Air Berlin

Air Berlin
IATA ICAO Callsign
AB BER AIR BERLIN
Founded 1978 as Air Berlin USA
Commenced operations 1979
Hubs
Focus cities
Frequent-flyer program topbonus
Alliance Oneworld
Subsidiaries
Fleet size 129[1]
Destinations 114 including seasonal destinations
Company slogan Your Airline
Parent company Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG
Headquarters Airport Bureau Center
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf,
Berlin, Germany
Key people
Revenue Decrease € 4.08 billion (2015)[2]
Net income Decrease € -446.6 million (2015)[2]
Employees 8,440 (2014)[3]
Website airberlin.com

Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (FWB: AB1), branded as airberlin or airberlin.com, is Germany's second largest airline, after Lufthansa, and Europe's seventh largest airline in terms of passengers carried.[4] It maintains hubs at Berlin Tegel Airport[5] and Düsseldorf Airport and operates a route network that includes a total of 17 German cities, some European metropolitan and several leisure destinations in Southern Europe and North Africa, as well as intercontinental services to destinations in the Caribbean and the Americas.

Air Berlin is a member of the Oneworld alliance, and owns the subsidiaries NIKI in Austria and Belair in Switzerland. It is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Etihad Airways is the largest shareholder, having increased its shareholding to 29.21% in 2011.[6] Air Berlin is headquartered in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, a borough of Berlin.[7]

History

1978-1990: American charter airline in West Berlin

Air Berlin's aircraft livery has changed several times. The original Air Berlin USA livery (pictured) was used on the airline's Boeing 707s and Boeing 737-200s...[8]
... which got replaced with this Hapag-Lloyd Flug-hybrid livery during the early 1980s, when Air Berlin operated a single Boeing 737-200.
A ruby-colored livery was introduced when the Boeing 737-300 (pictured) was put in service in 1986,...
... and remained largely unchanged for more than two decades (the later version is shown here on an Airbus A320-200 in 2007).
After the merger with LTU in 2007 the new basic LTU scheme was adopted,...
... and was used in an interim scheme until the introduction of the new logo,...
... to become the current bright red color scheme as featured on this Boeing 737-800.
The Original Air Berlin USA logo

Originally registered as Air Berlin USA,[9] the company was founded in 1978 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Lelco, an American agricultural enterprise headquartered in Oregon,[9] to operate charter flights on behalf of German tour operators from Berlin Tegel Airport, mostly to Mediterranean holiday resorts.[9][10] As a United States airline, Air Berlin was able to access the West Berlin airline market. During the Cold War, Berlin's special political status meant that the air corridors into and out of Tegel Airport could only be used by airlines registered in France, the United Kingdom or the United States. The airline's headquarters were initially at Tegel Airport. Leonard Lundgren was the first chairman.[9]

After the company was issued an airline licence and acquired two Boeing 707 jet airliners previously owned by Trans World Airlines, Air Berlin USA commenced revenue services on 28 April 1979 with a flight from Berlin-Tegel to Palma de Mallorca.[11][12] Plans were made to start long haul flights on West Berlin-Brussels-Florida routes,[11][13] in cooperation with Air Florida (an agreement to that effect had been signed in February 1979).[14]

In 1980, the Air Berlin USA fleet grew to include the Boeing 737-200, when two aircraft of that type were leased from Air Florida.[15] By 1982, the 707s had been phased out, and during most of the 1980s, Air Berlin USA operated only a single 737-200[16] or (from 1986) a 737-300.[15][17] In 1990 and 1991, two more modern Boeing 737-400s were put into service.[10][15][18]

1990-2000: New owners and the start of low-cost flights

The Peaceful Revolution and the ensuing German reunification led to significant changes to the Berlin aviation market, since German airlines gained access to the city. In 1991, Air Berlin (which had 90 employees at the time)[19] was bought by Joachim Hunold (de), a former sales and marketing director with LTU International, and restructured as Air Berlin GmbH & Co. Luftverkehrs KG, a German-registered company.[12][20] Following an order for ten Boeing 737-800, Air Berlin grew and by 1999, the fleet comprised twelve aircraft.[21] In 2001, Air Berlin and Hapag-Lloyd Flug became the first airlines in the world to have their Boeing 737-800s fitted with blended winglets, wingtip devices that are intended to improve fuel efficiency.[22]

Air Berlin introduced scheduled flights (which could be booked directly with the airline rather than via a tour operator) in 1997, initially linking a number of secondary German airports to Majorca.[12] By 2002, 35 percent of Air Berlin's tickets were sold directly.[23] In the same year, the route network grew to include destinations other than typical holiday resorts: Low-fare flights to London, Barcelona, Milan and Vienna started. They were marketed as City Shuttle.[12][23] Besides Berlin-Tegel, these routes were opened at six German airports (Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Münster/Osnabrück, Nuremberg, and Paderborn/Lippstadt)[24] that until then had not been served by one of the rising European low cost carriers.[23] In what later would become a hallmark for Air Berlin as a "semi-low cost carrier", the airline offered complimentary meals and seat reservations.[24] This was something its competitors Buzz, Hapag-Lloyd Express, Ryanair and Virgin Express did not do.

2000-2006: Becoming Germany’s second largest airline

In November 2001, the delivery flight of Boeing 737-800 fitted with winglets set a record: the aircraft with the registration code D-ABBC flew 8,345 kilometres non-stop from Seattle (BFI), USA to Berlin (TXL), Germany in 9 hours, 10 minutes.

In January 2004, Air Berlin announced it would cooperate with Niki, a Vienna-based airline.[12] As part of the deal, Air Berlin took a 24% stake in Niki.

