Skylord Cruise and Holidays will offer bespoke packages to consumers and agents. It will be led by former Jetline Travel director Andrew Todd, Jetline’s head of holidays and cruise Martin Tanner and Manish Suchde, ex-Forever Cruises, who briefly worked at Jetline before its demise in March.
Tanner told TTG he and Todd had worked together for 17 years. “We said it would be great to have the same team in a stable company. Andrew had several opportunities and this is the one that leapt out.
"Skylord is a really steady, established, successful company that has a flight division that presents a great opportunity to build on. In addition to that, they are all about tech and automation.”
Skylord Travel was founded in 1983 and has 80 staff and four shops, plus a call centre in India. The business has an annual revenue of £80 million and issues more than 150,000 air tickets a year.
The new team plans to increase Skylord’s existing cruise and holiday suppliers, starting with mainstream ocean cruise and adding specialist and river brands.
Skylord said trade partners would be given “first access” to cruises and packages, with full training, marketing assets, and support offered. Tanner said Skylord already worked with 500 agents. “Until now, Skylord has had to reticket them (cruise and holiday customers) with third parties.”
Ujjwal Sehgal, Skylord managing director, said: “We see this as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring something truly special to the market.
“With Andrew, Manish and their incredible team, we’re building a brand new department that blends tradition and innovation, offering our travel agent network and direct customers unrivalled cruise and holiday options.
“This isn’t just a new product line, it’s a major evolution in the product that Skylord will offer. I am looking forward to working with the new team and growing our business together. Agents I have spoken to are really excited to see what we have to offer.”
Todd added: “In Skylord, I saw an exciting opportunity to bring a much-loved, trusted brand into the cruise market, an area with massive potential for growth. With physical branches across the UK and a network of outstanding travel agent partners,
"Skylord is perfectly positioned to offer cruise and holiday products that are not only unique, but also highly profitable for our partners to sell and promote nationwide.”
He added: “I’m very pleased to be working with Manish, whose commercial and sales expertise brings tremendous value to this venture. I’m also very excited to have Martin Tanner leading our product development and creation, having worked together for two decades so far.
“We will be working alongside several other very experienced team members who have trusted me to lead them forward in the next stage of their careers.”
