airberlin is increasing the number of flights it operates between Berlin and Saint Petersburg for the new year, thereby expanding its services to Russia. From the start of the summer timetable Germany?s second largest airline will now be offering 13 flights a week instead of the previous seven flights to the major city on the Neva River. These new services allow airberlin to offer new connections via the hub in the German capital. The flights are now integrated into the key departure times in the mornings and evenings so that passengers from Russia have better transfer connections to German and European airports than those currently available. Connecting flights will be available for instance to Barcelona, Malaga, Alicante and Palma de Mallorca. There will also be connecting flights to Rome, Naples, Basel and Salzburg. The daily flights to and from Saint Petersburg will make day returns to almost all German destinations as well as to Vienna and Zurich possible for the first time. Today Russia is already one o  >>>

This is the first time that TмV Rheinland has awarded a TмV "Service Quality Management System" certificate to an airline. TмV Rheinland issued the certificate for four of airberlin?s service sectors: the airberlin.com website with its numerous service offers, service at the airport, service on board and the service that the airline offers to its frequent flyers.The aspects given a positive rating by the independent experts included the airline?s dedicated employees who live the service concept in a highly professional way. "Our service, which wins multiple awards every year, has by now become airberlin?s USP. The TмV certificate validates our endeavours and achievements in constantly increasing our passengers? comfort and offering the best possible service at a reasonable price. This is also due to our dedicated employees, who demonstrate a very high level of team spirit, such as can only be found in a very few companies," said Joachim Hunold, CEO Air Berlin PLC. "The expectations of air travellers vary cons  >>>

In November 2010, 2,508,821 passengers traveled with airberlin, i.e. an increase of 8.4 percent (November 2009: 2,314,734 passengers, including those traveling on the acquired NIKI and TUIfly routes). At 74.9 percent, fleet capacity utilization surpassed the level of the corresponding month of the previous year by 3.2 percentage points. For the period from January to November 2010, a total of 31,307,036 passengers traveled on airberlin's flight route network (including the acquired NIKI and TUIfly routes), i.e. 3.8 percent more than in the corresponding period of the previous year (January to November 2009: 30,163,413 passengers). Fleet capacity utilization for the first eleven months of the year decreased by 1.0 percentage point, i.e. from 77.8 to 76.8 percent, whereas accumulated capacity for the January to November 2010 period increased by 5.1 percent. November 2010 November 2010, accumulatedCapacity3,348,474Capacity40,738,085Number of passengers2,508,821Number of passengers31,307,036Capacity utilizat  >>>

Uwe Berlinghoff, 54, will become airberlin?s Director Corporate Communications and thus the company?s official spokesperson on 1 January of next year. Mr. Berlinghoff will be reporting directly to airberlin CEO Joachim Hunold and will be replacing acting Director Corporate Communications Peter Hauptvogel, 69, who will retain his positions as adviser to the board and in-house editor in chief of airberlin magazin. Mr. Berlinghoff is currently Adam Opel GmbH Director Government Relations and director of federal-capital representation affairs in Berlin; he has held these positions for the past eight years and in this capacity is Opel?s liaison with the German government. Prior to this, he served for six years as Opel?s Chief Communications Officer and for two years was in charge of electronic and interactive media for the company. The first position Mr. Berlinghoff held at Opel was Director of Public Rela-tions at the company?s Eisenach plant, which was established after the fall of the Berlin Wall. After graduat  >>>

The first Chinese financial leasing company established by a commercial bank - ICBC Financial Leasing Co. Ltd. and Air Berlin PLC signed a package deal for 18 aircraft ? covering used and new narrowbody aircraft, all equipped with CFM engines. The total deal size is approximately USD 700 million. This benchmark transaction consists of two parts: an outright sale of four Boeing B737-800 and six Airbus A320-200 and sale-and-lease-back of two Airbus A319-100, two A320-200 and four Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Having closed partially in September 2010, both companies are looking forward to the execution of the majority of these transactions in 2011 and 2012. ?As a young Chinese leasing company, ICBC Leasing is excited to enter into such a huge transaction and have airberlin as our latest major client. Already being successful in launching international businesses since 2009, we have been expanding our portfolio and will continue to grow our presence in global market. We hope to solicit more big and prestigious aviati  >>>