The Air Berlin old logo used until 2007

In 2005, Air Berlin signed a partnership agreement with Germania. As part of the deal, Air Berlin leased some of Germania's aircraft and crew, and Germania became almost exclusively a charter airline. Plans were made for Germania to be associated with Air Berlin under a management contract. However, the contract was not signed. At the beginning of March 2008 Germania’s joint owners could not reach agreement on the takeover by Air Berlin, so Germania remained an independent airline. A joint Air Berlin/Germania subsidiary dubbed Air Zürich and planned to be based at Zurich Airport was proposed in 2005, but did not materialize.

In 2005 the Group reorganised its corporate structure. It established Air Berlin plc (registered in England) into which it reversed Air Berlin GmbH & Co. Luftverkehrs KG and subsidiaries.[25] It was suggested that the reason for the group to establish a UK-based PLC instead a German-based AG was to avoid the need to have a supervisory board and employee representation as required by the German law of Mitbestimmung or co-determination.[26]

In 2006, Air Berlin went public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Originally scheduled for 5 May 2006, the IPO was postponed to 11 May 2006. The company said the delay was due to rises in fuel costs and other market pressures limiting investor demand. It reduced the initial share-price range from 15.0–17.5 euros to 11.5–14.5 euros. The stock opened at €12.0, selling a total of 42.5 million shares. Of these, 19.6 million were new shares increasing capital in the company, and the remainder to repay loans extended by the original shareholders and invested in the company earlier in 2006. After the IPO, the company claimed to have over 400 million euros in cash to fund further expansion, including aircraft purchases.[27]

In August 2006, Air Berlin acquired German domestic airline dba.[28] Flight operations at dba were continued as a fully owned subsidiary of Air Berlin until 14 November 2008, when the dba brand was discontinued due to staff strikes. (dba staff were subsequently offered positions with Air Berlin).

On 28 November 2006, Air Berlin ordered 60 Boeing 737-800 aircraft,[29] and 15 smaller Boeing 737-700 aircraft. The combined value of the 75 aircraft was 5.1 billion dollars (Based on list prices at the time.) Delivery of the aircraft started in 2007. All of these aircraft were equipped with blended winglets, to significantly improve fuel efficiency.

2007-2012: Takeovers, expansion and new alliances

In 2005, one of Air Berlin's Boeing 737-700s featured a special livery promoting Boeing's Dreamliner program.
Following the takeover of LTU in 2007, the Airbus A330-200 (pictured) became part of Air Berlin's fleet. This long-haul aircraft enabled the airline to start flying to intercontinental destinations like Bangkok (as in this case, depicting an approach to Suvarnabhumi Airport in 2008).

In March 2007, Air Berlin took over German leisure airline LTU, gaining access to the long-haul market and becoming the fourth largest airline group in Europe in terms of passenger traffic. This deal led to the introduction of Airbus A321 and Airbus A330 aircraft into Air Berlin's fleet. The merger of the LTU operations, aircraft and crew was completed on 1 May 2009, when the LTU brand was discontinued.

On 7 July 2007, Air Berlin announced an order for 25 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner longhaul aircraft, with further options and purchase rights.[30] Three additional aircraft of this type will be leased from ILFC.

On 21 August 2007, Air Berlin acquired a 49 percent shareholding in Swiss charter airline Belair, the remainder being owned by tour operator Hotelplan.[31] Following the deal, Belair's longhaul business was shut down, and the fleet replaced by Airbus A320 family aircraft operating scheduled flights on behalf of Air Berlin as well as charter flights for Hotelplan.

On 20 September 2007, Air Berlin announced it intended to buy its direct competitor Condor in a deal that envisaged Condor's owner, Thomas Cook Group, taking a 30% stake in Air Berlin.[32] A variety of considerations, including the rapidly increasing price of jet fuel, led to the abandonment of the deal in July 2008.

In January 2008 Air Berlin introduced a new logo and corporate design. The logo is a white oval shape on a red background (suggesting an aircraft window) where the letter “a” is a white circle and two white stylised wings. The text "Air Berlin" in the logo is now in lower case and written as one word. Sometimes the slogan “Your Airline” also features as part of the logo.[33]

In June 2008, CEO Joachim Hunold offended Catalan language speakers, when he claimed[34] in an article included in Air Berlin's inflight magazine that the government of the Balearic Islands was trying to impose the use of Catalan on Air Berlin flights from and to Majorca. He claimed that Air Berlin was an international airline and was not obliged to use Catalan. Hunold went on to criticise the language policy in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, claiming that at the time many children could not speak any Spanish.[35] The Balearic Islands' socialist President, Francesc Antich, explained that his government had simply sent a letter to encourage airlines operating in the Balearic Islands to include Catalan among the languages used for onboard announcements.[36]

On 18 June of the same year, Air Berlin announced that it would reduce its long-haul services by 13 percent, as well as cut 10 percent of services in the domestic market in an effort to increase profitability.[37]

In September 2008, Air Berlin confirmed merger talks with competitor TUIfly, but added it was speaking with all parties. Air Berlin had, until 2007, been flying many code-share TUI flights. At the end of March 2009, Air Berlin PLC and TUI Travel PLC signed a deal by which their German flight businesses were to operate long-term strategic alliance. Originally, each company was to take a 19.9% stake in the other and the German cartel authorities was petioned for approval. After the Bundeskartellamt expressed concerns, the cross ownership plan was not implemented. Instead, TUI Travel PLC purchased a 9.9% stake in Air Berlin PLC using a capital increase at a subsidiary to do so.[38]

In January 2009 Air Berlin started cooperating with Hainan Airlines, China’s fourth-largest airline. The airlines jointly market flights between Berlin and Beijing. The code-share flights are sold on a reciprocal basis and operated under the relevant airline’s own flight number.[39]

