Travelport has acquired Galileo Japan, its third party distributor in Japan,
and will establish a new, consolidated entity in the country: Travelport Japan.
Travelport — which has
been offering its products in Japan for 30 years — said it will continue to
give customers a choice of the Apollo or Worldspan platforms, and the
acquisition will allow for “much tighter alignment in terms of products and
services offered.”
“This is a tuck-in
acquisition of a business we know well and have worked with for three decades,”
Gordon Wilson, president and CEO of Travelport, said in a statement. “The
decision to transform from a distribution franchise to a wholly owned operation
is commensurate with our goals to further expand our successful business across
Asia. Japan is a major travel market and owning our operation here, whilst
continuing our other successful strategic partnerships in Japan, will enhance
our growth prospects in the country. We calculate that we now possess nearly
half of all international air bookings made by Japanese travel agencies and
lead the market.”
According to Travelport,
Japan is only smaller than the United States and China in terms of flight seats
offered for sale.
A consortium of airline
owners previously owned Galileo Japan. Managing director Yoshinobu Aoyama and
all employees will transition to Travelport Japan. Its headquarters will be in
Tokyo with satellite offices in Nagoya and Osaka.