Christian Lesjak (38) will take up his post as Executive Vice President Sales Scheduled Services with airberlin on 1st November 2010. Lesjak is moving from the airberlin group member NIKI, an airline where he has been Director for Sales, Marketing and Network Planning since April 2006. Overall, Christian Lesjak can rely on over 15 years of experience in the aviation industry, having worked for airlines such as Lauda Air and Swissair. In his new capacity, Lesjak will report to Air Berlin?s CCO, Christoph Debus.As Executive Vice President Sales Touristic Services, Detlef Altman will continue to be responsible for sales to tour operators. The split into separate areas of responsibility is designed to strengthen sales in preparation for airberlin?s full membership of the oneworld aviation alliance, which is due to take place at the start of 2012.  >>>

The airberlin group has added another airport to the destinations it serves from Zurich: Brindisi (BDS). From 15th April 2011 the airberlin jets will be taking off every Monday and Friday for the Italian port. During the summer schedule the airberlin group offers flights to New York (JFK) via Berlin-Tegel on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The service complements the existing daily flights via Dќsseldorf. This means that the airberlin group now offers passengers from Zurich a choice of ten flights a week to New York. The flights to Brindisi and the more frequent services to New York can now be booked online (airberlin.com), via the airline?s Service Centre (tel. 0848 737 800, CHF 0.08/min) and at travel agencies. Tickets to Brindisi start at CHF 79 one way, and flights to New York via Berlin are available from CHF 373 one way. The prices include taxes, charges and topbonus miles.  >>>

airberlin has won the Danish Travel Award 2010 in the category of "Best Low Cost Airline". This is already the fourth year in succession that the second largest German airline has won the award, thereby once again prevailing over the competition in Denmark. The Danish Travel Awards have singled out the best companies within the travel and tourist industry for the past 15 years. Mats Jacobsson, Vice President International Sales airberlin, accepted the award in Copenhagen last night.  >>>

The red chocolate heart is one of airberlin?s trademarks and is traditionally handed out to passengers by flight attendants as a farewell gift. This year, as partner to TRIBUTE TO BAMBI 2010, airberlin has again commissioned a special edition so that the chocolate heart can support a good cause. The entire sales proceeds are donated to the TRIBUTE TO BAMBI Foundation for the benefit of children in need. The special edition features five golden chocolate hearts in a gold-coloured box inscribed "Mit Herzen Gutes tun", which translates as "Putting your heart into doing good".The special edition chocolate hearts in the golden box are now available and can be purchased on board airberlin flights, online at airberlin.com/tributetobambi and from selected shops in Germany at a price of 5 euros.  >>>

On Wednesday in Mallorca, airberlin chief executive Joachim Hunold received a gold medal from the Mallorcan Chamber of Commerce and Industry for his "outstanding contribution to tourist development on the Ballearic Islands." The award was conferred by Balearic president Francesc Antich and Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Joan Gual at a ceremony attended by approximately 500 guests from the political, business and media communities. Mallorca has been airberlin?s top destination since the company?s founding more than three decades ago. And indeed, the company?s inaugural passenger flight on 28 April 1979 flew from Berlin to Mallorca. Since 1998, airberlin?s largest hub outside of Germany is Son Sant Joan airport on Mallorca, from which the airline offers flights to 17 destinations on the Iberian peninsula and neighboring islands. Last year alone, more than 6.7 million passengers flew to and from Mallorca on airberlin.  >>>

In September 2010, airberlin, Germany's second-largest airline company, welcomed 3,652,087 passengers on board, i.e. an increase of 8.7 percent (September 2009: 3,359,779 passengers, including those traveling on the acquired NIKI and TUIfly routes). At 82.7 percent, fleet capacity utilization was slightly higher than in the previous year (+0.1 percentage points). For the period from January to September 2010, a total of 25,307,956 passengers traveled on airberlin's flight route network (including the acquired NIKI and TUIfly routes), i.e. 2.9 percent more than in the corresponding period of the previous year (2009: 24,605,861 passengers). Fleet capacity utilization for the first nine months of the year decreased by 1.5 percentage points, i.e. from 78.1 to 76.6 percent. Accumulated capacity for the January to September 2010 period increased by 4.9 percent. September 2010 September 2010, accumulatedCapacity4,414,693Capacity33,042,469Number of passengers3,652,087Number of passengers25,307,956Capacity utiliza  >>>