At the end of March 2009, a strategic partnership agreement with TUI Travel was signed, with Air Berlin and its direct competitor TUIfly purchasing 19.9 percent of the other's shares.[40] Following the deal, Air Berlin took over all German domestic TUIfly routes, as well as those to Italy, Croatia and Austria. Also, all of Tuifly's Boeing 737-700 aircraft were added to Air Berlin's fleet. Further route changes will see TUIfly abandoning all scheduled flights and relying exclusively on the charter business.[41]

In March 2009, ESAS Holding A.S., a Turkish company bought approximately 15 per cent of the voting shares in Air Berlin, to which the German competition regulator had no objections.[42]

On 28 September 2009, Air Berlin announced it would cooperate with Pegasus Airlines, allowing its customers access to more destinations and flights to and within Turkey on a codeshare-like basis.[43]

Also in 2009, Air Berlin added Hartmut Mehdorn to the board of directors after his retirement at Deutsche Bahn.[44]

In October 2009 Air Berlin started cooperating with Bangkok Airways. Bangkok Airways flights can be booked on a codeshare basis by Air Berlin customers.[45]

Air Berlin Group
Company Interest
airberlin technik GmbH 100 %
Binoli Reiseplattform 49 %
Belair 100 %
Niki 100 %

In April 2010 Air Berlin expanded its codeshare arrangements with Russia’s S7 Airlines. The strategic cooperation between Air Berlin and S7 Airlines had been in place since October 2008. New services include codeshare flights via Moscow to destinations such as Irkutsk, Perm and Rostov.[46]

In July 2010, Air Berlin announced an increase in its shareholding in the Austrian airline Niki. Following the fulfilment of the required conditions, the agreements notarized on 17 February 2010 have been implemented. Air Berlin indirectly acquired 25.9% of the shares in Niki from Privatstiftung Lauda (private Lauda foundation) and in doing so increased its current shareholding in Niki from 24% to 49.9%. In connection with the increase of its shareholding, Air Berlin will grant the private Lauda foundation a 40.5 million-euro loan. The private foundation has the option to repay the loan in three years with cash or through the transfer of the remaining 50.1% of Niki's shares.[47]

Since becoming a member of Oneworld, several Air Berlin aircraft display the global airline alliance's logo, as seen on this Boeing 737-800.
An Airbus A319 on final approach at Zurich Airport in 2010, featuring a livery variant using the "Air Berlin" titles on the tail prior to the introduction of the current logo

In July 2010, it was also announced that Air Berlin would be joining Oneworld, the global airline alliance.[48] In preparation for joining the alliance, Air Berlin has been offering flights under codeshare agreements with American Airlines and Finnair, starting with the 2010/2011 winter schedule. Its cooperation with American Airlines means that Air Berlin passengers gain access to the important American market whilst it also offers codeshare flights with Finnair to Helsinki and within Europe.[49]

Air Berlin founded Follow Me Entertainment GmbH in September 2010 as a joint venture with kick-media ag. This joint venture company markets image and sound media, books, games as well as events, concerts, tournaments and sponsoring.[50]

The foundations were laid for the first maintenance hangar at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) on 21 March 2011. Air Berlin, which will use the hangar with Germania when the airport is opened, has doubled Air Berlin Technik's maintenance capacity at its Berlin site.[51]

On 1 April 2011 Air Berlin completed integration of LTU which it took over in August 2007. There is now only one flight schedule and all Air Berlin Group technical services have been merged into a new company called airberlin technik GmbH.[52] Also in April 2011 Air Berlin underlined the importance of its Düsseldorf hub by creating a new position of North-Rhine Westphalia Regional Director. It also added new routes, more frequent flights and additional long-haul flights from Düsseldorf.[53]

On 15 June 2011, Air Berlin and British Airways reached a codeshare agreement covering some flights within Europe, starting from 5 July 2011. The agreement applies to flights to over 40 European destinations served by the two airlines.[54]

CEO Joachim Hunold resigned from his position on 1 September 2011 and was succeeded by the former CEO of Deutsche Bahn AG, Hartmut Mehdorn, who led the company on an interim basis until January 2013. From January 2013 Wolfgang Prock-Schauer took over the position of CEO.[55]

Air Berlin has cooperated with the Italian airline Meridiana Fly since September 2011, and offers flights from 30 October 2011 with Meridiana Fly from Italy to Germany.[56]

In November 2011 a new brand was launched, called Air Berlin Turkey. This product was the result of cooperation between Air Berlin and Pegasus Airlines and was intended for the charter market between Germany and Turkey. Pegasus Airlines is the largest private airline company in Turkey and is 16.5% owned by ESAS Holding AS.[57] involved in Air Berlin.[58][59] The airline was absorbed into Pegasus Airlines on 31 March 2013.[60]

In the 3rd Quarter of 2011, the turnover of the company amounted to 1.4 billion euro, an increase of 11%. However operating profit decreased by almost to 50%, around 97 million euro. As a result, a new bond to raise additional capital was issued.[61] In November 2011, a marketing campaign was launched and further preparations to join the oneworld airline alliance were made.[62]

In November 2011 Air Berlin took over the remaining 50.1% stake in NIKI in the repayment of a loan and is now the sole owner of the company. The brand name is to be retained, Niki Lauda was given a position on the board of Air Berlin.[63]

Air Berlin announced on 19 December 2011 that the Arabian airline Etihad Airways increased its share of Air Berlin from 2.99% to 29.1%, for a sum of 73 million euros, immediately making Etihad the company's largest shareholder.[64] The deal supplied more cash to Air Berlin, and provided Etihad access to Air Berlin's European network.[64]

