New routes for Air Berlin and Condor

Airline and airport officials celebrate the inaugural Berlin-Abu Dhabi flight.
Foto: Juergen Weyrich

Air Berlin will operate four weekly A330-200 flights from Berlin to Abu Dhabi where German passengers can connect to Etihad services to Asia and Australia. Etihad itself already flies from Frankfurt, Munich and Düsseldorf to its hub, and the two airlines will build up a network of code-share flights. Air Berlin is currently reviewing whether to drop some direct flights to Asia in favour of transfer connections with its new partner.

“This strategic partnership with Etihad Airways not only opens up unique opportunities for the future for Air Berlin, it also brings a number of benefits for our passengers in terms of access to new routes, including our new all-year-round direct connection to Abu Dhabi. This flight is integrated into Etihad’s hub system in Abu Dhabi, so we are in a position to offer excellent connections, for example to Asia and Australia. Passengers coming from Abu Dhabi will have access to the numerous connecting flights operated by Air Berlin, both to destinations in Germany and also to Austria, Scandinavia and Switzerland. This makes the flight attractive for business travellers and holidaymakers alike,” said Hartmut Mehdorn, CEO of Air Berlin.

Under their recently-signed agreement, Etihad Airways will take a stake of 29.2% in Air Berlin and provide vital financial support to the struggling German airline. Mehdorn has told German media that the airline, which made a high loss in 2011 and has declined to make any forecasts for 2012, hopes to return to profit in 2013.

Meanwhile, Condor, Thomas Cook’s German airline, will launch flights to Rio as well as to Siem Reap (Cambodia) and Yangon (Myanmar) next winter and add more flights to various existing Caribbean destinations. Another new route is from Vienna to Varadero following the successful launch of flights from Austria to Punta Cana. However, the routes from Frankfurt to Colombo and Fort Lauderdale will be dropped.

Seat-only sales manager Achim Lameyer said yields on the Fort Lauderdale route had been unsatisfactory due to strong competition, especially from the Lufthansa A380 flights to Miami. But he stressed that Condor had successfully sold the bulk of its 13% additional capacity this winter. The airline will increase its 35-strong fleet with two more B767 long-haul planes from Alitalia this summer.