Airberlin (airberlin.com) (Berlin) took delivery of newly-built Boeing 737-86J registered D-ABMC (msn 37752) on November 14. The carrier has decorated the new airliner in this special “Flying home for Christmas” and “Santa Claus Tour 2011” livery for the holidays.
Here is the flying schedule for D-ABMC: CLICK HERE
Copyright Photo: Arnd Wolf.
Airberlin Slide Show: CLICK HERE
Airberlin (Airberlin.com) Airbus A330-223 D-ALPJ (msn 911) YVR (Tony Storck), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.
Airberlin (Berlin) is exploring possible partner and investor relationships with airlines from the Arabian Gulf region and China.
Airberlin’s new CEO Hartmut Mehdorn has already held talks with Etihad Airways and the HNA Group according to Sueddeutsche Zeitung and this report by AFP.
Airberlin’s founder Joachim Hunold had always opposed the option of seeking foreign investors but Mehdorn appears to be pursuing a different strategy.
Read the full report: CLICK HERE
Copyright Photo: Tony Storck.
Airberlin Slide Show: CLICK HERE
Niki (flyniki.com) Airbus A321-211 OE-LEW (msn 4611) FRA (Tony Storck), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.
Niki’s (Vienna) founder and majority shareholder announced on November 8, 2011 he was selling all his remaining shares to Airberlin.
Lauda previously owned 50.1 percent of his second airline.
The Niki name will remain and Niki Lauda will join the Airberlin board of directors.
Airberlin issued the following statement:
“The founder of Austrian airline Niki Luftfahrt GmbH, Andreas Nikolaus (Niki) Lauda, has been appointed to the Board of Air Berlin PLC as Non-Executive Director.
Since July 2010 Air Berlin PLC has held a 49.9 stake in Niki Luftfahrt GmbH. Airberlin, the Lauda Private Trust and Niki Lauda have agreed that the Lauda Private Trust will be withdrawing from Niki Luftfahrt GmbH. The withdrawal of the Lauda Private Trust will be taking place shortly in the course of restructuring measures in accordance with company law. As a result the Lauda Private Trust will be repaying the loan it had received from Airberlin by transferring its 50.1 percent stake in Niki Luftfahrt GmbH. Austrian control and majority ownership of Niki Luftfahrt GmbH will in future be ensured by a new private trust that is exclusively Austrian and that will hold a majority stake in Niki Luftfahrt GmbH. The transfer of the 50.1 percent stake will not involve any cash payments.”
Copyright Photo: Tony Storck. Please click on the photo for the full story.
Niki Slide Show: CLICK HERE
Air Berlin (Airberlin.com) Boeing 737-86J WL D-ABKM (msn 37755) PAE (Nick Dean) (latest delivery), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.
Airberlin (Tegel) announced today it has reached agreements with both Airbus and Boeing to postpone 11 Airbus A320 family aircraft and eight Boeing 737NG family aircraft. For 2012 and 2013, 31 new aircraft will be delivered to Airberlin. 19 aircraft will be postponed. As a result, Airberlinโs debt load is eased, in particular for the years 2012 through 2014, and the delivery of new aircraft is also secured until 2016.
In other news, Airberlin is looking east for traffic potential. The company is expanding its presence in Eastern Europe. For the first time, Airberlin’s and Niki’s 2011/12 winter flight schedule is offering synchronized flights catering to the growth markets of Rumania, Bulgaria and Serbia. With up to three flights daily, the capital cities of these countries, namely Bucharest, Sofia and Belgrade, will be linked with the Vienna hub. Flight times and connections are scheduled such that Airberlin can offer significantly faster connections from the German-speaking regions to South Eastern Europe. This applies to the routes from Berlin, Dรผsseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Nuremberg and Zurich.
According to the airline, “Flight connections to Russia are also being improved. A capacity increase of almost 35% from the Russian market enabled better connections to Europe-bound and long-haul flights. The number of passengers transported increased by more than 50%. Airberlin wants to take part in this development and therefore, starting from the winter flight schedule, will be offering 50 flights per week to Moscow and St. Petersburg from Berlin, Dรผsseldorf, Munich, Stuttgart, Vienna and Salzburg.”
Airberlin will also strengthen its position in Poland. As of May 1, 2012, Airberlin, Germany’s will triple its flights to Krakow and will link the city of Gdansk to the Berlin hub. With two daily connections per week during off-peak times and one flight connection on Saturdays and Sundays, travelers from Northern and Southern Poland will be able to catch connections to flights within Germany, to Austria, Switzerland or the Nordic countries. Furthermore, long-haul connections to New York, Miami or Bangkok will be available. Travelers to Gdansk will thus have rapid access to the Polish region of the Baltic Sea, to Masuria, and to the European Football Championship in the summer of 2012.
