FTI Insolvency Administrator: Support for 60,000 Holidaymakers is Top Priority

Following FTI Touristik’s application with the Munich Local Court to open insolvency proceedings, top priority will be given to the approximately 60,000 holidaymakers who are currently travelling to destinations, according to lawyer Axel Bierbach.

A restructuring expert from law firm Müller-Heydenreich Bierbach & Kollegen (Munich), Bierbach has been appointed as provisional insolvency administrator.

“We are making every effort to ensure that travellers can complete their holiday and return home safely and on schedule,” he said.

The process so far 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  [+49 (0) 89 / 710 45 14 98] for customer enquiries and a website with instructions.

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, June 10.

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.

He confirmed that all customer payments for package holidays booked via FTI Touristik GmbH are secured by the DRSF (German Travel Protection Fund). 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 percent.

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.

Photo source: FTI Touristik

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.

FTI Touristik GmbH, the parent company of the FTI GROUP, was the third largest tour operator in Europe.