BA to ditch Opodo at cost of £40m?

British Airways is reportedly planning to write off £40m and ditch its stake in struggling travel-website Opodo.

Opodo was launched by nine European airlines in 2001 but reports during the weekend indicate that travel technology firm Amadeus will take full control of Opodo by adding BA's 20 per cent share to its current €33m 17 per cent stake.

Opodo has struggled to make headway against competitors in the fiercely competitive online travel business and its most recent figures show a loss of €87.5m.

The move by BA is hardly a surprise as the airline continues with its tough cost-cutting programme. BA CIO Paul Coby also told silicon.com at the end of last year that investment in an overhaul of ba.com and flight-selection functionality had resulted in an increase in short-haul flights being booked directly through the airline's own website - at a rate of 17 online bookings a minute.

A statement issued by BA said the airline will continue to use Opodo as a distribution channel. "British Airways and the shareholders of Opodo are currently looking at ways of how to grow the Opodo business. This may or may not lead to a change of shareholding structure, however, as no decisions have been taken, any reports are premature and speculative," it said.

Opodo was unavailable for comment.