Air Berlin became a full member of the Oneworld Alliance on 20 March 2012, a move that was originally announced on 2 February 2012. Austrian airline NIKI, which is also part of the Air Berlin group, joined Oneworld as an affiliate member on the same day.[65]

2012-2015: Restructuring amid continuing losses

Air Berlin aircraft at Terminal C of Berlin Tegel Airport in September 2014

Air Berlin has been flying seven times a week non-stop from Berlin to Abu Dhabi since January 2012. The new service is also the start of the codeshare agreement between Air Berlin and Etihad Airways.[66] The cooperation of the frequent flyer programs topbonus and Etihad Guest was announced in March 2012.[67] In June 2012, the collaboration concluded with the bonus programs airberlin business points and Ethiad Airways Business Connect for SMBs.[68]

On 20 March 2012, the announced entry into the airline alliance oneworld was officially completed.[69] The extended international network offers over 800 destinations in 150 countries.[70] At the same time, the airline introduced the Platinum status for its frequent flyer program topbonus.[71]

In May 2012 Air Berlin presented its new fare structure "Your Fare" in an effort to offer individual rates for all target groups. Bookings are available for the rates "Just Fly", "Fly Classic" and "FlyFlex" for flights from 1 July 2012.[72] On 11 May 2012 Air Berlin opened its triweekly non-stop flight from Berlin to Los Angeles in the summer schedule, a destination which until then had only been served from Düsseldorf.[73] In March 2013, the Berlin-Chicago route started, feeding into American Airlines' hub at O'Hare International Airport.[74]

On 18 December 2012 Air Berlin announced that topbonus, its frequent flyer program, would be sold to Etihad Airways; only a 30 percent minority share would be retained.[75] Air Berlin also announced the expansion of the existing codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways on 20 December 2012. This includes flights via Abu Dhabi to Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo and Nagoya.[76]

Air Berlin intends to move its largest hub from Tegel to Berlin Brandenburg Airport (terminal interior pictured). Originally planned for 2012, the opening of the new airport has been greatly delayed. Currently, it is considered that the airport will not open before late 2017.

In January 2013, the first Airbus A330-200 was introduced with a new business class which enables a fully flat position for the first time. The long-haul fleet of Air Berlin had already been modified with a business class of high quality in 2012.[77]

On 7 January 2013 Air Berlin appointed Austrian Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, former Chief Strategy and Planning Officer as the company's CEO, replacing Hartmut Mehdorn. Mehdorn had held the position on an interim basis since September 2011.[78]

From 28 February 2013 Air Berlin flew nonstop to Madrid. As part of strategic expansion in Central Europe since March, Air Berlin flies from Berlin to Warsaw three times daily[79] and has increased its number of flights from 23 March 2013 from Berlin to Kraków.[80] With the addition of the only connection between Berlin and Chicago from 23 March 2013, Air Berlin uses the Chicago hub for connections within the United States. Air Berlin increased its frequencies to New York-JFK, Los Angeles and Miami, but at the same time cancelled the seasonal non-stop flights to Las Vegas, San Francisco and Vancouver.[81]

In March 2013 Air Berlin announced the closure of its seasonal hub for leisure destinations at Nuremberg Airport. Only ten year-round direct routes remained.[82]

On 24 September 2014, Air Berlin cancelled all remaining 15 orders for their Boeing 787s as well as 18 remaining orders for Boeing 737-800s as part of their restructuring programme. It will retire all Q400 and it is assumed that an all Airbus fleet is planned.[83]

In October 2014, the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt denied Air Berlin authorization to operate 34 routes as a codeshare with co-owner Etihad from the 2014/2015 winter schedule as they would contravene against the bilateral traffic rights between Germany and the UAE.[84] Also in October 2014, Air Berlin announced that it was terminating flights to Palma de Mallorca from both Bremen Airport and Dortmund Airport, therefore withdrawing entirely from these two German airports.[85]

Air Berlin announced a net loss for 2014 of €376m (€316m loss in 2013). The airline’s revenues in 2014 stagnated at €4.16 billion.[86][3]

In September 2015, Air Berlin phased out the last Boeing 737-700s owned by the company. The remaining aircraft of this type will operated on wetlease from TUIfly until 2019. All Boeing 737-800s are to be phased out by 2016 as Air Berlin plans to focus their short- and medium-haul fleet on the Airbus A320 family to cut costs.[87]

In November 2015, Air Berlin announced it will shut down its hub operations at Palma de Mallorca Airport by ceasing all Spanish domestic routes by 3 April 2016. It currently serves seven routes within Spain from Palma which are connected to several routes from Germany.[88][89] Some days earlier, the airline announced plans to expand its long-haul network with flights from Düsseldorf to Boston, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Francisco and Havanna by spring 2016.[90] However, the planned route to Dallas/Fort Worth was cancelled a few weeks later due to low demand.[91]

On 30 December 2015, the administrative court in Braunschweig ruled in favour of the German civil aviation authority (the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt) and against Air Berlin regarding some of their codeshare operations with Etihad Airways. The shared sale and advertising of 31 out of 83 routes which are marketed by both has been declared illegal and needs to be stopped by 15 January 2016 as it is not covered by the bilateral air traffic agreement between Germany and the UAE. Amongst the routes which are no longer allowed to use an Etihad codeshare is Air Berlin's service from Stuttgart to Abu Dhabi. The Luftfahrt-Bundesamt had only allowed these flights until a definite legal ruling was made.[92]

