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airberlin
IATA ICAO Callsign
AB BER AIR BERLIN
Founded1978 (as Air Berlin USA)
Hubs
Frequent-flyer programtopbonus
AllianceOneworld (future)
Fleet size142 (+ orders)
Destinations154
Key peopleJoachim Hunold (CEO)
Ulf Hüttmeyer (CFO)
Christoph Debus (CCO)
Elke Schütt (CAO)
Karl F. Lotz (COO)
Helmut Himmelreich (CMO)
Thomas Ney (CPO)
Revenue3,240.3 Mil. € (2009) [1]
Websiteairberlin.com
airberlin headquarters: Airport Bureau Center in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Berlin
Gathered fleet at Berlin-Tegel Airport
airberlin introduced the current livery (seen here on a Boeing 737-700) in 2007.
As seen on this Airbus A319, some aircraft taken over from LTU and Germania were painted in an interim livery.
A Boeing 737-800 in the livery used until 2007.

Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (stylized as airberlin or airberlin.com) is Germany's second largest airline, after Lufthansa, and Europe's sixth largest airline in terms of passengers.[3] The airline operates an extensive semi-low-cost network including holiday destinations in the Mediterranean region, the Canary Islands and North Africa as well as intercontinental destinations in South East Asia, the Caribbean and the United States. airberlin concentrates on serving major German and European cities to attract business traffic. A total of 23 German cities are served, more than any other airline. The airline is headquartered in Building 2 of the Airport Bureau Center in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Berlin.[4] Its largest hub is Berlin-Tegel Airport.[5] Other hub airports are Dusseldorf Airport, Nuremberg Airport and Son Sant Joan Airport, Palma. On 26 July 2010, the Oneworld airline alliance announced that airberlin had been invited to join.[6]

airberlin's parent company, airberlin Group or Air Berlin PLC, is publicly traded (FSE: AB1, ISIN is GB00B128C026).[7] In June 2010, it had 8,741 employees.[8] The airline (including subsidiaries) carried 27.9 million passengers in 2009.[9] In June 2010 airberlin's fleet, including those of its subsidiaries, consisted of 150 operational aircraft.

History

1978–1989

Original Air Berlin USA logo

In 1978, former Pan Am pilot Kim Lundgren and former Modern Air Transport general manager John D. MacDonald formed airberlin as a US supplemental carrier and incorporated it under the name Air Berlin, Inc. in Oregon, USA, trading as Air Berlin USA and headquartered in Miami, Florida. This was due to West Berlin's special legal status during the Cold War era (8 May 1945 – 2 October 1990), which meant that all air traffic to and from the city was restricted to 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 (pilots, flight engineers and navigators), on these flights through the Allied air corridors had to be citizens of one of these states.[10]

airberlin's first revenue flight (from Berlin to Palma de Mallorca) took place on 28 April 1979, with its first aircraft being a Boeing 707-320, which had been acquired from TWA.[11] Operating from Berlin-Tegel Airport, the airline was assigned to fulfill lucrative charter contracts operating a series of short to medium-haul IT charter flights to the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands on behalf of Berliner Flug Ring, at that time West Berlin's leading package tour operator.[12] airberlin had taken over this contract from Aeroamerica, another US supplemental carrier, which was based at Berlin Tegel from 1974 to 1979.[12] Additionally, airberlin operated weekly scheduled service from Tegel via Brussels to Orlando, during a brief period in the early 1980s.[13]

In the spring of 1981, airberlin's original two Boeing 707 aircraft were replaced by the more modern Boeing 737-200 Adv type, which was more appropriate for the airline's IT operations from Berlin to the Mediterranean region, especially to Majorca (where it is now the largest airline operating there).[14]

In 1985, airberlin moved its headquarteres to Berlin.[15] airberlin transitioned to a fleet entirely composed of brand-new Boeing 737-300 and 737-400 aircraft during the late 1980s.[16] This coincided with the introduction of a new livery, which remained relatively unchanged until 2007.[16]

1990–1999

On 2 October 1990, the eve of Germany's reunification (which led to the end of Berlin's special status), the airline was renamed Air Berlin, and German investors acquired a majority stake in the company with Joachim Hunold, a former LTU manager, becoming CEO, a position he still holds. Some time later, on 16 April 1991, the airline was re-registered under German law and renamed Air Berlin GmbH & Co. Luftverkehrs KG.[17][17][18] airberlin joined IATA, the company also moved away from charters and moved towards scheduled flights, including important European business centres (which had been served since 1997).

2000–2010

airberlin logo used until 2007

In January 2004, airberlin announced it would cooperate with Niki, a Vienna-based airline.[17] As part of the deal, airberlin took a 24% stake in Niki.