Macquarie AirFinance, a global aircraft leasing company based in Dublin, Ireland, announced that it has purchased two 2006-vintage A320s from airberlin. The aircraft will be on long-term leaseback to airberlin and sub-leased to NIKI in Austria. John Willingham, Chief Executive Officer of Macquarie AirFinance, commented: "This is an attractive acquisition for us as it furthers our strategy of building a portfolio of popular, modern narrowbodies with leases to reputable customers. airberlin is a long established and valued customer of ours and we are excited now to partner with NIKI."Ulf Hќttmeyer, CFO of Air Berlin PLC stated: "We are pleased to have closed this valuable transaction with Macquarie AirFinance. We hope to build on the strategic relationship between our two companies in the future."About Macquarie AirFinanceMacquarie AirFinance is a global aircraft leasing company providing aircraft and capital to the world?s commercial airlines, and advisory and management services to aircraft owners. Establis  >>>

From 6th November 2010 airberlin will be operating one non-stop flight a week from Dќsseldorf to Arbil in Northern Iraq. In addition the airline will also be offering fortnightly flights from Dќsseldorf to Sulaymaniyah. Many of the seats have already been booked by a tour operator for ethnic travel.The flights to Iraq are now available for booking online (airberlin.com), by calling the airline?s Service Centre (tel. 01805?737 800; 0.14 ?/min. from a landline, mobile phone charges max. 0.42 ?/min.) and in travel agencies. Tickets to Arbil start at 459 euros including taxes, charges and topbonus miles (exclusive aviation tax) and tickets to Sulaymaniyah start at 509 euros, including taxes, charges and topbonus miles (excluding aviation tax).  >>>

? New service in preparation of BBI and oneworldЎ? A total of eleven non-stop flights from Dќsseldorf and Berlin to New York in summer 2011With the start of the summer schedule in May 2011, airberlin will be offering four weekly non-stop services between Berlin and New York. "airberlin will be strengthening its position in Berlin in the long term with the new route. The non-stop flight from Berlin to New York is another important step, both in view of the opening of the new BBI airport and airberlin's full membership of the oneworldЎ aviation alliance, which is planned for the start of 2012. The increase in the number of flights operated from Dќsseldorf is a further key element in preparation of becoming a full member of oneworldЎ. By working with our partner, American Airlines, we can link our hubs on both sides of the Atlantic and achieve a major increase in our services using codeshare flights," said Joachim Hunold, CEO airberlin, in New York this evening. The new service is interesting both for holidayma  >>>

Hans-Christoph Noack and airberlin have reached an amicable agreement under which the Director Corporate Communications will be leaving the airline on 30th September 2010.Noack has been head of press and public relations at Air Berlin PLC, Germany?s second largest airline and the sixth largest airline in Europe, since January 2009. During this period he has expanded and developed airberlin?s strategic communications and provided internal communications with new impetus and new tools. Joachim Hunold, CEO airberlin, thanks Hans-Christoph Noack for his valuable contribution and wishes him continued success in his future career and personal life.Peter Hauptvogel, editor-in-chief of the airberlin magazine, will be acting head of the communications department until a successor has been appointed. Yasmin Born will continue as deputy.  >>>

In order to provide passengers, tour operators and sales partners with planning security, airberlin will start levying air travel tax through all booking channels in the course of this week. The air travel tax decided on by the German Federal Government on 1 September 2010, for bookings from 1 September 2010 onwards and applying to departures starting from 1 January 2011, will amount to EUR 8, 25 or 45, depending on the duration of the flight. Since Saturday last week, global flight reservation systems have started to apply the air travel tax to airberlin flights, even though the airline company had not taken any initiative in this respect. The lawfulness of these actions is currently being verified by airberlin. Since levying this tax at a later time would be very cumbersome, airberlin is forced to pass on the resulting cost increase to the passengers, without delay. Should the proposed air travel tax not be accepted in the course of the parliamentary decision-making procedure, airberlin will reimburse the a  >>>

In August 2010, Air Berlin, Germany's second-largest airline company, transported 3,726,913 passengers, i.e. an increase of 8.7 percent (August 2009: 3,428,729 passengers, including those traveling on the acquired NIKI and TUIfly routes). Fleet capacity utilization decreased by 0.8 percentage points, i.e. from 84.3 to 83.5 percent. For the period from January to August 2010, a total of 21,655,869 passengers traveled on Air Berlin's flight route network (including the acquired NIKI and TUIfly routes), i.e. 1.9 percent more than in the corresponding period of the previous year (2009: 21,246,082 passengers). Fleet capacity utilization for the first eight months of the year decreased by 1.8 percentage points, i.e. from 77.5 to 75.7 percent. Accumulated capacity for the January to August 2010 period increased by 4.4 percent. August 2010 August 2010, accumulatedCapacity4,465,535Capacity28,627,776Number of passengers3,726,913Number of passengers21,655,869Capacity utilization rate in %83.5Capacity utilization ra  >>>

