Condor Joins TUIfly, Germanwings in Merger Talks

Thomas Cook’s charter airline Condor has joined “early talks” with TUI Travel’s TUIfly Germany and Lufthansa’s Germanwings unit over a possible three-way merger, the companies said on Thursday.

They said no commercial terms had been agreed and there was no certainty of a deal. TUI Travel has been in talks with Lufthansa since the start of the year over a merger between its charter airline TUIfly and Germanwings.

Thomas Cook joined the talks after German carrier Air Berlin scrapped plans to buy Condor, sources familiar with the situation said in July. Thomas Cook said at that time it was “pursuing a range of other available options” for Condor.

Blue Oar Securities analyst Derren Nathan said on Thursday the airlines’ announcement will “come as no surprise to the market”. However, Nathan added that a three way tie-up is likely to be scrutinized closely by the German authorities and any deal is likely to be a lengthy process.