2016: Radical restructuring measures

In April 2016, Air Berlin announced a record loss of €446m for 2015. The airline's revenues in 2015 decreased to €4.08 billion.[2] Amongst the reasons considered for Air Berlin's poor performance are crippling debt of over €800m, unclear and quick changing strategies for routes and advertising, several CEOs within the recent years, the more than five years delayed new hub Berlin Brandenburg Airport as well as failed negotiations to profit from fallen fuel prices and the overall harsh competition on the airline market.[93]

In July 2016, Air Berlin confirmed that it no longer owns any of the aircraft it operates, having sold and leased back the last of the aircraft it had previously owned.[94] A few weeks later it was reported that Air Berlin and Etihad Airways were in talks with Lufthansa regarding the sale of some of Air Berlin's operational assets to Lufthansa, mainly routes outside of the hubs in Berlin and Düsseldorf, some staff and several aircraft leases.[95] Lufthansa is reportedly considering integrating these operations with those of its own Eurowings subsidiary.[96]

In July 2016, Air Berlin announced a significant increase of flights to the United States from 55 to 78 nonstops per week for 2017. Besides some frequency increases, Los Angeles and San Francisco will be served from Berlin in addition to the services from Düsseldorf while Düsseldorf will also see an entirely new route to Orlando.[97] A few days later, the airline announced the introduction of a business class on its short- and medium-haul flights.[98]

Project "The new airberlin"

On 28 September 2016, Air Berlin announced it would radically restructure its business under the project name The new airberlin.[99] The airline will reduce its network drastically from around 140 destinations to only 70 and focus on their hubs in Berlin and Düsseldorf as well as two smaller bases in Stuttgart and Munich while six further bases will be shut down.[99] Air Berlin will target business travellers and concentrate on flights to domestic German destinations, Italy, Scandinavia and eastern Europe. It will also expand its long-haul business.[99] The restructing is also planned to involve the loss of up to 1200 jobs (FTE).[99]

As the current narrowbody jet fleet of Air Berlin including its subsidiaries Belair and Niki is 118 aircraft strong, 40 aircraft are expected to be cut from the fleet. Air Berlin's own fleet would contain only 75 aircraft in the future in case the deal should get approved: 17 Airbus A330-200 for long-haul operations while 40 Airbus A320 family aircraft and 18 Bombardier Q400 aircraft will be kept to serve European routes.[99][100] A separate business unit concentrating on tourist destinations will also be formed, with 35 aircraft. This unit might be operated with a new business partner - with TUIfly being the assumed partner as they already operate several aircraft for Air Berlin[101] - or sold altogether.[99] The remaining 40 aircraft including crews are to be wetleased to competitor Lufthansa Group which will use them for their Eurowings (35 aircraft) and Austrian Airlines (5 aircraft)[102] subsidiaries for a period of six years.[103]

In October 2016, Air Berlin announced to shut down four of its seven airberlin Technik maintenance facilities which leads to the layoff of 500 staff in these branches.[104]

Corporate affairs

Air Berlin headquarters at the Airport Bureau Center in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Berlin.

Ownership

Air Berlin PLC shares are publicly traded on Xetra and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the regulated market. Trading in the regulated unofficial market takes place at the exchanges in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart.[105] Since December 2011, Etihad Airways has been the largest shareholder in Air Berlin. As of December 2015, major shareholders (over 5%) are:[2]

Name Interest
Etihad Airways PJSC 29.21%
ESAS Holding AS (owners of Pegasus Airlines) 12.02%
Other shareholders 58.77%
Total 100.00%

Business trends

Stefan Pichler, CEO of Air Berlin since 2015.

The key trends for Air Berlin Group (including Niki) over recent years are shown below (as at year ending 31 December):

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Turnover (€m) 1,575 2,537 3,401 3,240 3,850 4,227 4,312 4,147 4,160 4,081
Net Profit (€m) 40.1 21.0 −75.0 −9.5 −106.3 −420.4 6.8 −315.5 −376.7 −446.6
Number of employees 4,108 8,360 8,311 8,278 8,900 9,113 9,284 8,905 8,440 8,869
Number of passengers (m) 19.7 27.9 28.6 27.9 34.9 35.3 33.3 31.5 31.7 30.2
Passenger load factor (%) 75.3 77.3 78.4 77.5 76.8 84.5 83.6 84.9 83.5 84.2
Number of aircraft (at year end) 117 124 125 152 169 170 155 140 149 153
Notes/sources [106] [107] [108] [109] [110] [111] [112] [113] [3] [2]

Flight school

Air Berlin has been running its own pilot training scheme since 2007 in a joint venture with the TFC Käufer flight school. Trainees complete their commercial pilot training to the latest industry standards over a period of around 24 months. The Air Berlin flight school was the first flight school in Germany to be awarded a training licence by the German Department of Aviation for the new Multi-Crew Pilot Licence concept in February 2009.[114]

Technical services

Air Berlin has its own maintenance and overhaul branch, airberlin technik with facilities in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Nuremberg which employs 1300 staff as of October 2016.[104] The technical branch is a certified EASA Part-145 maintenance organization with approximately 1200 employees providing services to both Air Berlin group aircraft and customers throughout Europe. airberlin technik is recognized and approved by various National Airworthiness Authorities such as USA FAA-145, Canadian CAA-145, Aruba EASA-145, Federal Aviation Authority of Russia, GCAA, United Arab Emirates.[115] In October 2016, Air Berlin announced to close the technical bases in Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Nuremberg while laying of 500 staff due to restructuring measures.[104]

Destinations

As of December 2015, Air Berlin operates a semi-low-cost network with a focus on some European metropolitan routes and several holiday destinations in the Mediterranean region, the Canary Islands and North Africa as well as intercontinental flights to the United States, the Caribbean and the Middle East, with a total of 118 scheduled year-round and seasonal destinations in 36 countries.[116]

