FTI’s commissions for cancelled trips, which have already been paid to travel agencies, are currently of concern to many travel experts as there is great uncertainty as to whether the insolvency administrator can claim them after the insolvency proceedings have started.
The expert opinion by Ansgar Staudinger, a law professor at the University of Bielefeld, commissioned by the German Tour Operators Association (DRV) and due to be delivered this week, could provide an answer.
Mr Staudinger did not want to give an estimate before publication. However, there is much to suggest that the commissions may remain with the travel agencies, as explained by legal experts, including lawyer Roosbeh Karimi, from the law firm Karimi Legal in Berlin, and Hans-Josef Vogel, from the law firm Advant Beiten in Düsseldorf.
Moreover, the approach of Thomas Cook’s insolvency administrator gives every reason for hope, as he did not demand any commission back, even though the travel agencies with individual agency contracts had already received their fees after the client’s advance payment.
The insolvency of FTI Touristik affects numerous markets
The fate of the German tourism group FTI Touristik and its customers remains unknown after it was placed in insolvency at the beginning of June.
Germany’s third largest tour operator, FTI, filed for insolvency on 3 June after a refinancing agreement collapsed.
It went bankrupt, leaving at least 65,000 German customers abroad and with 175,000 pre-bookings of package holidays, in addition to several thousand in France, Austria and Switzerland, as well as bookings through FTI’s British accommodation provider, YouTravel.
Rival tour operators, such as TUI and Dertour, helped overseas travellers to continue their trips and return home, although the German Travel Safety Fund (DRSF) reported that some hotels barred FTI customers from their rooms or demanded payment of money.
The interim insolvency administrator, Axel Bierbach, was criticised for initially cancelling FTI bookings only until 10 June and then extending the cancellations until 5 July as he tried to persuade competitors to take over the bookings. Tour operators were reluctant to do so, fearing that suppliers would not honour the bookings.
Mr Bierbach has since cancelled all FTI Touristik bookings from 6 July – although in the UK YouTravel has only cancelled bookings up to 26 July, noting that bookings from 27 July “remain active”.
Mr Bierbach has estimated the value of the outstanding reservations at “high, triple-digit millions of euros”.
Swiss operators FTI Touristik and Big Xtra Touristik have filed for bankruptcy with 13,000 bookings and a buyer is being sought for French tour operator FTI Voyages, which had a turnover of €200 million and is in receivership in France.
FTI’s hotel management subsidiary – which includes Labranda Hotels & Resorts, Design Plus Hotels, Kairaba Hotels & Resorts, Lemon & Soul Hotels and MP Hotels – and the holding company for the destination agencies have filed for bankruptcy.
The hotels are mostly leased or managed and their operations “remain unaffected” according to the manager.
FTI was the German market leader in Turkey and Egypt and had a group turnover of €3.2 billion. However, there does not appear to be much prospect of finding a buyer for the group and only some of its 120 subsidiaries are considered attractive to new owners.