The twenty-four-hour general strike in Portugal on November 24, 2010, has forced us at airberlin to make changes to our flight schedule to and from Portugal on short notice. If you're booked to travel on November 24, 2010, please check your flight status with airberlin or, if you've booked a package holiday, your tour operator before leaving for the airport.Alterations to the flight schedule on November 24, 2010OLD: AB 3160Dќsseldorf ? Faro ? Dќsseldorf 05:50?07:55/08:40?12:45NEW: AB 4558/9 Dќsseldorf ? Seville ? Dќsseldorf 10:50?13:50/14:50?18:05****************************OLD: AB 3164/5 Berlin Tegel ? Faro ? Berlin Tegel 09:35?12:00/12:50?17:15NEW: AB 4596/7 Berlin Tegel ? Seville ? Berlin Tegel 14:00?17:30/18:30?22:00****************************OLD: AB 7624/5 Palma de Mallorca ? Faro ? Palma de Mallorca 14:45?15:35/16:25?19:00NEW: AB 7516/7 Palma de Mallorca ? Seville ? Palma de Mallorca 14:45?16:35/17:25?19:00 ****************************Cancellations due to the general strike:AB 7784/5 Palma de Mallorca   >>>

The Frankfurt Labour Court has prohibited the German pilots' union, "VC Cockpit", from holding a planned strike at airberlin on Tuesday evening. Air traffic will continue as scheduled.  >>>

airberlin reached an operating profit (EBIT) of EUR 171.7 million for the third quarter of 2010; however, the accumulated figures for the first nine months of the year could have been better: The harsh winter and the flight cancellations caused by the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland reduced EBIT to EUR 44.8 million. As at 30 September 2010, the net result for the first nine months amounted to EUR -14.6 million.Total revenue for the quarter reached EUR 1.241 billion, i.e. is a 5 percent increase over the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Due to the capacity increase, yield decreased by 2.2 percent to EUR 103.93. Analogously, revenue per available seat kilometer decreased by 2.9 percent to 6.79 Eurocents. Conversely, cost per available seat kilometer (ASK) for the first nine months of 2010 was lowered by 3.6 percent, in the third quarter even by 4.3 percent. Air Berlin PLC's net indebtedness was significantly reduced, namely from EUR 574 million to EUR 438 million. This figure, however, also includes   >>>

Gatwick will soon be airberlin?s second airport in London after Stansted. From 7th February 2011 airberlin will be linking Hanover and Nuremberg with the airport to the south of London. The number of weekly services from both German airports to London will remain unchanged. From February until October 2011 inclusive airberlin?s red and white aircraft will consequently be taking off twice a day from Nuremberg to Gatwick Monday to Friday and once a day on Sunday. From Hanover, the regional capital of Lower Saxony, passengers will also have a choice of two flights a day, six days a week (one flight on Saturday). Gatwick airport has excellent public transport connections. The journey from the airport to London?s city centre takes around 45 minutes. The direct flights from Dќsseldorf, Mќnster/Osnabrќck and Paderborn to London Stansted are not affected by the change of airport and continue to be available. The flights from Hanover and Nuremberg to London Gatwick can now be booked online (airberlin.com), by calling   >>>

? Codeshare flights to Cambodia now available ? topbonus and FlyerBonus frequent flyer programmes linkedairberlin and Bangkok Airways are strengthening their cooperation with immediate effect. In addition to airberlin?s non-stop services to Bangkok and Phuket, airberlin passenger now also have the option of a connecting flight from the Thai capital to Phnom Penh/Cambodia on Bangkok Airways. The codeshare flights to Koh Samui, Chiang Mai and Phuket will remain in place. topbonus members can now collect frequent flyer miles on any route operated by Bangkok Airways and redeem their topbonus miles for award flights with that airline. To do so, airberlin passengers simply need to quote their topbonus number when booking their flight or present their topbonus card at the check-in desk.In winter 2010/11 there are four direct flights a week from Dќsseldorf to Bangkok, three direct flights from Berlin to Bangkok and two direct flights a week from Munich to Bangkok. In addition airberlin offers three direct flights   >>>