In 2005, a partnership agreement with Germania was signed. It saw airberlin leasing some of Germania's aircraft and crew, and Germania became almost exclusively a charter airline. Germania was to have been associated with airberlin under a management contract. However, the contract was not signed. At the beginning of March 2008 Germania’s joint owners could not reach agreement about the takeover by airberlin, so Germania remained an independent airline.

In 2006, airberlin successfully completed an initial public offering (IPO) 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 Euros to 11.5–14.5 Euros and 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.[19]

In August 2006, airberlin announced that it had acquired 100% of the shares in German domestic airline dba[20] Flight operations at dba were continued as a fully owned subsidiary of airberlin until 14 November 2008, when the dba brand was discontinued due to staff strikes. (dba staff were subsequently offered positions with airberlin).

On 28 November 2006, aircraft manufacturer Boeing announced an airberlin order of 60 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, as well as for 15 aircraft of the smaller Boeing 737-700 variant. The combined value of these 75 airplanes would be 5.1 billion Dollars at then list prices. Delivery started in 2007.[21] All of these aircraft will be equipped with blended winglets, which significantly improve fuel efficiency.

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

On 7 July 2007, airberlin announced an order for 25 modern Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner longhaul aircraft, with further options and purchase rights.[22] Three additional aircraft of this type will be leased from ILFC. Entry into service is projected for 2011.

On 21 August 2007, airberlin acquired a 49 percent shareholding in Swiss charter airline Belair, the remainder being owned by tour operator Hotelplan.[23] 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 airberlin as well as charter flights for Hotelplan.

On 20 September 2007, airberlin announced it intended to buy its direct competitor Condor in a deal that saw Condor's owner, the Thomas Cook Group, taking a 30% stake in airberlin.[24] 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 airberlin introduced a new logo together with a new corporate design. The logo is a white oval shape on a red background (to suggest an aircraft window) where the letter “a” is depicted by a white circle and two white stylised wings. The airberlin text element is now in lower case and written as one word. Sometimes the slogan “Your Airline” also features as part of the logo.

In June 2008, CEO Joachim Hunold caused a quarrel with the Catalan People, when he claimed [25] in an article included in airberlin's inflight magazine that the government of the Balearic Islands was trying to impose the use of Catalan onboard of airberlin flights from and to Majorca. He claimed that airberlin was an international airline and therefore would not have 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.[26] Hunold's remarks were not well received in the Balearic Islands and Catalonia where his views were considered supremacist.[citation needed] 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.[27] On 18 June of the same year, airberlin announced that it would reduce its long-haul services by 13 percent, as well as cut 10 percent of services on the domestic market in an effort to increase profitability.[28]

In January 2009 airberlin started a co-operation with Hainan Airlines, China’s fourth-largest airline. Both airlines offer 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.[29]

At the end of March 2009, a strategic partnership agreement with TUI Travel was signed, which is based on a cross ownership of airberlin and its direct competitor TUIfly each purchases 9.9 percent of the other's shares.[30] Following this deal, airberlin 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 merged into airberlin's fleet. Further route shifts will see TUIfly abandoning all scheduled flights and relying exclusively on the charter business.[31]

In March 2009 ESAS Holding bought approximately 15 per cent of the voting shares in Air Berlin PLC. The Federal Cartel Office in Bonn has notified Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG that it has no objections to the Turkish company ESAS Holding A.S. acquiring a stake in the airline.[32]

On 28 September 2009, airberlin announced it would cooperate with Pegasus Airlines, thus allowing its customers access to more destinations and flights to and within Turkey on a codeshare-like basis.[33]

In October 2009 airberlin entered into cooperation with Bangkok Airways. airberlin offers passengers the flights operated by Bangkok Airways under its own flight number.[34]

In April 2010 airberlin expanded its codeshare arrangements with Russia’s S7 Airlines. The strategic cooperation between airberlin and S7 Airlines has been in place since October 2008. New services include codeshare flights via Moscow to destinations such as Irkutsk, Perm and Rostov.[35]

In July 2010 Air Berlin PLC announced an increase in its shareholding in NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH. Following the fulfilment of the required conditions, the agreements notarized on February 17, 2010 have been implemented. Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG indirectly acquired 25.9% of the shares in NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH form the Privatstiftung Lauda (private Lauda foundation) and has thereby increased its current shareholding in NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH from 24% to 49.9%. In connection with the increase of its shareholding, Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG 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 to the remaining 50.1% of NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH´s shares.[36]

Wikinews has related news:

