Lufthansa has given confirmation that they are in discussions with Thomas Cook and TUI Travel on a potential merger between the 3 companies’ carriers. If the merger is successful, it will bring Condor (owned by Thomas Cook), Germanwings (owned by Lufthansa), and TUIfly (owned by TUI Travel) together, in which Lufthansa will have a hold of 25%, creating an airline to rival Ryanair, easyJet, and Air Berlin. Thomas Cook and TUI Travel have issued identical statements that confirm the discussions on Thursday, noting that they have not yet made any commercial terms to the deal, and there is no certainty that the transaction will be completed. Any merger will require that they get approval from the German cartel office, as well as the other European competition authorities.

TUI Travel operates their carrier under the brand of TUIfly throughout Europe, for the exception of the United Kingdom, where they fly as Thomsonfly. If the merger is completed, then Thomsonfly nor Thomas Cook Airlines will be included, since the merger will be confined only to Germany. Discussions began following Thomas Cook’s call off of a deal to merge Condor, their airline for Germany, with Air Berlin. There have been speculations in Germany since then that Thomas Cook will join in with the discussions that are in progress already between Lufthansa and TUIfly. Germanwings is the budget carrier arm of Eurowings, a regional carrier of Lufthansa. There aren’t any suggestions that Eurowings will be included in any part of the agreement.

Go to www.lufthansa.com, www.thomascook.com, or www.tuitravelplc.com to find out more.