Flight Centre buys travel agency

Flight Centre buys travel agency

Flight Centre has expanded into continental Europe with the acquisition of a Dutch corporate travel agency.

The Australian travel group has bought the Business Travel Development agency in the Netherlands to expand its presence to 14 countries.

It did not specify the value of the deal, but said BTD had reported revenue of 10.3 million euros ($A15.21 million) for its 2015 financial year.

Flight Centre managing director Graham Turner said there was potential to extend the business to include leisure travel options in the longer term.

“Having a company-owned presence in the Netherlands strengthens our proposition for national and multi-national clients and gives us a platform for further growth in the country and in Europe more broadly,” he said.

The foray into continental Europe is part of the group’s global expansion plans.

Flight Centre, head-quartered in Brisbane, has an overseas network that already includes the UK, the United States, Canada, Singapore, India, China and the United Arab Emirates.

The new business will be overseen by Flight Centre’s UK arm. It marks the company’s third new country this fiscal year, following other corporate acquisitions in Mexico last July and Malaysia in November.

The BTD deal follows the company’s recent acquisitions of youth travel business Studentuniverse.com, low-cost online travel agency BYOjet.com and aircraft charter and logistics specialist Avmin.

Flight Centre shares were up 73 cents, or 1.66 per cent, at $44.58 at 1025 AEDT.

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