In October 2010, airberlin welcomed 3,490,259 passengers on board, i.e. an increase of 7.6 percent (October 2009: 3,242,818 passengers, including those traveling on the acquired NIKI and TUIfly routes). At 80.3 percent, fleet capacity utilization surpassed the level of the previous year (plus 0.2 percentage points). For the period from January to October 2010, a total of 28,798,215 passengers traveled on airberlin's flight route network (including the acquired NIKI and TUIfly routes), i.e. 3.4 percent more than in the corresponding period of the previous year (2009: 27,848,679 passengers). For the first ten months of the year, fleet capacity utilization decreased by 1.3 percentage points, i.e. from 78.3 to 77.0 percent, and accumulated capacity increased by 5.2 percent. October 2010 October 2010, accumulatedCapacity4,347,142Capacity37,389,611Number of passengers3,490,259Number of passengers28,798,215Capacity utilization rate in %80.3Capacity utilization rate in %77.0  >>>

On Wednesday evening Joachim Hunold, CEO airberlin, together with Prof. Dr. Rainer Schwarz, Chief Executive Officer of Berlin Airports, and Mohammed Ahmed Al Mahmood, United Arab Emirates Ambassador in Berlin, inaugurated the new service between the German capital and the Emirate of Dubai. For the 298 passengers on board flight AB7318 and more than 100 invited guests the airport?s C2 terminal was transformed into a desert landscape with a Mocha ceremony, live Middle Eastern music and belly-dancing. "This is the first time that airberlin is operating a year-round, regular non-stop service to the Middle East and it is the only airline to link Berlin and Dubai. We have integrated the service to Dubai in our hub structure in Berlin and are consequently able to offer connections to other cities in Germany, Scandinavia, Austria and Switzerland. airberlin is thereby offering an attractive product to business travellers as well as to holidaymakers. At the same time we are strengthening our position in Berlin in the l  >>>

airberlin now offers kosher food on all flights to and from Israel. Instead of a sand-wich, airberlin passengers have a choice of three different bagels. In addition to the complimentary bagel, a hot meal created by top chef Franz Raneburger can be pre-ordered and is available at an extra charge. The choice here is between a vegetarian meal and a meat dish. All ingredients are kosher or "la-mehadrin". The bagels and hot meals are produced by "Top Kosher & Gourmet", the new catering service, and inspected by Rabbi Yitshak Ehrenberg of the Jewish Community in Berlin. airberlin operates nonstop flights from Dќsseldorf (2 flights per week), Berlin (3 flights per week), Cologne/Bonn (2 flights per week) and Munich (2 flights per week) to Tel Aviv. Fares start at 99 euros one way, including taxes, charges and miles, but excluding aviation tax. There are also feeder flights from various German cities. Flights to Tel Aviv can be booked online (airberlin.com), by calling the airline?s Ser-vice Centre (Tel.: 01805-737   >>>

airberlin disclosed its intention to issue bonds at a volume of ?150 million with a subscription period between November 2 and November 5, 2010, together with an option to raise the figure by up to ?50 million, according to an announcement of November 1. Although the issue volume was indeed raised to ?200 million, the order book was oversubscribed on the first day so the company decided to close the offer."We've taken an important step towards fulfilling our refinancing programme planned for this year and increasing our financial room for manoeuvre in the future with this successful bond issue," said airberlin financial director Ulf Hќttmeyer; "Investors have also expressed an interest in repurchasing the convertible bonds we issued in 2009."quirin bank AG acted as the lead manager for the bond issue.  >>>

From today airberlin will be connecting the German capital and Miami. Matthias von Randow, representing airberlin?s Board of Directors, and Dr. Till Bunse, Area Manager Marketing and Public Relations at Berlin Airports, together with Greg Delawie, Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Mission to Germany, presided at the ceremony marking the inaugural flight AB 7210 to the American city. "With these new direct flights airberlin is strengthening its position as a major carrier at the airport Berlin-Tegel. airberlin?s second direct service between Berlin and the United States will begin in summer 2011 with flights to New York. This allows airberlin to create a solid base in Berlin with a view to the airline?s membership of the oneworld alliance, which is planned for 2012," remarked Matthias von Randow. "By developing its hub in Tegel, consolidating its European network and establishing new long-haul routes, airberlin has increased its commitment to Berlin airports this year to an unprecedented extent. We are buil  >>>

