Airberlin (ariberlin.com) (Berlin-Tegel)ย and Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi), which currently controls ย 29.21 percent of the Airberlin stock, are reportedly in negotiations aboutย Etihad Airways raising its stake to 49.9 percent according to Reuters, citing the Wirtschafts Woche magazine.
Wirtschafts Woche magazine is reporting a group of German shareholders, among them former and current Airberlin executives, will raise their share to more than 50 percent as required by German law.
The article also reports Airberlin would be delisted if the sale is completed.
This report, if correct, would explain why Airberlin delayed its annual meeting by one week citing an imminent announcement to be made about ownership.
Etihad Airways has been on a buying spree lately for airlines that need financial help. The fast growing Gulf carrier has been in negotiations with Alitalia (2nd) (Rome) about a possible buy-in. This has lead to speculation that Airberlin, Niki and Alitalia could be combined with a common Etihad ownership thread.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airberlin’s Boeing 737-86J D-ABML (msn 37773) prepares to land at Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
Airberlin (airberlin.com) (Berlin-Tegel) has delayed its annual meeting for a week and issued this statement:
Air Berlin PLC is currently in advanced discussions on options, which, if implemented, would have a substantial effect of the company. The company therefore postpones its annual press conference and the analysts and investors conference from March 20, 2014 to March 27, 2014.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-211 D-ABCJ (msn 5126) prepares to land at the lunar landscape of Tenerife Sur.
Airberlin (airberlin.com) (Berlin) has issued this statement outlining its plans for its upcoming summer schedule:
Airberlin will be expanding its tourist travel services this summer and including more destinations in its schedule. โTourist flights are an important pillar in our business model and we are constantly improving our services. With Larnaca and Malta, we have included new destinations in our portfolio and we are increasing the frequency of flights, especially to Greece and the Canary Islands,โ says Detlef Altmann, Senior Vice President Sales Touristic Services. The frequency of flights to Greece has increased by 11% compared with summer 2013, to 172 flights a week. Flights to the Canary Islands have increased by 12%, with 73 connections a week in summer 2014.
Next summer, Airberlin will be offering seven additional flights a week to the airport of Heraklion on Crete. For tourists wishing to travel to Kos and Santorini, there will be three more flights a week to each destination, meaning that airberlin will be flying seven times a week to Santorini and 21 times a week to Kos. There will be one extra flight a week to each of Chania, Kalamata, Lesbos, Mykonos, Rhodes, Samos and Zakynthos.
The number of flights a week to Lanzarote will increase by three compared with last year, to 13. airberlin will fly 16 times a week to Gran Canaria and 25 times a week to Tenerife South. Two flights a week have been added to each destination. The number of weekly flights to Fuerteventura is up from 17 to 18. There will be more Airberlin flights from Munich, with new services to the Canary Island destinations of Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife South.
For the first time, Airberlinโs summer schedule offers flight guests from Dusseldorf a weekly service to Corsica and several flights a week to Madrid.
The tourist services for people travelling from Vienna have been extended, with new services to Madrid, Malta and Larnaca on Cyprus. There are excellent connections from Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hanover, Hamburg, Munich and Nuremberg for the newly introduced flights from Vienna to Malta and Larnaca.
Airberlin also offers a regular schedule of long-haul tourist flights, including to Curaรงao, Cuba, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Fort Myers, Miami, New York (JFK) and the Thai holiday island of Phuket, with feeder flights from many airports in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. airberlin flies daily from Berlin and Dusseldorf to Abu Dhabi and,ย with its strategic partner, offers connecting services, for example to Bangkok, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and the Seychelles. Even Australia can be reached with Airberlin and Etihad Airways via Abu Dhabi, making this the shortest one-stop service from Germany to down under.
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-76J D-ABLE (msn 36873) approaches the runway at Zurich.
Airberlin (airberlin.com) (Berlin) and Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi) today (January 13) unveiled an Airbus A320 aircraft in specially designed joint livery, symbolizing the close ties between the two airlines and marking the launch of a new Moving Forward media campaign, according to the announcement.
At the event in Berlin, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, Airberlinโs Chief Executive Officer, and James Hogan, Etihad Airwaysโ President and Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Air Berlin PLC, gave details of how air travellers will continue to benefit from the special partnership and the progress made in the first two years.
Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, said: โThe comprehensive commercial partnership with Etihad Airways has brought many benefits to airberlin, including our shares of joint revenues of EUR 200 million, which is integral part of our turnaround program.
