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Air Berlin
IATA ICAO Call sign
AB BER AIR BERLIN
Founded1978 (as Air Berlin USA)
Commenced operations1979
Hubs
Frequent-flyer programtopbonus
AllianceOneworld
Subsidiaries
Fleet size124
Destinations174
HeadquartersAirport Bureau Center
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf,
Berlin, Germany
Key peopleHartmut Mehdorn (Former CEO) Wolfgang Prock-Schauer (President and CEO)
Revenue€4.31 billion (2012)[1]
Operating income€-247 million (2011)[2]
Net income€-271 million (2011)[2]
Total assets€2.263 billion (2011)[2]
Total equity€253 million (2011)[2]
Employees9,284 (12/2012)[3]
Websitewww.airberlin.com www.flyniki.com

Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (stylized as airberlin or airberlin.com) is Germany's second largest airline, after Lufthansa, and Europe's seventh largest airline in terms of passengers.[4] It operates an extensive network including holiday destinations in the Mediterranean region, the Canary Islands and North Africa as well as intercontinental destinations in Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and the Americas. The airline is a member of the Oneworld alliance, its Austrian subsidiary NIKI is an affiliate member of Oneworld.

Air Berlin concentrates on serving major German and European cities to attract business traffic. A total of 25 German cities are served, more than any other airline. Its hubs are Berlin-Tegel Airport[5] and Düsseldorf Airport.

The airline is headquartered at the Airport Bureau Center in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Berlin.[6] Air Berlin's parent company, airberlin group or Air Berlin GmbH, is publicly traded (FSE: AB1, ISIN is GB00B128C026).[1] In December 2012 it had 9,284 employees.[3] The airline (including subsidiaries) carried 33.3 million passengers in 2012.[1]

History

1978 to 1990: American charter airline at West Berlin

Original Air Berlin USA logo

Originally registered as Air Berlin USA,[7] the company was founded in 1978 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Lelco, an American agricultural enterprise headquartered in Oregon,[7] in order to operate charter flights on behalf of German tour operators out of Berlin Tegel Airport, mostly to Mediterranean holiday resorts.[7][8] Being a United States airline allowed for access of the West Berlin airline market, because during the Cold War, the special political status of that city meant that the air corridors into and out of Tegel Airport could only be used by airlines registered in either France, the United Kingdom or the United States. The initial headquarteres of Air Berlin USA were located at Tegel Airport, with Leonard Lundgren serving as its first chairman.[7]

An Air Berlin USA Boeing 707 at Tegel Airport (1980).
A Boeing 737-200 at Tegel Airport, featuring the livery of the 1980s.

Following the company being issued an airline licence and the acquisition of 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.[9][10] Plans were made for the launch of long haul flights on West Berlin-Brussels-Florida routes,[9][11] in cooperation with Air Florida (an accordant agreement had been signed in February 1979).[12]

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.[13] By 1982, the 707s had been phased out, and during most of the 1980s, Air Berlin USA operated only a single 737-200.[14][15][16] In 1990 and 1991, two more modern Boeing 737-400s were put in service.[8][13][17]

1990s and early 2000s: Change of ownership and launch of scheduled (low-cost) flights

The Peaceful Revolution and the ensuing German reunification led to a deep change of the Berlin aviation market, since German airlines also gained access to the city. In 1991, Air Berlin with its then 90 employees[18] 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.[10][19] Following an order for ten Boeing 737-800, Air Berlin further grew so that by 1999, the fleet comprised twelve aircraft.[20] 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 the fuel efficiency.[21]

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.[10] By 2002, 35 percent of Air Berlin's tickets were sold this way.[22] 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 were commenced, which were marketed as City Shuttle.[10][22] Besides Berlin-Tegel, these routes were opened at six German airports (Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Münster/Osnabrück, Nuremberg, and Paderborn/Lippstadt)[23] that until then had not been served by one of the rising European low cost carriers.[22] In what later would become the trade mark for Air Berlin's services as a "semi-low cost carrier", the airline was different from its then competitors Buzz, Hapag-Lloyd Express, Ryanair and Virgin Express by offering free on-board meals and seat reservations.[23]

2000-2006: Becoming Germany’s second largest airline

A Boeing 737-800 in the livery used until 2007.

In November 2001, when taking delivery of a brand new Boeing 737-800 fitted with winglets, Air Berlin 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.

