Online travel agency group Tripsta has suspended operations in the wake of a failed new business plan that is being blamed on "certain partners".
The company operates the Airtickets, TravelPlanet24 and Tripsta brands, focusing on the Southern European markets but with websites available in dozens of countries.
Subscribe to our newsletter below
A statement this week says it suspending the issue of all airline tickets as it looks to significantly restructure operations over the course of the following months.
There is no indication as to when the group will be fully operational again.
Problems emerged recently when it was forced to come to what it called "an innovative agreement" with IATA for the repayment of debts - a mechanism that it says was "favourable for all parties involved".
This came about due to "aggressive behavior" from partners and Global Distribution Systems, in particular Travelport, something that it claims was "unjust and unfair".
It is understood that the group had embarked, over the course of the last year, on a heavy discounting strategy for selling air fares.
It is unknown how much it owed airlines as part of the IATA agreement.
Legal eagles and switch to meta
No specifics have been shared in the statement nor would a company official disclose any further details about the financial issues or problems it cites with partners.
An official tells PhocusWire: "We are exploring all our options and remain hopeful that we will find an appropriate solution that will allow us to end the temporary suspension in a timely manner."
The recently installed strategy was undermined, the company claims, again due to a "massive liquidity problem" created by those partners.
Legal action is being considered, Tripsta says.
A Travelport official says: "As per company policy, Travelport is unable to publicly share any details relating to its individual agreements with subscribers.
"What we can say, however, is that we firmly deny any wrongdoing in our dealings with Tripsta and will vigorously defend ourselves in the event that any legal proceedings are initiated."
In the short term, Airtickets is morphing into a metasearch engine and TravelPlanet24 will focus solely on selling ferry tickets.
An official says: "Despite the adverse conditions [in the Greek economy], our company was able to withstand it and continue to grow thank to the trust and loyalty of our customers who we will continue to serve with respect.
"We shouldn’t fail to mention that we are expecting our yearly segment clearance payment from Amadeus, the global distribution system which we are cooperating with.
"It goes without saying that such funds will be used to honor our obligations to our customers and airlines."
Tripsta was born in Greece in 2005, originally under the name TravelPlanet24.
It later rebranded to Tripsta and bought Airtickets in 2015. It currently has 300 employees in offices in the Greek capital Athens and Bucharest, in Romania.