Where in the world have you flown?
How long have you been in the air?
Create your own FlightMemory and see!

Air Berlin (Germany)

Air Berlin
IATA
AB		 ICAO
BER		 Callsign
AIR BERLIN
Founded 1978
Hubs
Focus cities
Frequent flyer program topbonus
Fleet size 130 (+122 orders, 10 options)
Destinations 123
Headquarters Berlin, Germany
Key people Joachim Hunold (CEO)
Elke Schütt (CCO)
Karl F. Lotz (COO)
Ulf Hüttmeyer (CFO)
Wolfgang Kurth (CMO)
Website: http://www.airberlin.com/

Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG is Germany's second largest airline, after Lufthansa.[1] It is based in Berlin, Germany,[1] and operates extensive semi-low-cost services to holiday destinations on the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands and North Africa, as well as to major cities in Europe from 21 German airports. Its main base is Berlin-Tegel International Airport, with hubs at Düsseldorf International Airport, Nuremberg Airport and Son Sant Joan Airport, Palma[2]. Air Berlin's parent company, Air Berlin Group or Air Berlin PLC, is publicly traded (FSE: AB1, ISIN is GB00B128C026)[3] It has 8,400 employees (at March 2008).[2] The airline carried 28.6 million passengers in 2008 [2].

Contents

History

In 1978 a former Pan Am captain formed Air Berlin as a US supplemental carrier and incorporated it under the name Air Berlin, Inc. in Oregon, USA. Air Berlin traded as Air Berlin USA until the end of the Cold War on 2 October 1990.[4][5]

West Berlin's special political status during the Cold War era (8 April 1945 - 2 October 1990) meant that all air traffic to and from the Western half of Germany's divided former and present capital was restricted to the airlines of the three Western victorious powers of World War II, i.e. only those headquartered in the US, UK and France. In addition, all flightdeck crew, i.e. pilots, flight engineers and navigators, flying aircraft into and out of West Berlin through the Allied air corridors were required to hold American, British or French passports.[6]

The newly-formed airline's first aircraft was a Boeing 707-331, which it had acquired second-hand from TWA.[3] This aircraft was stationed at Berlin's Tegel Airport. It was assigned to fulfill a lucrative charter contract to operate a series of short- to medium-haul IT charter flights to the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands on behalf of Berliner Flug Ring, at the time West Berlin's leading package tour operator.[7] Air Berlin had taken over this contract from Aeroamerica, another US supplemental carrier, which had been based at Berlin Tegel from 1974 until 1979.[7] In addition to operating inclusive tour (IT) charter flights from Berlin Tegel under contract to Berliner Flug Ring, Air Berlin also operated a weekly scheduled service from Tegel via Brussels to Orlando, Florida, USA, for a brief period during the early 1980s.[8]

Air Berlin initially augmented its fleet through the acquisition of additional, second-hand Boeing 707s. These were replaced with more modern, second-hand Boeing 737-200 "Advanced", which were more appropriate for the airline's IT operations from Berlin, from the spring of 1981.[9]

Eventually, Air Berlin transitioned to a fleet entirely composed of brand-new Boeing 737-300/400s during the late 1980s.[10] This coincided with the introduction of a new livery.[10]

Following Germany's reunification on 3 October 1990, German investors acquired a majority stake in the company and Joachim Hunold, a former LTU manager, became the CEO. The airline was re-registered under German law and renamed Air Berlin GmbH & Co. Luftverkehrs KG.[4] The airline joined IATA and started scheduled flights to European business capitals, such as London, Zurich, Vienna and Barcelona in 1997. In January 2004, Air Berlin announced cooperation with former Formula One driver Niki Lauda's newly founded airline Niki and took a 24% stake in Niki.[4].

In 2006, Air Berlin successfully completed an initial public offering on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Originally scheduled for 5 May 2006, it was postponed until 11 May 2006; the company cited recent rises in fuel costs and other market pressures leading to limited of investor demand and reduced the initial share-price range from 15.0-17.5 to 11.5-14.5 and the stock opened at 12.0. 42.5 million shares were sold in the IPO. Of this, 19.6 million were new shares increasing capital in the company, and the remainder to replay 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.[11]

Later in 2006 Air Berlin announced that it had acquired 100% of the shares in dba [12] and in August 2006, the acquisition was formally completed. In March 2007, Air Berlin took over German charter airline LTU International, thereby creating the fourth largest airline group in Europe (in terms of passenger traffic), carrying 22.1 million passengers in 2006. At the same time, Air Berlin acquired a 49% shareholding in Swiss airline Belair owned by tour operator Hotelplan.[13]

In October 31 2007, Air Berlin discontinued it routes from London Stansted to Belfast City, Glasgow, Palma Mallorca and Manchester, the latter of the routes now taken over by Ryanair to Belfast City and Palma Mallorca.

