Europe’s largest tour operator TUI Group will spin off its German airline TUIfly into a separate company together with some operations from struggling Air Berlin after its supervisory board approved the move on Wednesday.
TUIfly will be combined with Air Berlin’s Niki unit, which Air Berlin shareholder Etihad plans to acquire from Air Berlin.
The new company will then be 24.8 percent owned by TUI, 25 percent by Etihad and the remaining 50.2 percent will be controlled by an Austrian foundation.
The new airline will be based in Vienna and have a fleet of around 60 aircraft, TUI said in a statement on Wednesday.
