Lastminute splashes out on £9m travel agent

Former dotcom darling turned bubble-burster Lastminute.com says it has tripled its volume of UK flights after shelling out £9m to buy online travel agent Travelselect.com.

Lastminute said that the purchase of Travelselect will boost its earnings and brings the company's flights portfolio into line with the depth of their hotels coverage.As well as selling around 200,000 flight tickets on an annual basis, Travelselect.com also provides online access to the Eurostar product. The latest unaudited accounts show a turnover of a little more than £38 million.

Vimal Khosla, majority shareholder and chief executive of Travelselect, will join the lastminute board as an executive director with effect from today.