Air Berlin is aiming to expand the number of corporate
contracts it has outside Germany, the carrier's head of corporate sales told BTN. The airline, which flies to 39 countries, is recruiting additional
corporate sales staff as it intensifies its push in the business market. Air
Berlin plans in April 2012 to join the Oneworld alliance.
The airline currently supplies contracted net rates to
1,400 corporate clients, principally in Germany. "We always make global
contracts which the customer can use in every country," said head of corporate sales Susanne Höhenberger.
"Making contracts with us is a simple process." Air Berlin negotiates
corporate rates according to client volume on the airline. The price is the
same from each destination outside Germany to all destinations within the
country.
Describing itself as a hybrid carrier, Air Berlin offers
most of the same services as traditional full-service carriers, including free
drinks and snacks on board, a loyalty program and distribution without any
surcharges via global distribution system channels. It also considers itself a
network airline, offering through-ticketing via hubs at Berlin Tegel,
Düsseldorf, Nuremberg and Mallorca, where passengers can connect to 17 Spanish
mainland destinations.
"We fly two waves a day into our hubs," said
Höhenberger. "The Nordics are our biggest source of transfer traffic,
especially through Tegel to Italy and other points in Germany, and the Russian
market is becoming increasingly important too."
Unlike typical full-service carriers, Air Berlin
offers only one cabin class on its short-haul network and operates to a limited
number of long-haul destinations. New York JFK on May 1 became the airline's
13th long-haul route. Frequencies also are limited: Air Berlin flies to New
York four times weekly. Höhenberger said the carrier flies more frequently on
some key routes, including six daily flights between Berlin and Vienna.
Air Berlin also suffers from limited access in
Frankfurt, which is dominated by Lufthansa. However, next year it will have a
new key hub of its own when Berlin Brandenburg International opens, replacing
the city's two existing airports, Tegel and Schönefeld. Höhenberger said she
expects Oneworld airlines to launch numerous flights to the new facility,
connecting into Air Berlin's short-haul network. Air Berlin starting in 2015
expects to beef up its own Berlin Brandenburg International services as it
takes delivery of new aircraft.
Asked whether Air Berlin intends to join the
antitrust-immune transatlantic joint venture launched last year by Oneworld
partners American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia, Höhenberger said:
"We will have to wait until we are full members of Oneworld. It would be a
normal step to think about it."