Partnerships are vital in todayโs aviation industry. Our partnership provides significant benefits to Etihad Airways, airberlin, as well as to our guests. Not only do we provide an expanded offering of destinations and services, we also have developed synergies through the entire value chain.
This means an increasingly attractive offer with numerous benefits for customers, and continuously improved productivity and lower costs. The positive response from our guests illustrates that we are on the right path.โ
Following the implementation of joint codesharing across the networks both airlines will strengthen the commercial partnership in 2014. That will include the expansion of joint sales operations, building on the current services provided by 17 joint sales offices located around the world, and representation in more than 50 international markets.
The Airberlin touristic expertise, an important pillar in Airberlinโs business, will also continue to be central to marketing the combined network.
The developments in the commercial partnership are set to further increase the number of passengers who fly on the airberlin and Etihad Airways network, which currently serves 228 destinations in 84 countries.
James Hogan said: โSince the launch of the partnership two years ago, commercial ties between Etihad Airways and Airberlin have deepened significantly. This has increased the destinations and flight options for guests and enabled both airlines to carry nearly 900,000 guests across the two networks.
During this time Airberlinโs new business strategy has made great progress and Etihad Airways continues to place its full support behind the airline and its management. We are confident that airberlin is on the right path back to profitability and the next phase in the airlineโs proud history.โ
A new joint โMoving Forwardโ media campaign will be launched in January and run until March 2014 and will see the new partnership logo of the two airlines featured in advertising and marketing across Germany.
James Hogan added: โDuring its 35 years of operations, airberlin has established itself as one of Europeโs leading business and leisure airlines, regularly carrying more than 30 million passengers each year.
This strong history and heritage, as well as its great potential, attracted Etihad Airways to make the equity investment and establish the commercial partnership, and this long term commitment remains key to the Etihad Airways business strategy.โ
Airberlin and Etihad Airways operate 42 weekly flights between destinations in Germany and Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. This will increase to 49 weekly flights in February 2014 when a second daily Munich flight commences.
In 2013, 563,000 common codeshare passengers flew across the two networks, a 74 per cent increase on the previous year. Currently, 66 airberlin routes carry Etihad Airwaysโ EY code and 33 Etihad Airwaysโ routes carry airberlinโs AB code.
Wolfgang Prock-Schauer announced new routes for this year: โWe shall continue to expand the joint route network with Etihad Airways and look forward to offering airberlin guests new codeshare destinations in India, Australia and South Korea.โ
Copyright Photo: Airberlin. Airbus A320-214 D-ABDU (msn 3516) was unveiled today in the joint livery.
It is a different environment out there these days for the airlines. They have to compete on many levels of service and also now in the growing social media to grab the attention of the potential customers. This includes the new and growing art of producing top-viewing videos to convey their messages including holiday greetings. Any airline which fails to recognize this new trend and operate creatively in this new venue will be left behind.
Since we like to report on new trends in air transportation, our intent with this sampling is to show you some of the best holiday messages this year being produced by the airlines. If you know of any good holiday airline messages that we missed please send us the link and we will add it to this list.
Air New Zealand has been at the cutting edge of this new media. Their videos get some of the top scores and visits. Here is their short holiday message:
Deltaย brought out their “Cheer Cart” for the holidays:
And a special holiday safety video:
WestJet had a big media splash this season and took a great leap forward with three blockbuster Christmas videos including one that granted its passenger’s wishes at bag claim:
We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our loyal readers, contributors and supporters the best in holiday greetings and wishes. Thank you for your readership, friendship, contributions and support of our AG products and our advertisers.
Copyright Photo: Arnd Wolf/AirlinersGallery.com. Airberlin has had a Christmas tradition of painting one of its aircraft in a special holiday livery. This year the theme is “Flying home for the holidays” and it features candles at each window on the pictured Boeing 737-86J D-ABMS (msn 37782). The affect is also different at night where the cabin light illuminates each candle at each window.
Airberlin (airberlin.com) (Berlin) in an online article on their website, explains the art of aircraft registrations:
Dr. Justin Gordon Abdy spends the time waiting. Standing at the window faรงade where the gate is located, he allows his gaze to wander across the airportโs airfield. Dawn is breaking. In his head, he runs through his documents one more time in preparation for the talk he has scheduled for today. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices a red and white aircraft behind the glass panel. It taxies slowly to the runway. D-ABDY โ five letters on the tail of the aircraft suddenly grab his attention. Abdy is his surname! It can be traced back to the English knights and barons of the 17th and 18th centuries. He wonders how the name ended up on the tail of the aircraft and takes out his smartphone. He does some investigation into the matter.
