Air Berlin

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Air Berlin
IATA AB	ICAO BER	Callsign AIR BERLIN
Founded		1978
Hubs		Berlin-Tegel, Nuremberg, Düsseldorf International Airport, Palma de Mallorca, London-Stansted
Focus cities		Hamburg Airport, Frankfurt International Airport
Frequent flyer program		Top Bonus
Fleet size		119 (incl. LTU jets)
Destinations		80
Headquarters		Berlin, Germany
Key people		Joachim Hunold, Elke Schütt and Karl Lotz
Website: http://www.airberlin.com

Air Berlin (FSE: AB1) is Europe's fourth-largest airline after Ryanair, Air France/KLM and Lufthansa in European passenger traffic.^[1] It is based in Berlin, Germany, and operates scheduled services from numerous European airports.

Contents 1 History 2 Financial 3 Service 4 Destinations 5 Fleet 6 Passenger numbers 7 External links 8 References

[edit] History

Air Berlin Inc. was formed in Oregon, USA by a former Pan Am captain in 1978.^[2] A US registration was required because between the end of World War II and October 1990 only aircraft from the Allied powers were allowed to land in West Berlin.^{[citation needed]} The airline first took off in 1979 with charter flights to Palma de Mallorca using a Boeing 707 aircraft; by the end of 1981 the fleet had been changed to the Boeing 737.^{[citation needed]}

After German reunification in 1990, German investors acquired a majority stake in the company and Joachim Hunold, a former LTU manager, became the CEO. The airline was registered under German law and renamed Air Berlin GmbH & Co. Luftverkehrs KG.^[3] The airline joined IATA (the International Air Transport Association) 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, 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 replayed loans made 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.^[5]. Later this year Air Berlin announced that it had acquired 100% of the shares in dba, subject to regulatory approval.^[6].

In 2007, the airline company acquires 100% of the German charter carrier LTU and 49% of the Swiss airline Belair to add long-haul destinations.^[7]

[edit] Financial

Air Berlin is publicly traded (ticker symbol is AB1, ISIN is GB00B128C026). Freefloat is about 62% and the remainder is held by the original (pre-IPO) shareholders; this does not reflect the proposed acquisition of LTU in March 2007.^[8]

[edit] Service

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 also offers free services including inflight meals and drinks,^[9] newspapers on board,^[10] assigned seating^[11] and a frequent flyer program.^[12]

[edit] Destinations

Main article: Air Berlin destinations

[edit] Fleet

The Air Berlin fleet including LTU consists of the following aircraft (at March 2007):^[13]

Air Berlin Fleet incl. LTU

Aircraft	Number	Seats
Airbus A320-200	27	144/180
Airbus A321-200	4	204
Airbus A319-100	7	144
Airbus A 330-200	9	323
Airbus A 330-300	3	361
Boeing 737-700	6	144
Boeing 737-800	38	186
Boeing 737-500	1	118
Boeing 737-300	10	136
Fokker 100	14	100

In November 2004 Air Berlin and its Austrian partner Niki announced the joint purchase of 110 Airbus A320s. A firm order for 70 aircraft was placed, 60 for delivery to Air Berlin and 10 for FlyNiki. The deal included an option to purchase an additional 40 aircraft.^{[citation needed]}

On November 28, 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.^{[citation needed]} All 85 737s will be equipped with blended winglets, which significantly improve fuel efficiency.^[14]

The average Air Berlin fleet age was 6.8 years old as of February 2007.^[15]

[edit] Passenger numbers

The airline carried over 19.7 million passengers in 2006.^[16]

[edit] External links

• Air Berlin
• Air Berlin Fleet
• Air Berlin Passenger Opinions
• Photos of Air Berlin aircraft
• Air Berlin: Investor Relations

[edit] References

1. ^ BBC:Air Berlin steps up its expansion
2. ^ airberlin.com:History
3. ^ airberlin.com:History
4. ^ airberlin.com:History
5. ^ Repricing of IPO
6. ^ Air Berlin acquires dba
7. ^ Bloomberg: Air Berlin Acquires LTU
8. ^ airberlin.com:Investor Relations
9. ^ airberlin.com:Gourmet Meals
10. ^ airberlin.com:Onboard Service
11. ^ airberlin.com:Seating
12. ^ airberlin.com:Top Flight Bonus
13. ^ airberlin.com:The Fleet
14. ^ Wingtip device
15. ^ Air Berlin Fleet Age
16. ^ FTD:Air Berlin holt zum großen Schlag aus

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