator, talks are already underway with other providers. “We hope to find a solution for travel from 1 July at the latest”, said Bierbach.
Bierbach confirmed that all customer payments for package holidays booked via FTI Touristik GmbH are secured by the DRSF. The DRSF will take over payments made for services not rendered, so that package holiday customers do not have to fear that they will lose money due to the insolvency of FTI Touristik GmbH. The DRSF will also refund any advance payments made by package holiday customers if it is not possible to carry out these trips. The proportion of package tour bookings at FTI is more than 90 per cent.
It is already certain that new holidays can no longer be booked with FTI with immediate effect. The corresponding booking portals were already switched off on Monday, Bierbach confirmed. Business operations will therefore only continue to a limited extent. However, FTI employees are endeavouring to deal with all current issues as quickly and efficiently as possible. The specially expanded call centre has capacities that are still being built up further.
Bierbach has now organised initial talks with employees and the works council at the Group headquarters in Munich. He will inform the employees shortly about the current situation and the next planned steps. The wages and salaries of around 843 employees have been paid until the end of May 2024. Employees are covered by insolvency benefits for the period from June to August 2024 inclusive.
The provisional insolvency administrator will now examine all options as to whether and in what form continuation options exist for the insolvent company and will also explore possibilities for the sale of business divisions in Germany and abroad.