Air Berlin, the second largest German airline, is validating new noise abate-ment approach procedures as part of a joint research project conducted by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH (DFS) and Fraport AG. On 6th September one of Air Berlin?s Boeing 737-700s will be carrying out 13 different approaches at the DLR research airport at Braunschweig-Wolfsburg, while noise measurements are recorded on the ground. Effective noise abatement can be achieved on the one hand by noise avoid-ance, and on the other by noise transfer. To this end Air Berlin is testing curved approaches to avoid over-flying residential areas in future. The re-search flights in Braunschweig (Brunswick) will be simulating approaches to Frankfurt am Main airport. The volume of air traffic at Germany?s busiest airport does not permit reduced-noise approaches to be tested there. Noise transfer, however, is possible by delaying the descent. This will involve Air Berlin?s Boeing adopting a steeper glide slope than the  >>>

Germany?s second largest airline is again taking on more cabin crew. The Air Berlin Group is currently looking to strengthen its team of flight attendants in Munich and Nuremberg, its stations in Southern Germany.Applicants must have completed their vocational training, preferably in the service sector. They should also enjoy taking on the role of host on board our aircraft. Furthermore they will need very good knowledge of German and English as well as being geographically mobile and flexible. Anyone interested in working above the clouds will find further information about job requirements and the selection process on Air Berlin?s website at airberlin.com/jobs. The online application form can also be downloaded from there.  >>>

Travellers can now start making firm plans for their next summer holiday: Air Berlin flights to various destinations in 2011 are now available for booking. This includes services to the Balearics and the Iberian Peninsula. Tickets for direct flights to Barcelona and Bilbao, for instance, are available from 39 euros, flights to Palma de Mallorca and Ibiza start at 69 euros, and flights to Faro at 99 euros. Connecting flights via Palma de Mallorca to the Spanish mainland and to Portugal, with destinations such as Valencia, Madrid, Lisbon and Porto, can be booked from 69 euros. Direct flights within Spain, such as Palma de Mallorca to Alicante or Palma de Mallorca to Seville, start at 29 euros. Holidaymakers who want to spend the best time of the year in Tel Aviv can book their flights either from Dќsseldorf or Munich from just 99 euros. Those who prefer holidaying in the Alps can also book selected services to Austria and Switzerland. These include flights from Berlin, Dќsseldorf, Frankfurt and Hanover to Vien  >>>

Management teams at Air Berlin and LTU have reached a successful framework agreement with VC, the pilots? union, with regard to the working conditions for cockpit personnel. The collective bargaining process that has been ongoing since the beginning of the year has therefore been brought to an amicable conclusion. The new framework agreement for Air Berlin?s cockpit personnel includes a progressive adjustment of the key working conditions of Air Berlin pilots to match LTU?s level by 2013. These adjustments relate to the number of duty-free days per year, flexibility in the allocation of duty-free days per month as well as holiday entitlements and continued salary payments in the event of illness. Optimised models for drawing up duty rosters and assigning standby duties have also been agreed with Air Berlin and LTU. In addition the union and the employers have agreed rules for the introduction of an augmented cockpit crew on long-haul flights. By the time the summer 2011 schedule comes into effect, a third pil  >>>

Air Berlin PLC's consolidated sales for the second quarter of 2010 decreased to EUR 877 million due to the charges incurred as a result of the volcanic eruption in Iceland and the prolonged flight ban resulting therefrom. In the corresponding period of the previous year, consolidated sales (pro-forma, i.e. including the acquired TUIfly City Carrier business) amounted to EUR 935 million. EBITDAR (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and leasing expenses) amounts to EUR 124.3 million. In the pro-forma comparison, this figure amounted to EUR 160.1 million. EBIT (Earnings before interest and taxes) for the second quarter amounts to minus EUR 28.2 million due to the flight restrictions related to the volcanic eruption in April. In the corresponding quarter of the previous year, EBIT amounted to EUR 15.3 million (on a pro-forma basis). Net result for the second quarter of 2010 amounts to minus EUR 56.9 million, as compared to a Group result (including the acquired TUIfly City Carrier business  >>>

Oasis Travels LLc has been nominated Passenger General Sales Agent for the Air Berlin Goup for the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Oasis Travels LLc is a company fully owned by the Sharaf Group of companies.With the commencement of its winter 2010/11 schedule in November 2010, Air Berlin will provide the only non-stop connection between Dubai and the German capital, Berlin. The flights to Berlin will be offered three times weekly utilizing an Airbus 330 aircraft in a two class configuration. These flights will be integrated into the Air Berlin hub in Berlin-Tegel, allowing convenient connections to further destinations in Germany and Europe.Air Berlin flights between Dubai and Berlin are bookable at attractive fares through all IATA accredited travel agencies in the U.A.E, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar or on the Air Berlin (airberlin.com) website.  >>>