In January 2004, Air Berlin announced it would cooperate with Niki, a Vienna-based airline.[10] As part of the deal, Air Berlin took a 24% stake in Niki.

Air Berlin logo used until 2007

In 2005, a partnership agreement with Germania was signed. It saw Air Berlin leasing some of Germania's aircraft and crew, and Germania became almost exclusively a charter airline. Germania was to have been 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 about 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.[24]

As seen on this Airbus A319, some aircraft taken over from LTU and Germania were painted in an interim livery.

In 2006, Air Berlin 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.[25]

In August 2006, Air Berlin announced that it had acquired 100% of the shares in German domestic airline dba.[26] 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, aircraft manufacturer Boeing announced an Air Berlin order of 60 Boeing 737-800 aircraft,[27] 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. All of these aircraft will be equipped with blended winglets, which significantly improve fuel efficiency.

2007-2009: Takeovers and expansion

In March 2007, Air Berlin 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 Air Berlin fleet. The merger of the LTU operations, aircraft and crew was completed on 1 May 2009, when the LTU brand was dicontinued.

Air Berlin taxis at Madrid-Barajas Airport introduced the current livery (seen here on a Boeing 737-700) in 2007.
Air Berlin headquarters: Airport Bureau Center in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Berlin

On 7 July 2007, Air Berlin announced an order for 25 modern Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner longhaul aircraft, with further options and purchase rights.[28] 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.[29] 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 saw Condor's owner, the Thomas Cook Group, taking a 30% stake in Air Berlin.[30] A variety of considerations, including the rapidly increasing price of jet fuel, led to the abandonment of the deal in July 2008.

Air Berlin Airbus A330-300 D-AERK in current livery

In January 2008 Air Berlin 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 Air Berlin text element is now in lower case and written as one word. Sometimes the slogan “Your Airline” also features as part of the logo.[31]

In June 2008, CEO Joachim Hunold offended Catalan language speakers, when he claimed [32] 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 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.[33] 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.[34]

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.[35]

In September 2008, Air Berlin confirmed merger talks with competitor TUIfly, but added to this message the hint to speak "with all". Air Berlin has already been flying until 2007 for many TUIfly flights in code-sharing process. End of March 2009, Air Berlin PLC and TUI Travel PLC sealed for their German flight business a long-term strategic alliance. A cross ownership of the two companies originally respectively 19.9% was notified to the Bundeskartellamt for approval. After concerns of the Bundeskartellamt this cross ownership has not been implemented. Instead, the TUI Travel PLC took over a subsidiary of a capital increase in October 2009, a 9.9% stake in Air Berlin PLC.[36]

In January 2009 Air Berlin 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.[37]

At the end of March 2009, a strategic partnership agreement with TUI Travel was signed, which is based on a cross ownership of Air Berlin and its direct competitor TUIfly each purchases 19.9 percent of the other's shares.[38] Following this 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 merged into Air Berlin's fleet. Further route shifts will see TUIfly abandoning all scheduled flights and relying exclusively on the charter business.[39]

In March 2009, the Turkish ESAS Holding A.S. bought approximately 15 per cent of the voting shares in Air Berlin, to which the German competition regulator had no objections.[40]

On 28 September 2009, Air Berlin 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.[41]

Also in 2009, Air Berlin convoked Hartmut Mehdorn to the board of directors after his retirement at the Deutsche Bahn.[42]

In October 2009 Air Berlin entered into cooperation with Bangkok Airways. Air Berlin offers passengers the flights operated by Bangkok Airways under its own flight number.[43]

2010-2012: Further takeovers and alliances

Air Berlin Group
Company Interest
airberlin technik GmbH 100 %
Binoli Reiseplattform 049 %
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.[44]

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 the Privatstiftung Lauda (private Lauda foundation) and has thereby 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 to the remaining 50.1% of Niki's shares.[45]

A round blue orb with the text "10 years" printed behind the word oneworld as a watermark
Air Berlin joined Oneworld in 2012

In July 2010, it was also announced that Air Berlin would be joining Oneworld, the global airline alliance.[46] In preparation for joining the alliance, Air Berlin has been offering flights under codeshare agreements with American Airlines and Finnair since its 2010/2011 winter schedule came into force. 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.[47]

Air Berlin founded Follow Me Entertainment GmbH in September 2010 as a joint venture with kick-media ag. This joint venture company has been formed for the individual marketing of image and sound media, books, games as well as events, concerts, tournaments and sponsoring.[48]

Once opened, Air Berlin will have its largest hub at Berlin Brandenburg Airport.

