Anyone who has flown in or out of Berlin’s primary airport, Tegel, would recall a comically outdated experience, in desperate need of an upgrade. Its unusual circular shape means the boarding gates are just metres from the taxi rank. When it is not busy…
Airberlin
This shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but is probably worth specifically pointing out nonetheless. We know that airberlin will be ceasing all operations by October 28, 2017 (they've already discontinued their longhaul routes), at which point Lufthansa…
Airberlin will be shutting down by October 28, though they operated their last longhaul flight on October 15, as their A330s are being repossessed. So airberlin's last longhaul flights landed in Dusseldorf on Monday morning (yesterday), October 16. Well,…
Airberlin filed for insolvency in mid-August, and has slowly been shutting down ever since. A couple of weeks ago we learned that airberlin will be ceasing all longhaul routes as of October 15, 2017. Then a bit over a week ago it looked like airberlin…
A few days ago we learned that airberlin will be ceasing all longhaul routes as of October 15, 2017. We knew the day would come eventually, though the timing here seems impacted by them having to return their fleet of A330s to their lessors. The A330s…
Man oh man, this airberlin saga keeps getting more interesting. Airberlin used to have a fleet of 17 Airbus A330 aircraft, all of which were leased. With airberlin going out of business, those planes are being returned to the leasing companies. The good…
This doesn't come as a surprise, though finally we have an official statement on this. In light of airberlin’s insolvency filing in mid-August, the airline is slowly starting to cancel their routes. They have a temporary loan from the German government,…
On August 15, 2017, airberlin filed for insolvency, and then a bit over a week later, airberlin's spun off loyalty program, topbonus, filed for insolvency. Even though topbonus is technically a separate company, they more or less closed up shop, as it…
Airberlin's days are very much numbered. The airline filed for insolvency over a month ago, and has a temporary loan from the German government as airberlin's creditors go through the process of selling off their assets. We know what companies are interested…
Germany's second largest airline, airberlin, filed for insolvency a month ago, on August 15, 2017. As we've known all along, the German government provided a loan of 150 million EUR so the airline could continue to operate while interested parties submitted…
Sometimes airline unions call for official strikes, and sometimes we see "unofficial" strikes, where enough people will call in sick to disrupt operations. Airberlin is on its last leg, as the airline has filed for insolvency, is canceling routes, etc.…
In light of airberlin's insolvency filing several weeks ago, the airline is slowly starting to cancel their routes. They have a temporary loan from the German government, but will run out of money soon enough, so are now having to cut their routes. A…
Exactly two weeks ago airberlin filed for insolvency, after Etihad withdrew their financial support. The airline had been struggling for years, but just couldn't turn around fast enough. The German government has given airberlin an emergency loan of…
With airberlin having filed for insolvency and eventually likely being sold off into parts, it's not surprising that some people are already looking for new jobs. Several days ago I wrote about how airberlin's VP of e-commerce and online sales set up…
Airberlin is screwed. Airberlin's spun off topbonus program is screwed. And things are getting much worse by the minute. We've seen a lot of airline bankruptcies, restructuring, etc., though I've never seen an airline and loyalty program fall apart in…
A few days ago airberlin filed for insolvency, after Etihad withdrew financial support for the airline. The German government is giving the airline an emergency loan that's expected to allow them to continue operations for the next few months, though…
Bloomberg is reporting that airberlin today filed for insolvency in a Berlin court, after Etihad has withdrawn its financial support. The details of this are still very much developing, so I imagine we'll find out more details soon. For now the German…
A year ago airberlin announced that they were going to introduce business class on their intra-Europe flights. As anyone who has flown intra-Europe business class knows, it's not a terribly exciting product. It's typically just an economy seat with a…
While airberlin is a member of the oneworld alliance, they don't have very close relationships with the individual member airlines beyond that. For example, American, British Airways, Finnair, and Iberia have a transatlantic joint venture, which airberlin…
In terms of the passenger experience, JFK is one of my least favorite airports in the country. A majority of the terminals aren't connected airside, which makes connections between terminals complicated and time consuming, as you have to leave security,…
Airberlin is in a dire financial situation at the moment, and is undergoing a lot of changes. On the most basic level, airberlin is leasing about three dozen of their planes to Lufthansa, in hopes of minimizing losses as much as possible. Lufthansa will…
I just can't get over the situation in Germany right now between Lufthansa, Etihad, and airberlin. On the surface this all seems so backwards -- Lufthansa is essentially bailing out their biggest regional competitor, and Lufthansa is also finally partnering…
For a long time airberlin has been in a horrible financial situation, as they've sort of struggled with whether they want to be a low cost carrier or full service airline. The combination of the two just hasn't worked well for them. For several years…
While Emirates has been focused on growing their own airline, Etihad has taken a different growth strategy. They're keeping Etihad (relatively) small, and instead investing in foreign carriers. The collection of these eight carriers is known as Etihad…