Airberlin is also increasing its presence in Turkey with a new Airberlin Turkey operation.
Airberlin Slide Show: CLICK HERE
Copyright Photo: Nick Dean. Please click on the photo for additional information.
Airberlin (Airberlin.com) Airbus A330-223 D-ALPJ (msn 911) YVR (Tony Storck), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.
Airberlin (airberlin.com) (Berlin) will launch nonstop Berlin-Los Angeles flights starting in May 2012.. The new route will be operated initially three times a week.
Copyright Photo: Tony Storck.
Airberlin Slide Show: CLICK HERE
Airberlin (Airberlin.com) Boeing 737-7K5 WL D-AHXJ (msn 35277) NUE (Gunter Mayer), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.
Airberlin (Berlin-Tegel) has announced a major downsizing called “Shape and Size” in the hope it can return to profitability. As a result CEO Joachim Hunold has resigned. The company will reduce its fleet by 18 aircraft, or by 10 percent from 170 to 152 aircraft. AB will cancel unprofitable routes, institute flight frequency reductions and also the partial withdrawal from regional airports, and the concentration at the Berlin, Dรผsseldorf, Palma de Mallorca and Vienna hubs. Some of the routes being cancelled include Frankfurt – Hamburg, Frankfurt – Naples, Stuttgart – St. Petersburg, Munich – Cairo, and Dรผsseldorf – Paris.
Hunold blamed the Aviation Tax are the main reason for many of the routes to become unprofitable.
Read the full report by the company: CLICK HERE
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Copyright Photo: Gunter Mayer.
Airberlin (Airberlin.com) Airbus A330-223 D-ALPJ (msn 911) YVR (Tony Storck), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.
Airberlin (airberlin.com) (Berlin-Tegel) and Deutsche Polarflug are organizing the first round trip from Berlin-Tegel to the Arctic and the North Pole on May 5, 2012. The twelve-hour trip is the only one of its kind worldwide. The aircraft follows a route from Berlin over Norway and beyond. Initially the passengers will have a birdโs eye view of what is probably one of the most spectacular landscapes on earth: unspoilt nature with snow-covered mountains, ice floes and fjords near Spitzbergen. The trip then continues across the Arctic Ocean and straight towards the North Pole. Here the Airbus A330 circles the earth twice by crossing all degrees of longitude in just a few minutes. The plane then flies along Greenlandโs craggy eastern coast and on to Iceland and Scotland before the expedition returns to Berlin.
According to the airline, Airberlinโs long-haul Airbus A330 will repeatedly descend from its cruising altitude to give passengers a good view of the Arctic landscapes, with unique photographic subjects. Experts on the Arctic region will explain theses spectacular natural highlights from the cockpit. During the flight the cabin crew will be serving menus inspired by the Nordic influence and created especially for this expeditionary flight.
Flight number AB 1111 will take off at 0800 (8 a.m.) on May 5, 2012 to return at around 2000 (8 p.m.). This is therefore the last opportunity to fly directly to the eternal ice from Berlin-Tegel, shortly before the new Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt airport is opened June 3, 2012.
Tickets are available online at polarflug.de or by calling +49 (0) 201 / 47 01 77. Fares start at 444 euros and include taxes, charges and topbonus miles.
On the financial side, Airberlin reported its second quarter operating loss widened toย 32.2 million eurosย ($46ย million), up from 28.2ย millionย eurosย in the same period in 2010.
Copyright Photo: Tony Storck.
Iberiaย (Madrid) and Airberlinย (Berlin) have signed an agreement, effective today (July 8), for sharing flight codes. Iberia passengers now have easier access to much of airberlin’s domestic route network and to other European cites served by Germany’s second largest airline.
Airberlin (Airberlin.com) Boeing 737-7K5 WL D-AHXJ (msn 35277) NUE (Gunter Mayer), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.
Airberlin’s (Berlin) first quarter loss widened to $160 million.
Read the full report from Reuters: CLICK HERE
Copyright Photo: Gunter Mayer.
Airberlin (airberlin.com) Airbus A319-112 D-ABGQ (msn 3700) PMI (Ton Jochems), originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.
Airberlin (Berlin-Tegel) reported a net loss of $137 million in 2010.
In addition, the integration of subsidiary LTU (Dusseldorf) will take place according to plan as on April 1, 2011. LTU’s flight operations will become part of airberlin, and maintenance in Berlin, Dรผsseldorf and Cologne will be consolidated in Airberlin Technik.
Read the full report from Airberlin: CLICK HERE
Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems.
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