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 together with Germania when the airport is opened, has thus doubled the maintenance capacity of Air Berlin Technik at its Berlin site.[49]

On 1 April 2011 Air Berlin completed the full integration of LTU which it took over in August 2007. There is now only one flight schedule and all the technical services of the Air Berlin Group have been merged into a new company "airberlin technik GmbH".[50] Also in April 2011 Air Berlin underlined the importance of its Düsseldorf hub by creating a new position of "Regional Director North-Rhine Westphalia". With new routes, more frequent flights and additional long-haul flights, Air Berlin is expanding the flights it offers from Düsseldorf.[51]

On 15 June 2011, Air Berlin and British Airways reached a codeshare agreement covering selected flights within Europe, commencing from 5 July 2011. The agreement applies to flights to over 40 European destinations served by the two airlines.[52]

CEO Joachim Hunold resigned from his position on 1 September 2011 and handed over his office to 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 as CEO.[53]

Since September 2011 Air Berlin cooperates with the Italian airline Meridiana Fly, and is offering flights from 30 October 2011 together with Meridiana Fly from Italy to Germany to.[54]

In November 2011 a new brand has been launched, called Air Berlin Turkey. This product is the result of a cooperation between Air Berlin and Pegasus Airlines and will cover the charter market between Germany and Turkey. Pegasus Airlines is the largest private airline company in Turkey and is on the ESAS Holding AS with 16.5%[55] involved in Air Berlin.[56][57]

In the 3rd Quarter of 2011, the turnover of the company amounts to 1.4 billion Euro, representing an increase of 11%. However the operating profit decreases almost to 50%, which makes 97 million Euro. As a result of a new bond to raise additional capital to be acquired.[58] In November 2011, a marketing campaign has been launched as well as the preparations to join the oneworld airline alliance.[59]

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 is awarded a position on the board of Air Berlin.[60]

Air Berlin announced on 19 December 2011 that the Arabian airline Etihad Airways increases its share of 2.99 to 29.1% for 73 million euros. Thus Etihad Airways is the largest shareholder of the company.[61] As this means an economic relief for the financially troubled airline, Etihad will benefit from its European route network.[61] The combined route network of Etihad Airways and Air Berlin covers 239 destinations in 77 countries. From Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich a total of 42 flights a week to Abu Dhabi are available. Further connection flights to the Arabian Peninsula, Asia, Africa and Australia from Abu Dhabi are possible.[62]

On 2 February 2012 it was announced that Air Berlin will become a full member of the Oneworld Alliance on 20 March 2012. Austrian airline NIKI, which is also part of the Air Berlin group will on the same day also join Oneworld as an affiliate member.[63]

2012

Since January 2012 Air Berlin flies seven times a week non-stop from Berlin to Abu Dhabi. The new service is also the kick off of the codeshare agreement between Air Berlin and Etihad Airways.[64] The cooperation of the frequent flyer programs topbonus and Ethiad Guest has been announced in March 2012.[65] In June 2012, the collaboration concluded with the bonus programs airberlin business points and Ethiad Airways Business Connect for SMBs.[66]

Since 6 February 2012 Air Berlin flies on a daily basis from Berlin to Budapest.[67]

On 20 March 2012, the announced entry into the airline alliance oneworld was officially completed.[68] The extended international network offers over 800 destinations in 150 countries.[69] At the same time when Air Berlin joins oneworld, the airline introduces the Platinum status for its frequent flyer program topbonus.[70]

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.[71]

On 11 May 2012 Air Berlin opened its triweekly non-stop flight from Berlin to Los Angeles in the summer schedule.[72] Characterized by the network strategy, Air Berlin started to offer non-stop flights from March 2013 between Berlin and Chicago. Similarly, in May 2013, the supply of non-stop flights to New York JFK, Los Angeles and Miami will be expanded. Thus Air Berlin is offering daily flights from May 2013 from Düsseldorf to Miami and Los Angeles.[73]

On 18 December 2012 Air Berlin announced to outsource the topbonus frequent flyer program in the new topbonus Limited (Ltd.). Etihad Airways is the largest shareholder with a 70% share of the new company, while Air Berlin retained 30% share.[74]

Air Berlin 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. Since February 2013, Air Berlin is also offering more weekly flights in code share with Etihad Airways to Singapore and Brisbane.[75]