Berlin Tegel Airport and Düsseldorf Airport serve as the Air Berlin hubs which offer long-haul flights and a network of European metropolitan and leisure destinations with further smaller focus operations at Hamburg Airport, Stuttgart Airport, Munich Airport and Zürich Airport which mainly provide services to leisure destinations and domestic connections. Besides Berlin and Düsseldorf, Munich Airport featured a few Air Berlin scheduled and seasonal charter long-haul services to the Caribbean as well, which however ceased by 30 April 2016.[117]

Codeshare agreements

Air Berlin codeshares with the following airlines:[118]

Fleet

Current fleet

As of November 2016, the Air Berlin fleet - excluding its foreign subsidiaries Belair and Niki - consists of the following aircraft:[120]

Air Berlin fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
C Y Total
Airbus A319-100 6 — — 150 150
Airbus A320-200 53 — — 180 180
Airbus A321-200 21 2[121] — 210 210
Airbus A330-200 14 2[120] 19 271 290
Boeing 737-700 5 — — 144 144 wet-leased from TUIfly[122]
Boeing 737-800 9 — — 186 186 wet-leased from TUIfly[122]
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 19 1[120][123] — 76 76 operated by Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter
Total 127 5
Air Berlin Airbus A320-200
Air Berlin Airbus A330-200
Air Berlin Boeing 737-800
Air Berlin Bombardier Dash 8 Q400

Historic fleet

Between 2004 and 2009, Air Berlin operated the Fokker 100. Most of them were leased from Germania.[15]

Over the years, Air Berlin has operated the following aircraft types:[124]

Air Berlin retired fleet
Aircraft Introduced Retired Notes
Airbus A330-300
2008
2013
 incorporated from LTU
BAe 146-200
2003
2004
Boeing 707
1978
1981
 operated by Air Berlin USA
Boeing 737-200
1980
1986
 operated by Air Berlin USA
Boeing 737-300
1986
1990
 operated by Air Berlin USA
2007
2010
 operated by Germania
Boeing 737-400
1990
2007
Embraer 190
2013
2013
 transferred from Niki and subsequently returned, were operated by LGW
Fokker 100
2004
2009

Services

Aircraft cabins

Air Berlin Airbus A319-100 cabin

Long-haul flights

Air Berlin long-haul aircraft feature business and economy class sections. At the beginning of 2012, Air Berlin started the renewal of its long-haul cabin, equipping both economy class and business class with new seats and a new in-flight entertainment system. Fully automatic seats that could tilt up to 170 degrees provided high comfort in the business class, in addition to an anti-thrombosis edition and an individually adjustable headrest, and more legroom, narrower seat back, the seat improves comfort in economy class. All seats have an 8.9-inch monitor that is easy to use per touch screen and offers a variety of movies, series, music, audio books and games.[125] In January 2013 the airline again presented a new business class which replaced the one introduced a year earlier. Primarily, the new business class has single seats, thus offering travellers even more privacy. The new seats have a full-flat function, a massage function and feature a 15-inch monitor.[77]

Short- and medium-haul flights

Air Berlin did not offer a Business class product on its short- and medium-haul flights until the airline announced its introduction in August 2016. All short- and medium-haul aircraft will now feature a designated business class in row 1 with expanded services including an empty middle seat.[98]

Passenger services

Air Berlin check-in counters

In contrast to pure European low-cost carriers, Air Berlin offers free (at the point of consumption) in-flight snacks and drinks, as well as newspapers and magazines. Full hot meals are complimentary on long-haul flights. On all Air Berlin routes with a flight time of 60 minutes or longer, gourmet meals are offered, which are, according to the airline, created by chefs at "Sansibar", a famous restaurant on the island of Sylt. The airline also offers in-flight entertainment, assigned seating and guaranteed flight connections.[126] Air Berlin's basic fares are both nonrefundable and not changeable, so unused flights/fares are a complete loss to the purchaser.

Frequent flyer program

Air Berlin's frequent flyer program is called topbonus. Points, known as miles, can be collected on flights operated by Air Berlin, Niki, Oneworld Alliance airline partners, and selected other airlines. Accrued miles can be redeemed for award flights, or for an upgrade to business class. In addition to the entry-level "topbonus Card Classic" there are cards with Silver, Gold, and Platinum status, corresponding to Oneworld Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald statuses. A Service Card and a Credit Card, for which a charge is made, are also available.

Accidents and incidents

As of August 2016, Air Berlin never suffered an accident or incident resulting in the loss of life or an aircraft in over 35 years of operations. However, there has been recent controversy regarding one of the airline's safety policies:

