German carrier Airberlin is paring back its fleet and
service in order to focus on serving business travel markets from its Berlin and
Dusseldorf hubs.
A restructuring by summer 2017 will trim Airberlin's fleet
to a core 75 aircraft with an eye to grow long-haul business routes, especially
to the United States. Shorter-haul service will concentrate on "year-round
business markets with a strong focus on Italy, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe,"
as well as domestic German markets, according to the carrier. The aim is to grow
business travel share. It will spin off leisure-focused flights into an
independently operating business unit.
"Now more than ever, we are faced with significant
eternal market pressures which dictate a change to our current complicated
business model," Airberlin CEO Stefan Pichler said. "The core
Airberlin proposition in [the] future is now clear: a dedicated, focused network
carrier serving higher-yielding markets from two hubs in Dusseldorf and
Berlin."
Airberlin, of which Etihad Airways owns a 29.21 percent
share, has reported a net loss in seven of the past eight years, including a €446.6
million loss in 2015. It has posted operating losses for eight consecutive
years and was the only listed European carrier to record an operating loss in
2015, according to the CAPA Centre for Aviation.
The new fleet breakdown will include 17 Airbus A330 widebody
aircraft for long-haul flights, 40 Airbus A320 family aircraft and 18 Bombardier
Q400s for flights within Europe.
As part of the fleet reduction, Airberlin plans to give as
many as 40 A320 aircraft to the Lufthansa Group, as many as 38 of those under a
six-year "wet-lease agreement" in which Airberlin also provides crew,
maintenance and insurance at a cost to Lufthansa. The deal is pending
regulatory approval.
Under the restructuring plan, Airberlin also
will have to cut as many as 1,200 jobs by February. It plans to redeploy employees
when possible to other carriers in the Etihad Airways Partners group, which
consists of Etihad Airways, Alitalia, Jet Airways, Air Serbia, Etihad Regional and
Air Seychelles.