2013

In early 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 has already been modified with a business class of high quality in 2012.[76]

On 7 January 2013 Air Berlin announces its new CEO. The Austrian Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, former Chief Strategy and Planning Officer spelled Hartmut Mehdorn as chief executive officer, who has held the position on an interim basis since September 2011.[77]

Airberlin offers from January 2013 a lot of new routes and strengthening both their hub in Berlin. In addition, frequencies of existing connections are going to be increased. On 28 January airberlin flies for the first time from Berlin to Sofia and Bucharest, and offers this connection on a daily basis from now on.[78]

Furthermore, Air Berlin flies from 28 February 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 at the same time.[80]

With the addition of the new and so far only connection between Berlin and Chicago from 23 March 2013 Air Berlin uses the Chicago hub for connections within the United States. In light of the transfer of capacity and focusing on core markets, Air Berlin increased their frequencies to New York-JFK, Los Angeles and Miami. Coinciding seasonal non-stop flights to Las Vegas, San Francisco and Vancouver are canceled.[81]

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

Corporate affairs

Hartmut Mehdorn, CEO of airberlin from September 2011 to December 2012.

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

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Turnover (€m) 863 1,034 1,215 1,575 2,537 3,401 3,240 3,850 4,227 4,312
Profits (€m) 36.7 −2.9 −115.9 40.1 21.0 −75.0 −9.5 −106.3 −420.4 6.8
Number of employees 1,956 2,146 2,764 4,108 8,360 8,311 8,278 8,900 9,113 9,284
Number of passengers (m) 10.0 12.1 17.5 19.7 27.9 28.6 27.9 34.9 35.3 33.3
Passenger load factor (%) 76.7 79.5 75.2 75.3 77.2 78.4 77.3 76.5 78.2 79.8
Number of aircraft (at year end) 46 47 79 117 124 125 152 169 170 155
Notes/sources [83] [84] [85] [86] [87] [2] [3]

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.[88]

Technical services

airberlin technik, part of the airberlin group, is a certified EASA Part-145 maintenance organization with approximately 1200 employees providing services to both the aircraft operating within the airberlin group 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.[89]

Passenger services

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.[90] On flights operated by Airbus A330-200 aircraft, a dedicated business class section is offered.[91]

Frequent flyer programme

Like many other airlines, Air Berlin has a frequent flyer scheme. Air Berlin'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 entry-level "topbonus Card Classic" there are cards with Silver, Gold, and Platinum status, corresponding to oneworld ruby, sapphire, and emerald levels. A Service Card and a Credit Card, for which a charge is made, are also available.

Destinations

Main article: Air Berlin destinations
Air Berlin destinations.
  Germany
  Air Berlin Destinations

The airline operates an extensive semi-low-cost network including intercontinental destinations in the United States, the Caribbean and the South East Asia as well as holiday destinations in the Mediterranean region, the Canary Islands and North Africa, with a total of 150 scheduled destinations in 40 countries. Berlin and Düsseldorf are the key hubs of Air Berlin with offers of long-haul flights and connections within Europe.

Codeshare agreements

Air Berlin has codeshare agreements with the following airlines (as of July 2013); Oneworld members indicated as * :

Fleet

Gathered fleet at Berlin-Tegel Airport

Current fleet

Boeing 737-800 with winglets, in current colours.
Boeing 737-700 in a special Air Berlin–Boeing hybrid livery, now phased out.

As of October 2013, the Air Berlin fleet consists of the following aircraft:[96][97]

Air Berlin fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Options Passengers Notes
C Y Total
Airbus A319-100 8 — — 0 150 150 2 operated by Belair,
2 leased to NIKI
Airbus A320-200 27 13 — 0 174 174 6 operated by Belair,
Orders are for A320 family, all to be equipped with sharklets, deliveries until 2015
Airbus A321-200 12 11 — 0 210 210
Airbus A330-200 14 — — 24 279 303 D-ABXA painted in Oneworld Livery
Boeing 737-700 15 — — 0 144 144 7 operated by TUIfly (registrations D-AH_)
2 operated by Germania (registrations D-AGE_)
Boeing 737-800 36 47 — 0 186 186 3 painted in Oneworld Livery
6 operated by TUIfly (registrations D-AHF_)
Boeing 787-9 — 18 5 TBA 3 will be leased; EIS: April 2014
Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 10 — — 0 76 76 all operated by LGW
Embraer 190 2 — — 0 112 112 all operated by LGW, will be returned to Niki at the end of summer season 2013
Total 124 78 5

