Germany leisure airline Eurowings, part of the Lufthansa Group, is expanding its business segment with its own branded tour operator.
Eurowings Holidays GmbH and will officially start operations on 1 April 2025.
The new tour operator is taking over the staff and tourism IT systems of media and tourism entrepreneur Karlheinz Kögel in Baden-Baden (whose businesses include the HLX Group) to rapidly scale up its launch.
In the initial phase, around 100 staff will start work for Eurowings Holidays, of which more than 50 employees will come from Binoli GmbH, a subsidiary of Kögel’s HLX Group.
Kögel also owns the market research company Media Control.
As the founder of tour operator L’Tur, Kögel successfully established last-minute travel in the market.
Since 2020, the HLX Group has also built up the Eurowings Holidays brand.
Under the umbrella of the Lufthansa Group, the new company will create a tour operator that can offer customised holidays from a single source including for more than 20 million customers who have mainly booked flights with Eurowings to date.
The company will offer flexible travel packages that include hotel accommodation and transfers in addition to flights.
The expansion to a more data-driven business model and the integration of advanced technologies are key factors for future growth.
The airline operates a base on Mallorca and offers more than 400 weekly connections between Palma and 26 different airports during the high season.
Eurowings is also the market leader in Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne and Stuttgart.
CEO Jens Bischof: “We are combining our leading position in holiday flights with excellent package tour and digital expertise. The popularity of our brand will help to establish Eurowings Holidays among the ‘top ten’ German tour operators.”
