Air Berlin
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| Air Berlin | ||
|---|---|---|
| IATA AB | ICAO BER |
Callsign AIR BERLIN |
| Founded | 1978 | <tr><th colspan="2">Hubs</th><td>Berlin-Tegel, Nuremberg, Palma de Mallorca, London-Stansted</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2">Focus cities / secondary hubs</th><td>Düsseldorf International Airport, Hamburg Airport, Frankfurt International Airport</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2">Frequent flyer program</th><td>Top Bonus</td></tr>|
| Fleet size | 73 | |
| 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 third largest low-cost airline after easyJet and Ryanair. It is based in Berlin, Germany. It operates scheduled services from a range of European airports.
Contents |
[edit] History
After World War II until October 1990 the only aircraft allowed to land in West Berlin were those from Allied powers. As a result, "Air Berlin Inc." was formed in Oregon, USA by a former Pan Am captain.
Initial charter flights began in 1979 with a Boeing 707 to Palma de Mallorca. Even today, the so called Majorca Shuttle to Germany's favorite holiday island is one of Air Berlin's busiest routes and Air Berlin is also the biggest airline on Mallorca. Palma de Mallorca is also used a hub with about a dozen flights from/to Germany connecting to destinations in the Iberian Peninsula.
After German reunification in 1990, German investors took over the majority of shares and the airline was registered under German law and renamed Air Berlin. Holiday charter flights, which previously were restricted to Berlin, were now flown from other German airports, including Mönchengladbach, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Bremen, Münster, Nürnberg, Hannover and Hamburg. Due to airline deregulation in the European Union these flights are now operated as scheduled flights. The airline started scheduled flights to European business capitals, such as London, Zurich, Vienna and Barcelona, in the late 1990s using some of its aircraft for these so called "City Shuttles" in the early morning/late evening and using these same aircraft to serve popular tourist destinations during the middle of the day.
By the end of 1981 the fleet had been changed to the Boeing 737. In 2003, the whole fleet consisted of this aircraft type, with some model -400, mostly model -800, and 3 leased BAe 146 aircraft. Air Berlin also became Germany's second largest airline after Lufthansa.
In January 2004, Air Berlin announced cooperation with former Formula One driver Niki Lauda's newly founded airline Niki. The two airlines considered their cooperation a "low fares alliance". Air Berlin now holds 24% of Lauda's enterprise.
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. A full breakdown is provided at Air Berlin's investor relations site.
Air Berlin's initial public offering (IPO), originally scheduled for 5 May 2006, was postponed until 11 May 2006. The company cited slow investor demand related to rising fuel costs and other market pressures. The initial share-price range was reduced from 15.0-17.5 Euros to a range of 11.5-14.5 Euros, before finally opening at 12.0 Euros. 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. In total, the company now claims to have over 400 million euros in the bank, to be used to fund further expansion, including aircraft purchases. <ref>Repricing of IPO</ref>
On August 17 2006 it was announced that Air Berlin had acquired 100% of the shares in dba (subject to regulatory approval). dba is to continue to operate as an independent company but in future will be marketed as Air Berlin ("powered by dba"). The winter 2006 flight schedules will be harmonised and a joint schedule will be in place for the summer 2007 season. <ref>Berlin acquires dba</ref>
On November 28 2006 The Boeing Company announced that Air Berlin intends to purchase 60 Boeing Next-Generation 737-800 and also identified an order placed earlier in 2006 for 15 Boeing 737-700. The combined value of the 75 airplanes is $5.1 billion at list prices. The 15 737-700s were purchased by German airline dba and previously accounted for on the Boeing Orders & Deliveries Web site, but were not identified. Since then, dba has been acquired by Air Berlin.
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. All 85 737s will be equipped with Blended Winglets, which significantly improve fuel efficiency.
[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, newspapers on board, assigned seating and a frequent flyer program. [citation needed]
[edit] Destinations
[edit] New routes
[citation needed] The following non-stop routes have been inaugurated recently:
- Zurich-Las Palmas /Zurich-Tenerife on November 4 2006: a weekly flight using an Airbus A320.
These routes are now being operated at increased frequency:
- Zurich-Hamburg up from 2 to 3 a day on October 28 2006. Airbus A319s and A320s are used on this route. There is a reduced-frequency service at weekends.
- Zurich-Berlin Tegel from 3 to 4 a day on October 28. It uses Airbus 319, Airbus A320, Boeing 737-700 and Fokker 100 on the route and there is a reduced frequency on weekends.
[edit] Fleet
The Air Berlin fleet consists of the following aircraft (at November 2006) <ref>Flight International, 3-9 October 2006</ref> :
| Aircraft | Number | Seats | Routes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319-100 | 4 | |||
| Airbus A320-200 | 21 | |||
| Boeing 737-300 | 3 | |||
| Boeing 737-400 | 2 | |||
| Boeing 737-700 | 5 | |||
| Boeing 737-800 | 35 | |||
| Fokker F28-1000 | 3 |
In November 2004 Air Berlin and its Austrian partner Niki announced the joint purchase of 110 Airbus A320s. A firm order for 70 aircraft has been placed, 60 of which will be delivered to Air Berlin and 10 to FlyNiki. They have an option to purchase a further 40 aircraft. Delivery of the planes is expected to start in September 2005.Air Berlin Has ordered plus 60 boeing 737-800 deliver until 2020)
The average Air Berlin fleet age is 5.8 years old in July 2006. <ref>Air Berlin Fleet Age</ref>
[edit] Passenger numbers
The airline carried over 12 million passengers in 2004. [citation needed] In September 2006 it carried 1.6 million passengers, an increase of 15% over the same month in 2005. <ref>Airliner World, December 2006</ref>
[edit] External links
[edit] References
<references/>
| Airlines of Germany | Image:Flag of Germany.svg |
|---|---|
| | |
| European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) |
|---|
| Air Berlin • easyjet • Flybe • Hapag Lloyd Express • Norwegian Air Shuttle • Ryanair • SkyEurope • Sterling Airlines • Sverige Flyg • transavia.com • Volare Airlines • Wizz Air |
fr:Air Berlin ko:베를린항공 id:Air Berlin nl:Air Berlin pt:Air Berlin fi:Air Berlin
