TUI Travel, which is majority owned by package tourism group Tui AG, hopes to merge its Tuifly unit with Lufthansa's Germanwings discount airline and Thomas Cook's Condor.
"However, no commercial terms have been agreed. There is no certainty that any transaction will result," TUI Travel said.
The announcement follows days of press speculation and marks a blow for Air Berlin, which abandoned an approach for Thomas Cook's Condor airlines last month. The talks are also part of a broader consolidation in Europe as high fuel prices and declining sales slam bottom lines. See full story on
TheDeal.com for more on that consolidation. --
Andrew Bulkeley
