Cheaptickets, Vliegwinkel, BudgetAir and Vayama Join Together Under the Wings of BCD

ZEIST, The Netherlands, January 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Industry Leaders Fuse and Accelerate Expansion in Europe and Asia

Today, the international travel company BCD Holdings N.V. announced the merger of CheapTickets, Vliegwinkel, Flugladen, BudgetAir and Vayama. Together with investors ING Corporate Investments, Bluefield Investments and the owners of Beins Travel Group B.V. (CheapTickets), BCD Holdings unites these online travel companies, forming a new internet travel organization with global reach.

CheapTickets and Vliegwinkel are industry leaders in the Netherlands and Germany. Vayama has also quickly matured on the American online travel market. CEO BCD, Joop Drechsel says: "The merger of these companies results in one strong and international online travel company. Our common goal is to strengthen our current representation in the various countries, as well as expanding our activities in the remaining parts of Europe and in Asia."

Online travel agent BudgetAir recently expanded its activities in Belgium, France and England, and Vayama was successfully launched in Canada, England, Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore. "Each of these companies has continuously pushed the boundaries and they complement each other in many ways," says Raymond Vrijenhoek, CEO Beins Travel Group.

The new organization, led by the existing management and including offices in the Netherlands, Germany, the USA and India, is active in more than 15 countries, with approximately 350 employees and an annual total revenue of over U.S. $ 750 million.

The joining of forces has been facilitated by ING Corporate Investments, as a minority shareholder in the new combination.

About BCD Holdings

BCD Holdings N.V., a Dutch family-owned company founded in 1975 by John Fentener van Vlissingen, is a market leader in the travel industry. The BCD Holdings companies are BCD Travel (global corporate travel management), Park 'N Fly (off-airport parking), TRX (travel transaction processing and data integration), Airtrade (consolidating and online travel), VakantieXperts (leisure), Vayama (online travel USA) and Parkmobile International (mobile parking and traffic applications). BCD Holdings employs approximately 13,000 people and operates in more than 90 countries with total sales, including franchising, of U.S.$ 14.8 billion. For more information, visit http://www.bcd-nv.com.