From May 2011 airberlin will be offering two non-stop services a week from Cologne to Casablanca. With up to 10 scheduled flights to North Africa a week, airberlin is the major carrier in Cologne catering for ethnic travel. The airberlin flights to Casablanca, Nador, Tangier, Tunis and Algiers in summer 2011 are now available for booking. Early bookers can snap up bargain tickets from 59 euros including taxes, charges and topbonus miles, but excluding aviation tax, by booking online at airberlin.com, by telephoning the airline?s Service Centre (tel. 01805 ? 737 800; ? 0.14/min. from a landline, mobile phone charges not exceeding ? 0.42/min.) as well as via travel agencies.  >>>

As General Manager Middle East, Stefan Magiera (35) will be running airber-lin?s activities in the United Arab Emirates as well as in Bahrain, Qatar and Oman with immediate effect. In this capacity Magiera will also be directing the work undertaken by the local General Sales Agent, Oasis Travels LLc.At the same time Stefan Magiera will continue in his post as General Man-ager for Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar and will shuttle back and forth between the offices in Dubai and Bangkok. The qualified travel agent and graduate in business administration will report directly to Mats Jacobsson, Vice President International Sales airberlin. Stefan Magiera pos-sesses extensive experience in the tourism industry. The tourism companies for which he has worked in the past include Hapag-Lloyd Business Travel and Dќsseldorf Airport as well as the airlines Lufthansa, Lufthansa CityLine and Germanwings.  >>>

On 3 November 2010, airberlin will for the first time fly from Berlin to Dubai. Joachim Hunold, Chief Executive Officer of airberlin, Burkhard Kieker, Chief Executive Officer of visitBerlin and Prof. Dr. Rainer Schwarz, Chief Executive Officer of Berlin Airports, introduced the new airberlin nonstop connection in Dubai at an event for tourism, business and politics representatives, as well as the press. Joachim Hunold, Chief Executive Officer of airberlin, said: "For the first time, airberlin flies nonstop from Germany to the Middle East on a regular basis and, as the only airline, connects Berlin with Dubai. Dubai is an extremely important location for airberlin, where we see a great potential for future growth. Therefore, airberlin will also fly to Dubai in summer 2011. We are convinced that this flight connection will also contribute to further tighten and expand the excellent relations between Germany and the Emirate of Dubai."Burkhard Kieker, Chief Executive Officer of visitBerlin, said: "With a growth o  >>>

airberlin, Germany?s second largest airline, is making additional bargain tickets available for booking from 26th to 28th October. Travellers can enjoy up to 50 per cent discount per flight. This means that keen skiers, tobogganers and snowboarders can book destinations such as Innsbruck and Zurich. Tickets for city breaks and Christmas shopping trips to Helsinki, Copenhagen, Paris and Venice are also on offer. Those wanting to escape the cold winter weather can buy bargain flights to warmer destinations, including Faro, Palma de Mallorca and Tunis. Long-haul flights, for instance to Miami, Phuket and Windhoek, are also available at these special rates.The offer covers flights between 15th November 2010 and 28th February 2011 from German departure airports to numerous worldwide destinations. Tickets can be purchased online (airberlin.com), by contacting the airline?s Service Centre (tel. 01805 ? 737 800; ? 0.14/min. from a landline, mobile phone charges not exceeding ? 0.42/min.) as well as via travel agenci  >>>

airberlin is expanding its route network from Berlin and in summer 2011 the airline will be operating direct flights from the German capital to Sardinia for the first time. From 3rd May 2011 airberlin passengers will then be able to fly to Olbia airport in the northeast of the island on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The airberlin flights to Olbia can now be booked online (airberlin.com), by calling the airline?s Service Centre (tel.: 01805 ? 737 800; ? 0.14/min. from a landline, mobile phone charges not exceeding ? 0.42/min.) and through travel agents. airberlin is also offering non-stop flights to Olbia in the summer from Dќsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Cologne/Bonn, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart. Tickets to Sardinia are available from 49 euros one way. The prices include taxes, charges and topbonus miles, but exclude aviation tax.  >>>