On 26 July 2010, it was announced that airberlin had accepted an invitation to join the Oneworld airline alliance.[37] airberlin is expected to start flying as part of oneworld in early 2012.[38] In preparation for joining the alliance, airberlin has set up codeshare agreements with American Airlines and Finnair. This will provide airberlin passengers with access to the important American market and, via the Helsinki hub, to the rapidly growing Asian markets. The codeshare flights will be available in time for the winter schedule 2010/11.[39]

Services

In contrast to pure European low-cost carriers like Ryanair or easyJet, airberlin offers free (at the point of consumption) in-flight snacks, drinks as well as newspapers and magazines. Full hot meals are available for purchase on short haul flights longer than 90 minutes, on flights over six hours they are complimentary. One can order gourmet meals, which are, according to the airline, created by chefs at "Sansibar", a famous restaurant on the island of Sylt.[40][41] The airline also offers free newspapers,[42] assigned seating,[43] and guaranteed flight connections.[44] On flights operated by Airbus A330-200 aircraft, a dedicated business class section is offered. On most flight, airberlin offers movies and tv shows.

topbonus

Like many other airlines, airberlin has a frequent flyer scheme. airberlin's frequent flyer program (called topbonus) is operated jointly with Niki. Points (“miles”) can be collected on all flights, and these can be redeemed later for free flights (award flights) or for an upgrade to business class. In addition to the “topbonus Card Classic” there are cards with Silver and Gold status. A Service Card, for which a charge is made, is also available.

Destinations

Main article: airberlin destinations

Codeshare agreements

airberlin has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Fleet

Boeing 737-700 in a special Dreamliner livery.
Airbus A320-200 in the old livery
Airbus A321-200
Airbus A330-300
Bombardier Dash 8
Fokker 100 operated from 2004 to 2009, until being replaced by Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft.]]

As of 16 September 2010, the airberlin fleet consists of the following aircraft with an average age of 5.9 years:[45]

airberlin Fleet
Aircraft In Fleet Orders Options Passengers
(Business/Economy) 		Notes
Airbus A319-100 13 0 0 150 (0/150)
Airbus A320-200 33 0 0 174 (0/174)
Airbus A321-200 9 0 0 210 (0/210)
Airbus A330-200 10 0 0 303 (24/279)
Airbus A330-300 3 0 0 387 (0/387)
Boeing 737-700 27 31 0 144 (0/144) 7 operated by Germania
10 operated by TUIfly
Boeing 737-800 39 55 0 186 (0/186) 4 operated by TUIfly
Boeing 787-8 0 15 5 TBA Entry into service: 2015 (expected)
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 10 0 0 76 (0/76) all operated by LGW
Total 144 101 5


Fleet history

Over the years, airberlin operated the following aircraft types:[46]

airberlin Past Fleet
Aircraft Introduced Retired Notes
Airbus A319 2006
Airbus A320 2005
Airbus A321 2008 following the LTU fleet incorporation
Airbus A330-200 2008 following the LTU fleet incorporation
Airbus A330-300 2008 following the LTU fleet incorporation
BAe 146-200 2003 2004
Boeing 707 1978 1981 Air Berlin USA
Boeing 737-200 1980 1986 Air Berlin USA
Boeing 737-300 1986
2007 		1990
2010 		Air Berlin USA
[]
Boeing 737-400 1990 2007
Boeing 737-700 2003
Boeing 737-800 1998
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 2008 operated by LGW
Fokker 100 2004 2009

Record flight

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

Awards

  • Survey conducted among Capital magazine readers: “Airline of the Year 2008”. airberlin is voted top low-cost airline.
  • In 2008, for the fourth year in succession, airberlin won awards in the Low-Cost Airline and Charter Airline categories from travelchannel.de, a website.
  • Telegraph Travel Award 2008: airberlin was voted the best Low-Cost Airline for the second year running.
  • World Travel Award 2008: airberlin was voted the best Budget Airline for the second consecutive year.[47]
  • Skytrax World Airline Award 2009: airberlin voted best Low-Cost Airline in Europe. In addition the airline won an award in the regional category of "Best Low-Cost Airline in Central and Northern Europe”.
  • European Business Award 2009: airberlin won the European Business Award for its customer friendliness.[48]
  • oekom research 2009: airberlin awarded “Prime” investment status by the sustainability rating undertaken by oekom research AG.
  • Business Travel Award 2010: airberlin voted "Best Short-Haul Airline".[49]
  • ReiseBlick 2010: airberlin voted Airline of the Year for the third time in the "Short-Haul” category.
  • Spain Tourism Award 2010: airberlin received the "Spain Tourism Award" (STAR) for the second consecutive year in the category "Best German airline operating services between Germany and Spain".[50]
  • Clever reisen! 2010: In the current issue (2/2010) of Clever reisen! travel magazine, airberlin came out on top twice. In the first instance the magazine took a close look at Europe’s scheduled airlines. This involved scrutinising the services offered by 12 carriers in 13 sub-categories. airberlin gained full marks in the categories of departure airports, low-cost fares, age of fleet and accident statistics, and was awarded the accolade of "Europe’s youngest fleet". In the second instance the topbonus frequent flyer programme was rated a winner and earned airberlin the title "Best package for Business Class bonuses North America and Asia".[50]
  • Skytrax World Airline Award 2010: airberlin won the "World Airline Award" for the sixth time in succession. This time in the category "Best Low-Cost Airline Europe".[50]
  • Franz-von-Mendelssohn medal 2010: The Berlin Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Berlin Chamber of Crafts have awarded the "Franz-von-Mendelssohn medal" for social commitment and dedication for the sixth time now. airberlin was honoured with the special prize for its overall concept in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).[50]

