Expedia and Air Berlin Group Sign New Multi-Year Agreement
Partnership gives leisure and business travelers access to Air Berlin flights on Expedia’s global points of sale
BELLEVUE, Wash., April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE), the world’s leading online travel company, today announced it has signed a new multi-year agreement with Air Berlin Group, Germany’s second largest airline and the third largest carrier in the European leisure market. Under the agreement, all of Air Berlin’s fares, schedules and inventory will be available worldwide on Expedia®- and hotels.com®-branded points of sale, as well as through Expedia® Corporate Travel.
“As Air Berlin continues to grow the number of travelers we serve, Expedia is the ideal partner to enhance our position in the online market,” said Thorsten Scherzer, Vice President Distribution of Air Berlin Group. “We are pleased to be able to reach Expedia’s millions of travelers worldwide.”
The agreement provides Air Berlin access to Expedia’s online travel distribution expertise, marketing support, and targeted merchandising opportunities throughout Europe, Asia and North America. In turn, Expedia customers can book flights on Air Berlin and its subsidiaries LTU, FlyNiki and Belair, which will be available to leisure and business travelers globally on Expedia- and hotels.com-branded points of sale, as well as through Expedia Corporate Travel.
“Both Air Berlin and Expedia share a commitment to delivering travelers a superior level of service, and this agreement supports Expedia’s promise to offer the best selection of travel options at the best value,” said Wes Peterson, vice president, EMEA transport & tour, Expedia. “This agreement also demonstrates Expedia’s commitment to helping our airline partners meet their overall business objectives.”
About Expedia, Inc.
Expedia, Inc. is the world’s leading online travel company, empowering business and leisure travelers with the tools and information they need to easily research, plan, book and experience travel. Expedia, Inc. also provides wholesale travel to offline retail travel agents and in-destination concierge service and activity desks for travelers. The Expedia, Inc. portfolio of brands includes: Expedia.com®, hotels.com®, Hotwire®, Expedia® Corporate Travel, TripAdvisor®, Expedia Local Expert™, Classic Vacations® and eLong™. Expedia, Inc.’s companies operate more than 50 global points of sale with sites in North America, South America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Expedia, Inc. is a component of the S&P 500 index. For more information, visit http://www.expediainc.com/ (NASDAQ: EXPE).
About Expedia® Partner Services Group
Expedia® Partner Services Group (PSG) is the central point of contact for travel suppliers to access the global Expedia marketplace of leading travel brands comprising more than 50 points of sale worldwide. With hundreds of employees in local markets throughout the world, Expedia® PSG makes it easy for suppliers to meet their global distribution objectives, and delivers a portfolio of innovative connectivity solutions, rate and inventory management tools, business intelligence reports, and online marketing expertise.
About Air Berlin Group
Air Berlin is Germany’s second largest and the fourth largest airline in Europe. The airline was founded in 1978 and has been enjoying steady growth ever since. Air Berlin operates flights to major cities throughout the world, as well as to the most popular holiday destinations and also has a dense network of domestic flights between German cities. The attractive pricing and service levels appeal to the business as well as to the leisure traveller. Air Berlin has already won many awards on account of its high standard of service. Besides Air Berlin, the Air Berlin Group comprises the Austrian airline NIKi (24%), the Swiss airline Belair (49%), Munich-based airline dba (100%) and, since March 2007, also the Dusseldorf-based LTU (100%). In 2007, the Air Berlin Group carried 28 million passengers. Air Berlin currently operates 124 aircrafts and has over 8.000 employees.
Expedia and Expedia Corporate Travel are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Expedia, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Hotels.com is either a registered trademark or trademark of Hotels.com, LP, a subsidiary of Hotels.com in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other logos or product and company names mentioned herein may be the property of their respective owners.
© 2008 Expedia, Inc. All rights reserved. CST: 2029030-40
SOURCE: Expedia, Inc.
CONTACT: Katie Deines of Expedia, +1-425-679-4317, press@expedia.com; or
Claudia Loffler of Air Berlin, +0049-30-34 34 15 00, abpresse@airberlin.com</br/>
Web site: http://www.expedia.com/