ESky Group

eSky Group is a Polish-based travel technology company that owns and operates several online travel agency brands in 50 markets across Europe, the Americas, and Africa.[1][2][3] The company provides dynamic packages for holidays and city breaks,[4] standalone flights, accommodations, and other travel services.[5]

The Group operates under the eSky (Europe, North America, Africa), eDestinos (Latin America) and Thomas Cook brands.[6] The company also holds Travel Agent Accreditation of the International Air Transport Association (no. 63210803).[7]

History

eSky Group was founded in Poland in 2004 and initially handled trips as part of the Work and Travel program.[8] Since 2005, the company has been selling airline tickets through its online platform,[9] with approximately 550 airlines included in its flight inventory under agreements.[10] In 2009, an online hotel reservation system and travel insurance sales were launched, and in 2015, a car rental service.

In June 2017, 6.3% of eSky Group shares were bought for PLN 15.6 million by Wirtualna Polska Group,[11] which in March 2020 sold its eSky share package under the put option.[12]

In 2022, the company’s owner changed,[13] with MCI Capital listed private equity took a 55% stake in eSky Group.[14][15]

The founders of eSky Group remained the controlling shareholders, holding a total of 45% of the company's shares, and the transaction amounted to approximately PLN 158 million and also included the recapitalization of the company.[16]

In 2023, due to a business transformation towards a package travel provider,[17] the Polish OTA switched its focus from flights aggregation to combining flights and accommodations into city breaks and holidays packages.[18] The same year, the company reported revenue of more than €800m – an increase of 42% year-on-year – with around 3.3m customers using its services.[19] eSky Group's EBITDA amounted to €18.7m.[3]