The aircraft with this registration code is an Airberlin Airbus A320. Every aircraft in the world is uniquely designated so that it can be precisely identified wherever it is. In Germany, the aircraft registration code is assigned via the higher federal authority for civil aviation, the LBA (German Federal Aviation Office) in Braunschweig. An international classification system is used for determining the registration code. The first letter represents the country of the operator โ in this case โDโ for โDeutschlandโ (Germany). The hyphen is followed by a letter that designates the maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of the aircraft. All those with the letter โAโ after the country designation have a weight of over 20 tons. This Airbus is even authorised for a MTOW of 77 tons.
Later, Dr Abdy sends a snapshot of the A320 to Airberlin. Germanyโs second largest airline tells him more about the aircraft registration code. The sequence of the other letters in the registration code is determined by the airline operating the aircraft itself. It then needs to be approved with official authorizations in accordance with specific regulations. Moreover, the letter combinations selected by the airline must not be present on any other aircraft anywhere in the world.
At Airberlin, everything regarding aircraft registration is handled by the CAMO (Continuing Airworthiness Management Organization) team, where Nicole Pietsch and her colleagues are based. This team is dedicated to maintaining the airworthiness of the Airberlin fleet and, among other things, deals with the complex authorizations required for the aircraft at the LBA. The process as a whole begins long before the aircraft is allowed to taxi for the first time on the airport apron. The Airberlin aircraft have an average age of just five years. The authorization process starts approximately half a year before an aircraft joins the Airberlin fleet. When this happens, Nicole first of all, files an application for the reservation of a registration code, which is used by the office responsible for handling the matter to open a file for this aircraft.
For the registration code, Nicole determines the letters towards the end in accordance with a scheme. Because Airberlin is also otherwise abbreviated as โABโ on flight tickets, the third letter is often โBโ. The other letters are then chosen to enable the Airberlin technicians to recognise the equipment of an aircraft, or its type, immediately from the combination of letters. For instance, all Airbus A320 aircraft which have the same equipment have โDโ, โFโ or โNโ as the fourth letter. If it were a case of proceeding in a purely chronological and alphabetical order, the letter โEโ would also be used, but this letter is already occupied by aircraft of other airlines. The last letter then follows in accordance with the order of the alphabet again. Since Nicole has been following this procedure for a while now, the classification system continues to be used for all newly authorised airberlin aircraft.
In order to register an aircraft, however, yet more steps have to be taken โ simply establishing a registration code is not enough. The initial application to the LBA is followed by many more at specific points in time โ for initial registration, prior to delivery, following the technical checks and after certain approvals and inspections have taken place. Everything is put down in writing. For instance, even with four to six weeks to go before delivery takes place, the airberlin legal team makes an application for the purpose of registering the aircraft. When all the necessary steps have been taken, Nicole personally brings the documents to Braunschweig. The day on which the aircraft is to be authorised is an exciting one. Carrying a vast number of original documents under her arm, she goes to the LBA and only leaves the office once she has the newly issued authorisation documents such as the certificate of airworthiness, the registration certificate and the noise certificate. Then, at the end of the day, she also receives the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) via fax, which permits the aircraft to be flown as part of the airberlin fleet.
Though he has learned that the Airbus is not directly named after his surname but simply happens to share the same sequence of letters, Dr Abdy is still delighted that an aircraft bears his surname.
Copyright Photo: Airberlin. Boeing 737-86J D-ABMS (msn 37782) was unveiled yesterday in Dusseldorf. The airline issued this statement:
Airberlin is once again operating its aircraft decorated in Christmas livery under the motto โFlying home for Christmasโ. The Boeing 737-800 will continue to be out and about on the airlineโs European route network right into January. Anyone who flies home for the holiday season with Airberlin on a regular basis has a good chance of travelling in the festively-decorated aircraft. The inaugural flight for Airberlinโs Christmas aircraft will go from Dusseldorf to Copenhagen. โI am delighted to have the opportunity of operating the first flight this year in Airberlinโs Christmas colors. Itโs always a special occasion, bringing flight guests home to their families and friends in airberlinโs Christmas aircraft,โ First Officer Andreas Graute explained.