See also

Citations

References

  1. ↑ https://www.planespotters.net/airline/Air-Berlin
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Annual Report 2015". April 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 "Annual Report 2014". April 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
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  5. ↑ "Berlin Tegel still Air Berlin's #1 base". Anna.aero. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
  6. ↑ "Annual Report 2012 - Financial Figures". Air Berlin. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
  7. ↑ "Approach map." Air Berlin. Retrieved on 5 May 2010.
  8. ↑ Air Berlin USA B737-200
  9. 1 2 3 4 "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin USA". Flight International: 272. 26 July 1980. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  10. 1 2 "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin". Flight International: 49. 27 March 1991. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  11. 1 2 "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin". Flight International: 1332. 28 April 1979. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Out into the world from Berlin: The history of airberlin in a nutshell". Air Berlin. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  13. ↑ "1981 timetable of Air Berlin USA". Air Berlin USA. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  14. ↑ "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin USA". Flight International: 1395. 16 May 1981. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "Air Berlin USA Fleet Details and History". planespotters.net. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  16. ↑ "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin". Flight International: 813. 31 March 1984. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  17. ↑ "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin". Flight International: 44. 1 April 1989. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  18. ↑ "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin". Flight International: 49–50. 14 March 1990. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  19. ↑ "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin". Flight International: 38. 25 March 1992. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  20. ↑ "Air Berlin considers extra 737 purchase". Flight International: 10. 20 May 1992. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  21. ↑ "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin". Flight International: 42. 24 March 1999. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  22. ↑ Spaeth, Andreas (22 May 2001). "Winglets: Neue Spitzen sparen Sprit". Spiegel Online. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  23. 1 2 3 "Air Berlin retains 737s to extend low-fares arm". Flight International: 10. 22 October 2002. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  24. 1 2 "Germany's low-fare sector expands". Flight International: 11. 17 September 2002. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  25. ↑ Financial Statements 2003-2005 - see page 10
  26. ↑ German companies flee to the UK
  27. ↑ Kjetland, Ragnhild (5 May 2006). "Air Berlin lowers price range for IPO to 11.50-14.50 eur/shr vs 15.00-17.50". Forbes.com. Forbes. Archived from the original on 4 August 2011.
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  31. ↑ David Kaminski-Morrow (3 April 2007). "Air Berlin LTU move driven by access to Düsseldorf". Flight International. p. 9.
  32. ↑ "Übernahmen: Air Berlin greift nach Condor". Spiegel Online (in German). 20 September 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  33. ↑ Airways (Qubein, R., The Two Faces of Air Berlin), Vol. 17, No. 9, pp. 35, Airways International Inc., Sandpoint, November 2010
  34. ↑ Air Berlin Magazine(German)
  35. ↑ Vilaweb, 5 June 2008.(Catalan)
  36. ↑ Vilaweb, 6 June 2008.(Catalan)
  37. ↑ Business finance news – currency market news – online UK currency markets – financial news – Interactive Investor, Iii.co.uk, Retrieved on 15 December 2010.
  38. ↑ . Air-Berlin-Press Release, 7 October 2009.
  39. ↑ "Air Berlin enters into co-operation with Hainan Airlines". Airberlin.com. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
  40. ↑ "TUI Travel PLC und Air Berlin besiegeln strategische Allianz für ihr deutsches Fluggeschäft" (in German). Airberlin.com. 18 August 2013. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
  41. ↑ "Air Berlin information on the taking over of TUIfly routes. Retrieved 31 October 2009". Airberlin.com. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
  42. ↑ "ESAS Holding A.S. acquires a 15 percent stake in Air Berlin PLC". Airberlin.com. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
  43. ↑ "Air Berlin und Pegasus Airlines starten Zusammenarbeit.". Airberlin.com. 28 September 2009. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  44. ↑ Duo Infernale auf ftd.de2. Juli 2009
  45. ↑ "Air Berlin enters into cooperation with Bangkok Airways". Airberlin.com. 28 October 2009. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
  46. ↑ "Air Berlin is expanding its codeshare arrangements with S7 Airlines". Airberlin.com. 31 May 2010. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
  47. ↑ Air Berlin PLC / Increase in shareholding in Niki from 24% to 49.9% is completed Archived 7 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  48. ↑ "Air Berlin to join oneworld alliance". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 26 July 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  49. ↑ "Air Berlin concludes codeshare agreements with American Airlines and Finnair after joining oneworld". Airberlin.com. 27 July 2010. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
  50. ↑ "follow me entertainment: Gemeinsamer Take-off von airberlin und kick-media" (in German). Airberlin.com. 9 September 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  51. ↑ "Airberlin, Germania, Harder & Partner and Berlin Airports celebrate laying of foundation stone for first maintenance hangar at BBI". Airberlin.com. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  52. ↑ "Successful LTU Integration". Air Berlin. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  53. ↑ "Airberlin focuses increasingly on Düsseldorf". Air Berlin. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  54. ↑ "Airberlin and British Airways: codeshare agreement from July". Air Berlin. 15 June 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  55. ↑ Mehdorn tritt als Chef von Air Berlin ab auf Spiegel Online7. Januar 2013.
