3 April 2003MADRID - Amadeus will take a 16.7 percent share in Opodo, the
pan-European online portal with sites in Germany, UK and
France.
Under the terms of the transaction, Amadeus will acquire
its shareholding in Opodo for EUR49 million (US$52.7
million). The transaction will be officially communicated
to the EU Commission following the applicable competition
rules.
For its online travel sites in the UK, Germany and
France, Opodo currently uses e-Travel Planitgo, Amadeus's
online booking engine which interfaces with the Amadeus
System for flight availability, faring, reservation and
sales.
As part of its strategy to participate actively in
online travel, Amadeus has invested in several Internet
travel companies around the globe.
David Scowsill, CEO of Opodo commented, "Europe is
beginning to follow the US in a rapid move towards online
travel purchasing.
This investment by Amadeus, a strong technology partner
and expert in the travel distribution industry, will enable
us to continue to meet the needs of our customers as we
grow our business in Europe."
Opodo is created by nine of Europe's leading airlines -
Aer Lingus, Air France, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines,
British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, KLM and Lufthansa. Opodo
launched its first site (www.opodo.de) in Germany in November
2001, its UK site (www.opodo.co.uk) in January and its
French site (www.opodo.fr) in April 2002.