Notes

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ [3]
  4. ^ "Approach map." airberlin. Retrieved on May 5, 2010.
  5. ^ Berlin Tegel still airberlin’s #1 base
  6. ^ http://www.oneworld.com/ow/news/details?objectID=22473
  7. ^ Investor Relations Page on airberlin.com
  8. ^ [4]
  9. ^ airberlin reveals 2009 passenger numbers
  10. ^ Berlin Airport Company, Monthly Timetable Booklets for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports, Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, various editions April 1968 – October 1990
  11. ^ [5]
  12. ^ a b Berlin Airport Company, April 1979 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports, Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1979
  13. ^ Berlin Airport Company, April 1980 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports, Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1980
  14. ^ Berlin Airport Company, April 1981 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports, Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1981
  15. ^ "World Airline Directory." Flight International. March 30, 1985. 34." Retrieved on August 21, 2009.
  16. ^ a b Berlin Airport Company, April 1989 Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports, Berlin Airport Company, West Berlin, 1989
  17. ^ a b c airberlin.com:History
  18. ^ "World Airline Directory 1979". Flight International. March 1979.
  19. ^ Repricing of IPO
  20. ^ airberlin acquires dba
  21. ^ [6]
  22. ^ Boeing: Boeing, airberlin Announce Order for 25 787 Dreamliners
  23. ^ David Kaminski-Morrow (2007-04-03). "airberlin LTU move driven by access to Düsseldorf". Flight International. p. 9.
  24. ^ "airberlin seeks to buy Condor, give T. Cook stake" Reuters, Frankfurt, 20-Sept-2007.
  25. ^ airberlin MagazineTemplate:De icon
  26. ^ Vilaweb, 5 June 2008.Template:Ca icon
  27. ^ Vilaweb, 6 June 2008.Template:Ca icon
  28. ^ [7]
  29. ^ airberlin enters into co-operation with Hainan Airlines
  30. ^ TUI Travel PLC and airberlin seal strategic alliance for their German flight business
  31. ^ http://www.airberlin.com/site/pressnews_dr.php?ID=1540&LANG=eng airberlin information on the taking over of TUIfly routes. Retrieved 2009-10-31.
  32. ^ ESAS Holding A.S. acquires a 15 percent stake in Air Berlin PLC
  33. ^ airberlin announces cooperation with Pegasus Airlines. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
  34. ^ airberlin enters into cooperation with Bangkok Airways
  35. ^ airberlin is expanding its codeshare arrangements with S7 Airlines
  36. ^ Air Berlin PLC / Increase in shareholding in NIKI from 24% to 49.9% is completed
  37. ^ "airberlin to join oneworld alliance". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 26 July 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  38. ^ airberlin to join oneworld alliance
  39. ^ airberlin concludes codeshare agreements with American Airlines and Finnair after joining oneworld
  40. ^ "Gourmet Meals." airberlin. Accessed 26 October 2008.
  41. ^ "Service on board." airberlin. Accessed 26 October 2008.
  42. ^ airberlin.com:Onboard Service
  43. ^ airberlin.com:Seating
  44. ^ airberlin.com:topbonus
  45. ^ airberlin fleet list at planespotters.net
  46. ^ airberlin historic fleet list at airfleets.net. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  47. ^ [8], World Travel Awards
  48. ^ 2009 European Business Awards Winners, European Business Awards, 7. April 2009
  49. ^ [9]
  50. ^ a b c d airberlin awards

References

  • Berlin Airport Company – Monthly Timetable Booklet for Berlin Tempelhof and Berlin Tegel Airports, several issues (German language edition only), 1968–1992. West Berlin, Germany: Berlin Airport Company.
  • "Flight International". Sutton, UK: Reed Business Information. ISSN 0015-3710. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) (various backdated issues relating to airberlin, 1979–2007)

Media related to airberlin at Wikimedia Commons

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