  56. ↑ Kooperation mit Meridiana Fly auf BizTravel 30. September 2011.
  57. ↑ Cortal Unternehmensprofil auf cortalconsors.de.
  58. ↑ Air Berlin und Pegasus mit neuem Produkt auf airliners.de 25. August 2011.
  59. ↑ Türkische ESAS-Holding plant neuen Charteranbieter auf aero.de26. August 2011.
  60. ↑ Air Berlin Turkey Absorbed Into Pegasus
  61. ↑ Air Berlin weiter im Sinkflug auf airliners.de26. Oktober 2011.
  62. ↑ .Air-Berlin-Press Release, 2 November 2011.
  63. ↑ Air Berlin übernimmt Niki komplett auf airliners.de08.11.2011.
  64. 1 2 Die Folgen des Etihad-Berlin-Deals auf ftd.de19.12.2011.
  65. ↑ "airberlin to be part of oneworld alliance from 20 March". Air Berlin. 2 February 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  66. ↑ .Air-Berlin-Pressemeldung, 15.01.2012. Archived 25 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  67. ↑ .Air-Berlin-Press Release, 16 January 2012.
  68. ↑ .Air-Berlin-Press Release, 11 June 2012.
  69. ↑ Air Berlin tritt Oneworld bei auf airliners.de 20 March 2012
  70. ↑ .Air-Berlin-Press Release, 20 March 2012.
  71. ↑ 9 .Air-Berlin-Press Release, 7 March 2012.
  72. ↑ .Air-Berlin-Press Release, 22 May 2012.
  73. ↑ .Air-Berlin-Press Release, 11 May 2012.
  74. ↑ .Air-Berlin-Press Release, 15 November 2012.
  75. ↑ .Air-Berlin-Press Release, 18 December 2012.
  76. ↑ .Air Berlin-Press Release, 20 December 2012.
  77. 1 2 .Air-Berlin-Press Release, 3 January 2013.
  78. ↑ .Air-Berlin-Press Release, 7 January 2013.
  79. ↑ . Air-Berlin-Press Release,2 October 2012.
  80. ↑ .Air-Berlin-Press Release, 23 November 2012.
  81. ↑ .Air-Berlin Press Release, 2 December 2012.
  82. ↑ "Air Berlin streicht Touristik-Drehkreuz in Nürnberg". airliners.de. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  83. ↑ "Air Berlin storniert Boeing-Bestellungen". Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  84. ↑ http://ch-aviation.com/portal/news/31817-air-berlin-to-take-lba-to-court-over-etihad-codeshare-rejection
  85. ↑ http://www.touristik-aktuell.de/nachrichten/verkehr/news/datum/2014/10/15/air-berlin-rueckzug-aus-dortmund/
  86. ↑ http://www.fvw.com/air-berlin-restructuring-ahead-after-record-loss/393/142252/11245
  87. ↑ aero.de - "Air Berlin phases out last own 737-700" (German) 28 September 2015
  88. ↑ mallorcazeitung.es - Air Berlin verzichtet auf Drehkreuz Mallorca ("Air Berlin waives Mallorca hub") (German) 16 November 2015
  89. ↑ airliners.de - "Air Berlin shuts down Mallorca hub" (German) 18 November 2015
  90. ↑ aero.de - Pichler: Air Berlin ist auf dem Weg zu einer Netz-Airline ("Pichler: Air Berlin becoming a network airline") (German) 11 November 2015
  91. ↑ aero.de - "Air Berlin cancels Dallas route" (German) 28 January 2016
  92. ↑ aero.de - Gericht verbietet weiterhin Gemeinschaftsflüge von Air Berlin ("court forbids shared flights of Air Berlin") (German) 30 December 2015
  93. ↑ spiegel.de - "Air Berlin runs out of air" (German) 11 May 2016
  94. ↑ aero.de - "Air Berlin only operates leased planes" (German) 10 July 2016
  95. ↑ aero.de - "Etihad sees good chances of partial sale of Air Berlin to Lufthansa" (German) 20 July 2016
  96. ↑ spiegel.de - "Lufthansa could take over parts of Air Berlin (German) 20 July 2016
  97. ↑ aero.de - "Air Berlin with significantly more US flights in summer 2017" (German) 2 August 2016
  98. 1 2 airliners.de - "Air Berlin introduces business class on short- and medium-haul flights" (German) 5 August 2016
  99. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The new airberlin; analyst presentation" (PDF). airberlin. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  100. ↑ http://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/49714-air-berlin-confirms-lufthansa-group-leasing-plans-job-cuts
  101. ↑ http://www.aero.de/news-25062/Air-Berlin-moeglicherweise-vor-Halbierung.html
  102. ↑ http://www.austrianaviation.net/detail/aua-setzt-auf-air-berlin-wetlease/
  103. ↑ http://www.aerotelegraph.com/eurowings-macht-mit-fleigern-von-air-berlin-einen-sprung-nach-vorn
  104. 1 2 3 rbb-online.de - "Air Berlin wants to cancel nearly 500 staff nationwide" (German) 14 October 2016
  105. ↑ "Air Berlin Annual Report 2013" (PDF). 31 August 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  106. ↑ "Annual Report 2006". January 2007. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  107. ↑ "Annual Report 2007". January 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  108. ↑ "Annual Report 2008". January 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  109. ↑ "Annual Report 2009". January 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  110. ↑ "Annual Report 2010". January 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  111. ↑ "Annual Report 2011". January 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  112. ↑ "Annual Report 2012". January 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
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  114. ↑ airberlin flightschool.
  115. ↑ airberlin technik. Archived 19 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  116. ↑ airberlin.com - airberlin's network of destinations retrieved 6 January 2016
  117. ↑ airberlin.com - Schedule retrieved 6 January 2016
  118. ↑ "Profile on airberlin". CAPA. Centre for Aviation. Archived from the original on 2016-11-01. Retrieved 2016-11-01.
  119. ↑ "AA cancels Air Berlin codeshare effective March 2017". www.loyaltylobby.com. Retrieved 2016-11-26.
  120. 1 2 3 planespotters.net - Air Berlin retrieved 27 November 2016
  121. ↑ airbus.com - Orders and deliveries retrieved 25 May 2016
  122. 1 2 ch-aviation.com - Air Berlin ends in-house B737 operations 2 November 2016
  123. ↑ "GE Capital Aviation Services Leases Three New Bombardier Q400 Aircraft to Air Berlin to Increase the Airline's Q400 Aircraft Fleet to 20". Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. 9 February 2016. Archived from the original on 17 February 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  124. ↑ "Air Berlin historic fleet list at airfleets.net. Retrieved 2011-04-18". Airfleets.net. Retrieved 2012-03-28.
  125. ↑ .Air Berlin Press Release
  126. ↑ airberlin Service on board. Air Berlin, retrieved on 19 January 2011. Archived 28 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  127. ↑ austrianaviation.net - "LBA criticizes Air Berlin blisteringly" (German) 19 August 2016
  128. ↑ taz.de - "Profit at security's expense" (German) 18 August 2016

Bibliography

External links

Media related to Air Berlin at Wikimedia Commons

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