Fleet development

Over the years, Air Berlin has operated the following aircraft types:[98]

Air Berlin fleet development
Aircraft Introduced Retired Notes
Airbus A319
2006
4 overwing window exits instead of the A319's usual 2
Airbus A320
2005
Airbus A321
2008
following the LTU fleet incorporation
Airbus A330-200
2008
following the LTU fleet incorporation
Airbus A330-300
2008
2013
following the LTU fleet incorporation
BAe 146-200
2003
2004
leased from WDL Aviation
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
Embraer 190
2013
transferred from Niki, operated by LGW
Fokker 100
2004
2009

Fleet policy

The average age of the fleet is currently 5 years.

In May 2001 Air Berlin was the world's first airline to take delivery of a Boeing 737-800 retrofitted with the Aviation Partners Incorporated (API) blended, fuel-saving winglets; most of Air Berlin's fleet have now been fitted with this equipment.

In 2012 Air Berlin announced that it had brought its average specific fuel consumption to 3.4 litres/100 passengers-kilometres.[3]

On 26 March 2013, the Air Berlin group announced that it received one of the first Airbus A320 equipped with fuel-saving sharklets at the Airbus factory in Hamburg.[99]

Cabin

In February 2011 Air Berlin took delivery of its first Boeing 737-800 featuring the new "Sky Interior" cabin design. All new Boeing Next Generation aircraft operated by Air Berlin will in future include this improved interior, with its newly designed side wall and baggage compartments, large window niches and indirect LED lighting.[100]

At the beginning of 2012, Air Berlin started the modification 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 can tilt up to 170 degrees provide 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 places have their own 8.9-inch monitor that is easy to use per touch screen and offers a variety of movies, series, music, audio books and games.[101] In January 2013 airberlin presents its new business class . 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. The Air Berlin long-haul fleet will be equipped with the new Business Class successively.[76]

Awards

  • 2008: Capital magazine: “Airline of the Year 2008”, Telegraph Travel Award, World Travel Award 2008 [102] Best Budget Airline [103]
  • 2009:European Business Award 2009, oekom research: Award for “Prime” investment status [102]
  • 2010: Business Travel Award 2010,[104] ReiseBlick 2010: Airline of the Year, Spain Tourism Award 2010,[102] Clever reisen! 2010: "Europe’s youngest fleet", Skytrax World Airline Award 2010: "Best Low-Cost Airline Europe", Franz-von-Mendelssohn medal, Danish Travel Award : "Best Low Cost Airline" [102]
  • 2011: TravelPlus Airline Amenity Bag Awards, Brand Award 2011, ÖkoGlobe 2011[102]

See also

Notes and citations

Notes
Citations
  1. ^ a b c "Investor Relations". Air Berlin. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Annual Report 2011". January 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d "Annual Report 2012". January 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  4. ^ airberlin Strategy and Business Model. Air Berlin, retrieved on 19 January 2011.
  5. ^ "Berlin Tegel still Air Berlin's #1 base". Anna.aero. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  6. ^ "Approach map." Air Berlin. Retrieved on 5 May 2010.
  7. ^ a b c d "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin USA". Flight International: 272. 26 July 1980. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  8. ^ a b "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin". Flight International: 49. 27 March 1991. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  9. ^ a b "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin". Flight International: 1332. 28 April 1979. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Out into the world from Berlin: The history of airberlin in a nutshell". Air Berlin. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  11. ^ "1981 timetable of Air Berlin USA". Air Berlin USA. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  12. ^ "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin USA". Flight International: 1395. 16 May 1981. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  13. ^ a b "Air Berlin USA Fleet Details and History". planespotters.net. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  14. ^ "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin". Flight International: 813. 31 March 1984. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  15. ^ "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin". Flight International: 42. 29 March 1986. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  16. ^ "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin". Flight International: 44. 1 April 1989. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  17. ^ "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin". Flight International: 49–50. 14 March 1990. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  18. ^ "World Airline Directory: Air Berlin". Flight International: 38. 25 March 1992. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
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Bibliography
  • 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 Air Berlin, 1979–2007)
  • "Airways — A Global Review of Commercial Flight (The Two Faces of Air Berlin, pp. 30–35". 17, 9. Sandpoint, ID, US: Airways International Inc. 2010. ISSN 1074-4320. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
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