End of March 2009, TUI Travel PLC and Air Berlin PLC signed a strategic partnership agreement. It is based on a cross ownership in which TUI Travel PLC through a subsidiary, will have an interest of 19.9 percent in Air Berlin PLC and vice versa Air Berlin PLC will hold 19.9 percent of Hapag-Lloyd Fluggesellschaft mbH/TUIfly. In case it would be permitted by the german monopolies commission, all TUIfly city routes will be chartered to Air Berlin in future via a long term wet lease. [14]

Recent Developments

In 2007, a new livery was brought in first shown on Airbus A319.[15]

On 20 September 2007, Air Berlin announced that it would acquire its competitor Condor Airlines in a deal that would give Thomas Cook a 30% stake in Air Berlin.[16] A variety of considerations, including the rapidly increasing price of jet fuel, led to the abandonment of the deal in July 2008.

In June 2008, Air Berlin's CEO, Joachim Hunold, claimed in an op-ed[17] in Air Berlin Magazine that the government of the Balearic Islands was trying to impose the use of Catalan in their flights from and to Majorca. He said that Air Berlin is an International airline and therefore does not have to use Catalan language, which he described in a derogatory way. Hunold went on to criticise the language policy in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, claiming erroneously that today many children cannot speak Spanish.[18] Hunold's remarks were not well received in the Balearic Islands and Catalonia where his views, such as his preference for "imperial" languages, have been considered supremacist. 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 they use with their customers, whether that be through staff training or recorded announcements as used by other airlines, and offering them support in doing so.[19] The Catalan language is used to some extent by several other international airlines, including EasyJet, Ryanair and American Airlines, as can be seen on their respective web pages. As a result of Humbold's comments, FC Barcelona refused to use an Air Berlin plane to fly to the United States for their 2008 pre-season tour.

On 18 June 2008 [4], Air Berlin announced that it would be permanently grounding 14 short-haul aircraft and reducing recently launched long-haul services in an effort to increase profitability throughout the network. This would effectively reduce cut overall flight capacity by 10 percent, although long-haul flight capacity would be cut by 30 percent. In addition, it was announced that Cape Town, Windhoek and Bangkok flights would be reduced, while flights to Miami, Cancun and Montego Bay would be increased.

In 2009 the airline was awarded as the most punctual scheduled operator at London Stansted Airport during 2008 by Flight on Time, based on CAA statistics.[20]

On May 1, 2009 Air Berlin started to finally shut down the LTU brand. Most flights operated by LTU aircraft and crew have now Air Berlin flight numbers, with the remaining flights to Mexico, Canada and the Caribean to follow in the near future.

Services

Air Berlin does not operate with a pure low-cost carrier model: most notably, instead of just point-to-point service, Air Berlin offers guaranteed connections via its hubs. The airline offers including in-flight snacks, meals, and drinks. Meals for purchase are available on short haul routes over 90 minutes; meals must be purchased during a period spanning from 30 days to 48 hours before the flight.[21] Drinks and snacks (for routes up to four hours) are free on all flights. Free meals exist for flights four hours or longer, on flights to Agadir and Funchal, and for intercontinental flights.[22] The airline also has newspapers on board,[23] assigned seating[24] and a frequent flyer program.[25] As such, Air Berlin's model follows that of US low-cost carriers rather than European ones.

Codeshare agreements

Destinations

Main article: Air Berlin destinations

Fleet

The Air Berlin fleet (including Belair , LTU International and Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter) consists of the following aircraft (as of 12 May 2009) [5]:

Joined fleet of Air Berlin, Belair, LGW, and LTU
Aircraft Number Seats Routes Notes
Airbus A319-112 15
 150 Germany, Europe
 1 aircraft operated by Belair
Airbus A319-132 4
 144 Germany, Europe
Airbus A320-214 30
(2 orders)		 174 Germany, Europe
 12 aircraft operated by LTU
2 aircraft operated by Belair
Airbus A321-211 6
 210 Germany, Europe, North Africa
 1 aircraft operated by LTU Boeing 757-200 replacement
Airbus A330-200 10
 303 (24/279) North America, Asia, Caribbean and high-density flights to the Mediterranean region
 featuring Business and Economy Class
operated by LTU
Airbus A330-300 3
 387 North America, Asia, Caribbean and high-density flights to the Mediterranean region
 to be replaced by Boeing 787
operated by LTU
Boeing 737-700 17
(32 orders)		 144 Germany, Europe
 6 aircraft operated by Germania
Boeing 737-800 35
(60 orders)		 186 Germany, Europe, North Africa
Boeing 757-200 2 209 from Zürich to the Mediterranean region operated by Belair
to be replaced by Airbus A320 family (around 6 to enter Belair service)
Boeing 767-300 1 252 (42/210) from Zürich to the Mediterranean region featuring Relax and Economy Class
operated by Belair
to be phased out
Boeing 787-8 25 orders
10 options		 c. 280 A330-300 replacement
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 7
(3 orders)		 76 low-density German and European flights to be delivered in 2009
operated by LGW
Total: 130
(122 orders)

As of 23 April 2009, the average age of the Air Berlin fleet is 5.5 years.

On 28 November 2006, Boeing announced that Air Berlin intended to purchase 60 Boeing Next-Generation 737-800 and also identified an order placed earlier in 2006 for 15 Boeing 737-700 aircraft. The combined value of the 75 airplanes would be $5.1 billion at list prices. Apparently, Air Berlin also has 10 unfilled 737-700s from a dba order announced in 2005. Air Berlin expects to take delivery of a total of 85 737s, starting in November 2007.[6] All 85 737s will be equipped with blended winglets, which significantly improve fuel efficiency.

On 7 July 2007, Air Berlin announced an order for 25 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners with options and purchase rights for more. [26]. Three more B787-8 will be leased from ILFC and will start its service in 2011.

Involvement in Mass Deportations

On June, 8th 2009 Air Berlin was involved in a mass deportation of Vietnamese refugees. The airplane to Hanoi started from the Berlin Airport Schönefeld. The mass deportation evoked strong protests from the public, especially from refugee organizations.[27]

Notes

  1. ^ "Contact." Air Berlin. Retrieved on 12 May 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International: p. 53. 2007-03-27. 
  3. ^ .airberlin.com:Investor Relations
  4. ^ a b c airberlin.com:History
  5. ^ "World Airline Directory 1979". Flight International. March 1979. 
  6. ^ Berlin Airport Company, Monthly Timetable Booklets for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports, Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, various editions April 1968 - October 1990
  7. ^ a b Berlin Airport Company, April 1979 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports, Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1979
  8. ^ Berlin Airport Company, April 1980 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports, Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1980
  9. ^ Berlin Airport Company, April 1981 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports, Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1981
  10. ^ a b Berlin Airport Company, April 1989 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports, Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1989
  11. ^ Repricing of IPO
  12. ^ Air Berlin acquires dba
  13. ^ David Kaminski-Morrow (2007-04-03). "Air Berlin LTU move driven by access to Düsseldorf". Flight International: p. 9. 
  14. ^ TUI Travel PLC and Air Berlin seal strategic alliance for their German flight business
  15. ^ "Air Berlin unveils its new livery with an Airbus A319" Flight Global, 29/08/07
  16. ^ "Air Berlin seeks to buy Condor, give T. Cook stake" Reuters, Frankfurt, 20-Sept-2007.
  17. ^ Air Berlin Magazine(German)
  18. ^ Vilaweb, 5 June 2008.(Catalan)
  19. ^ Vilaweb, 6 June 2008.(Catalan)
  20. ^ Flight on Time Awards 2008
  21. ^ "Gourmet Meals." Air Berlin. Accessed 26 October 2008.
  22. ^ "Service on board." Air Berlin. Accessed 26 October 2008.
  23. ^ airberlin.com:Onboard Service
  24. ^ airberlin.com:Seating
  25. ^ airberlin.com:topbonus
  26. ^ Boeing: Boeing, Air Berlin Announce Order for 25 787 Dreamliners
  27. ^ Kundgebung gegen AirBerlin/FRONTEX Massenabschiebung nach Vietnam

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Air Berlin
v  d  e
Airlines of Germany
This article based on this article: Air_Berlinexternal Link from the free encyclopedia Wikipediaexternal Link and work with the GNU Free Documentation License. In Wikipedia is this list of the authorsexternal Link.