On Monday, June 3, 2024, FTI Touristik GmbH, the parent company of the FTI Group, filed an application with the Munich District Court to open insolvency proceedings for insolvency and over-indebtedness. On the same day, the court granted the request and appointed the restructuring expert and lawyer Axel Bierbach of the law firm Müller-Heydenreich Bierbach & Kollegen (Munich) as provisional insolvency manager. Since Monday afternoon, Bierbach and his team have formed an initial picture of the current situation at the company. Discussions with management and key stakeholders are ongoing. In cooperation with the German Travel Security Fund (DRSF), which also already has a team on the ground in Munich, FTI is now working with Bierbach and his team to find solutions as quickly as possible for all FTI Touristik GmbH customers affected by the insolvency. The German Travel Security Fund is responsible for the protection of consumers who have booked a package holiday or a trip with associated services with FTI Touristik GmbH and have been affected by the insolvency. “FTI, the DRSF and I understand how difficult and emotionally stressful the situation is for the affected holidaymakers and together we are doing everything we can to find quick and good solutions for the customers to avoid as much damage as possible,” said the provisional insolvency manager Axel Bierbach on Wednesday. The highest priority is given to the approximately 60,000 holidaymakers currently travelling in the destinations. “We are doing everything we can to ensure that travelers can complete their vacations and return home safely and on schedule,” he said. Until now, this process has been highly structured and largely organized. In order to be able to resolve any issues on site, the company’s contact persons are available for FTI customers; FTI has set up a hotline for customer enquiries. According to the provisional insolvency manager, the trips of FTI customers who wanted to leave 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 through FTI Touristik GmbH up to and including Monday, June 10, 2024. Solutions are currently being sought for travel 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 by other travel providers from the earliest possible date,” Bierbach said. Customers will be informed by FTI as soon as possible about whether and how this can actually be achieved. According to the provisional insolvency manager, discussions are already underway with other providers. “We hope to find a solution for the trips from July 1 at the latest,” Bierbach said. Bierbach confirmed that all customer payments for package holidays booked through FTI Touristik GmbH are insured by the DRSF. The DRSF takes over payments for services not provided, so that package holiday customers do not have to fear losing money due to the insolvency of FTI Touristik GmbH. The DRSF will also reimburse any advance payments made by package holiday customers if it is not possible to carry out these trips. The share of package holidays at FTI is more than 90 percent. It has already been established that no new holidays can be booked with FTI with immediate effect. The booking portals in question have already been disabled on Monday, Bierbach confirmed. The business activities will therefore only be continued to a limited extent. However, FTI employees do their utmost to handle all pending matters as quickly and efficiently as possible. The specially expanded call center has capabilities that are being built up even further. Bierbach has now organised initial meetings with employees and the works council at the group’s headquarters in Munich. He will soon inform the employees about the current situation and the next planned steps. The wages and salaries of approximately 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. The provisional insolvency manager will now examine all options as to whether and in what form there are continuation possibilities and will also explore options for the sale of business units in Germany and abroad.