When the summer timetable for 2011 comes into operation, airberlin will be expanding its route network from Basel Mulhouse Freiburg airport. The airline has added two new direct services. airberlin will be flying an Airbus A 320 with a seating capacity of 174 to Enfidha (Tunisia) at 06.50 hours on Tuesdays. One-way tickets are available from CHF 139 / EUR 100. The red and white aircraft will be taking off for their direct flight to Malta at 11.45 hours every Sunday. The airline will be using a Boeing 737-700 with 148 seats for this service. One-way tickets start at CHF 69 / EUR 49. airberlin is doubling the frequency of its daily flights to Berlin-Tegel from as early as February. The new hub offers convenient connecting flights to Scandinavia, Poland, Russia and the USA. All other tourist destinations for summer 2011 are now available for booking by passengers from the Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg area. From now on airberlin will be operating two services a week to Heraklion from CHF 179 / EUR 130. 16 destination  >>>

From summer 2011 onwards, airberlin will be operating a new service from Dќsseldorf and Hanover to Guernsey. This is already airberlin?s second destination in the Channel Islands, with Jersey being the first. From 16th April 2011, passengers from Hanover will also have the option of flying to Jersey via Guernsey for the first time. airberlin is offering all flights to the Channel Islands on Saturdays. The summer schedule for the Channel Islands starts in the middle of April and ends in September 2011. Feeder flights will be available from Berlin, Munich and Vienna.The flights to Guernsey and Jersey can now be booked online (airberlin.com), by calling the airline?s Service Centre (Tel.: 01805 ? 737 800; ? 0.14/min. from a landline, mobile phone charges not exceeding ? 0.42/min.) and through travel agents. Tickets to the Channel Islands are available from 99 euros one way. The prices include taxes, charges and topbonus miles, but exclude aviation tax.  >>>

airberlin is starting a new direct service to Switzerland. From 24th February 2011 the carrier?s red and white aircraft will fly up to twice a day from Berlin-Tegel to Basel. The early plane takes off at 08.55 hours Mondays to Fridays, while the evening plane leaves at 17.10 hours. At weekends there will be one flight a day: at 08.55 hours on Saturdays and at 17.10 hours on Sundays. The flights from Basel will take off at 06.35 hours and 19.15 hours on weekdays, at 06.35 hours on Saturdays and at 19.15 hours on Sundays. The departure times are designed so that business travellers as well as holidaymakers can spend the day in Basel. Passengers from Cologne/Bonn, Mќnster/Osnabrќck and Nuremberg will also be able to use the convenient transfer connections to Basel via Berlin. By operating a new service to this major Swiss city, airberlin is also optimising the important role of the Berlin hub. The flights to Basel and connecting flights via Berlin can now be booked online (airberlin.com), by calling the airline  >>>

airberlin, Germany?s second largest airline, is making additional bargain tickets available from 12th to 14th October. Travellers can enjoy up to 50 per cent discount per flight. Those keen on winter sports might want to book flights to Salzburg. Equally there are tickets for shopping trips to cities such as Berlin, London, Oslo and Paris. Destinations in the sun, including Palma de Mallorca and Hurghada as well as long-distance flights to places such as Miami and Bangkok, are also available for booking under the terms of this special offer. The Autumn Special flights take off from European airports for numerous destinations between 1st November 2010 and 31st January 2011. Tickets can be purchased online (airberlin.com); by telephoning airberlin?s Service Centre (tel. 01805 ? 737 800; ? 0.14/min. from landlines, max. charge from mobile phones ? 0.42/min) and from travel agencies. Prices include taxes, charges and topbonus miles, but exclude aviation tax.  >>>

Johannes Zurnieden (60), Chairman of the Board of Directors at Air Berlin PLC Holding, will be stepping down on 31.12.2010. Dr. Hans-Joachim Kіrber (64), a current board member, has been appointed as his successor.The entrepreneur from Bonn, Johannes Zurnieden, owner of Phoenix Reisen GmbH, was a partner in Air Berlin GmbH & Co. Luftverkehrs KG for many years. After the airline?s flotation in May 2006, he became Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company that had been transformed into an English PLC at the end of 2005.Air Berlin CEO Joachim Hunold (61) commented after a board meeting on Monday afternoon: ?Johannes Zurnieden has accompanied and advanced the development of our company from a small charter airline to the second largest German carrier. With his unflagging commitment and the fairness which has marked his entire period in office, he has made a major contribution to Air Berlin.? Zurnieden will remain a shareholder and board member, but will be devoting more time to other duties in future.His   >>>