Terraplaneblues,
My guess its a slightly miss informed reporter as Hapag Lloyd express is at the moment merging with Hapagfly and Thomsonfly is not only a lowcost airline as it also encompasses the charter airline.
Now a merger between the merged German airline and Thomsonfly may be a possibilty however I'd say it was unlikely given the totally different terms and conditions of the staff in both airlines.
That all said what would I know