This year the design of the Christmas plane resembles a string of fairy lights. There is a candle-like light for each day of Advent. โThe windows of the aircraft constitute the flames of the candles. For the first time we have a Christmas design that achieves a completely different effect at night to that created during the daytime. The aircraft has an especially atmospheric ambience on evening flights,โ said Andrรฉ Rahn, Senior Vice President Marketing. The design was created by RAPP Germany. The interior of the plane is also decorated in festive mood with specially-designed headrest covers.
The Boeing with the registration D-ABMS, which is affectionately known as โMerry Santaโ, arrived at Hangar 7 at Dusseldorf Airport on November 13. First of all, the fuselage of the aircraft was thoroughly cleaned. On November 14 the seven-man Airberlin technik team started work. The first step was to once again clean all the surfaces to be decorated with special detergent. Next the sheeting, which is certified for aviation and specially UV-resistant, was mounted on the fuselage of the aircraft. Finally, an edge sealer was applied to the leading edges in order to prevent the sheeting from peeling away and to guarantee optimal airflow. The sheeting with the fairy light design is just 80 micrometres thick, measures 15.32 m in length and is 1.87 m high.
In 2010, the Airberlin Christmas aircraft appeared for the first time in digital form on airberlin.com. In response to requests from numerous guests, the first actual airberlin aircraft in Christmas livery took to the skies in November 2011. airberlin is the first German airline to have a Christmas aircraft.
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Video: 30 Years of flying from the Air Berlin USA days:
Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth/AirlinersGallery.com. Operated by Germania for Airberlin, Boeing 737-75B D-AGEN (msn 28100) approaches Zurich for landing.
Airberlin (airberlin.com) (Berlin) narrowed its second quarter loss to 8.1 million euros ($10.8 million), down from a loss of 29.4 million euros for the same quarter a year ago. The airline has been downsizing, eliminating 300 positions.
The company issued this statement:
In the second quarter of 2013, Airberlin improved its operating result (EBIT) despite a difficult market environment. Airberlin was able to increase EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) to EUR -8.1 million, an improvement of two-thirds over the corresponding quarter of 2012 (EUR -29.4 million). EBITDAR (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, and leasing expenses and rentals) increased by 12 percent to EUR 166.4 million (2012: EUR 148.0 million). Despite a noticeable eight percent capacity reduction, Airberlin’s total revenue at EUR 1.11 billion remained at the level of the previous year (EUR 1.13 billion). Airberlin reduced its net loss for the second quarter to EUR -38.0 million, an improvement of almost two-thirds over the previous yearโs corresponding quarter (EUR -99.8 million).
Increased capacity utilization, RASK and Yield
In the second quarter, Airberlin further increased its capacity utilization, revenue per available seat kilometer (RASK) and revenue per passenger. The number of routes flown in the second quarter decreased from 520 in 2012 to 440 in the current year, while the number of route frequencies increased by 14 percent. Capacity utilization increased by four percentage points, to 83.7 percent (previous year: 79.7 percent). Revenue per available seat kilometer (RASK) increased by 4.8 percent to 7.20 Eurocents (previous year: 6.87 Eurocents). Average yield (revenue per passenger) increased to EUR 113.74 (previous year: EUR 112.85).
Presenting the second quarter results for 2013, Airberlin’s CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer comments: “An improved operating income, increased capacity utilization, increasing revenue per seat kilometer and stable revenue despite capacity reduction, demonstrate that important key numbers are moving in the right direction. The positive effects of our Turbine program will bear fruit later in the year. As a result of the generally muted economic conditions and the market environment, the ability to reach our targets is becoming increasingly challenging.”
Turbine implementation according to plan
The implementation of Turbine is continuously progressing according to plan, and will due to increasing challenges continue to be advanced as a matter of priority over the course of the year. The focus remains on increasing efficiency, expanding services, and negotiating with relevant stakeholders.
Airberlin has concluded new collective labor agreements with all relevant employees. This is the first time that uniform collective labor agreements have been concluded for all pilots and respectively for all cabin crew. These long-term collective agreements enable planning reliability and give Airberlin the required flexibility for further restructuring and increasing productivity. Personnel cutbacks are proceeding as planned, and by the end of July, Airberlin had eliminated 300 full-time positions.
