European Airlines To Go On-Line

Nine European airlines today unveiled plans to move into the online travel market with the launch later this year of a new online travel service, selling flights and other travel products direct to the consumer.

The new travel service, named Opodo, has been created as an independent business as a result of a joint venture between Aer Lingus, Air France, Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, KLM and Lufthansa.

The nine airlines expect Opodo to become the market leader in European online travel - a market currently worth EUR 6.1 billion and estimated to grow to EUR 40.9 billion by 2005.



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