As already mentioned in our forum two days ago, Spanish tour operator Wamos is taking over 62 of the 91 Belgian Thomas Cook shops all over the country and 195 employees (including 25 in the main office) out of 500. The shops will reopen on 21 October under the Neckermann brand.
The Wamos group operates from Madrid and includes the airline Wamos Air, the tour operator Wamos Tours and the travel organisation Wamos Circuitos, which offers trips to 20 countries in Latin America. Tourist retailers Nautalia Viajes, Top Atlántico and Geo Star are also part of the group. To this will now be added the 62 Belgian Neckermann agencies.
In Belgium, they will sell packages and tickets of Corendon, Pegase, Club Med, Expedia and MisterFly.
Brussels Airlines is looking at this takeover with great interest. Although it is too early to know the consequences with the possibility to restart some of the flights cancelled by the airline as a result of the Thomas Cook bankruptcy, the company says it is “open to partnerships“.
The issue is important for Brussels Airlines because it transported a majority of Thomas Cook’s former passengers to their destination, i.e. 800,000 seats a year.
It is not yet known if Wamos will contact Brussels Airlines. There have not been any contacts between the two parties on Friday night.
Brussels Airlines recalls that it remains active in the leisure market. “We continue to serve Belgian holidaymakers and are open to partnerships,” the company says.
The airline did not wait for the latest developments in recent weeks to replace the lost passengers. An agreement has been reached with Sunweb to expand the existing collaboration. This will partly offset the losses associated with the Thomas Cook demise.