Wolfgang Prock-Schauer comments: “The Turbine program is progressing as planned. The negotiations with our contracting partners have yielded productive results, and we are continuously optimizing our structure and our operating performance. More than 80 percent of the Turbine program’s planned contribution for 2013 has already been attained, with respect to both earnings and costs. Despite the challenging environment, we continue to strive to reach the target figure of EUR 200 million for 2013. For the coming winter flight plan, we will implement a streamlined concept of aircraft-positioning, in order to use our fleet even more efficiently.โ
Improved liquidity
At the end of the first half-year, Airberlin had liquid assets amounting to EUR 436.8 million at its disposal, those assets having grown by more than one-third from EUR 315 million in the first half-year of 2012. Equity capital at the end of the traditionally weak first half-year amounted to EUR -116.3 million as at the reporting date of 30 June. As a valuation at the reporting date according to IFRS, equity capital has no impact on the economic operation of the company.
Airberlin’s Chief Financial Officer Ulf Hรผttmeyer explains: “The traditionally weak earnings position in the first six months together with the non-recurring charges stemming from our turnaround program lead to negative equity capital. We expect the equity capital to increase over the following quarters. The target of reaching an equity capital ratio of 15 to 20 percent in the medium-term remains unchanged.”
Partnerships exceed expectations
In the second quarter, the strategic partnership with Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi) again delivered strong growth in the number of Airberlin passengers stemming from the code-share flights. The number of passengers more than tripled from 75,000 in 2012 to 267,000, based on a half-year comparison. With 449,000 passengers – this includes bookings made through July – the expectations for the entire year for the common code-share routes of Etihad Airways and Airberlin have already been exceeded. Furthermore, Airberlin is benefitting from code-share agreements with partners of Etihad Airways’ “Equity Alliance”, including Virgin Australia, Air Seychelles and Air Serbia. Airberlin and Etihad Airways are also expanding their cooperation in other fields such as maintenance and procurement.
The number of passengers traveling onย oneworldยฎย alliance flights likewise exceeded expectations. In the first half of the year, 267,000 passengers had already traveled on code-share flights operated by Airberlin and itsย oneworld partners.
Airberlin (airberlin.com) (Berlin) and Jat Airways (Belgrade), the national airline of the Republic of Serbia, will offer their passengers selected flights under shared flight numbers, subject to government approvals. The codeshare agreement is valid for flights from August 1, 2013.
Under the agreement, Airberlin will offer the nonstop Jat Airways flights between Belgrade and Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Stuttgart under an AB flight number, thereby expanding their route range in South East Europe.
In return, Jat Airways passengers will be able to connect from Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Stuttgart to numerous Airberlin German domestic flights. From Airberlinโs hub in Berlin there will be further codeshare flights to prime destinations in Northern Europe to cities such as Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm.
Top Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Airberlin’s Boeing 737-86J D-ABMC (msn 37752) in the Oneworld color scheme taxies to the gate at Palma de Mallorca.
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Bottom Copyright Photo: Keith Burton/AirlinersGallery.com. Jat Airways’ Boeing 737-3H9 YU-AND (msn 23329) prepares to land at London (Heathrow).
Virgin Australia Airlines (Brisbane) has announced a reciprocal code share and frequent flyer agreement with Airberlin (Berlin), Germanyโs second largest airline.
The code share flights commence on August 1, 2013, subject to government approval, Virgin Australia will code share on Airberlinโs daily direct services from Abu Dhabi to Dusseldorf and Berlin. Airberlin will also code share on Virgin Australiaโs Abu Dhabi to Sydney service, its Phuket to Perth service and on nine of its domestic services within Australia.
As part of the new agreement, members of Virgin Australiaโs loyalty program Velocity Frequent Flyer and Airberlinโs top bonus program will receive reciprocal benefits, with the ability to earn and redeem Points or miles, regardless of which airline is operating the flight.
Airberlin operates daily direct services between Abu Dhabi and Berlin and between Abu Dhabi and Dusseldorf. The Airbus A330-200 operated services offer Full Flat seats with a massage function and 15 inch LED monitors in Business Class ensuring a superior level of comfort. In Economy Class, Airberlin offer new seats with anti-thrombosis cushions, a complimentary drinks service and a new in-seat entertainment system.
Top Copyright Photo: John Adlard/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-243 VH-XFC (msn 1293) arrives at the Sydney hub.
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Bottom Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A330-223 D-ABXA (msn 288) in the Oneworld scheme taxies to the runway at Palma de Mallorca.
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