Sponsored Listings:
The Lufthansa Group will lease up to 40 Airbus A320 aircraft from competitor Air Berlin beginning next summer.
For economically stressed Air Berlin, the deal is part of a restructuring that will focus operations on high-yielding business routes from its Berlin and Dusseldorf hubs, the carrier said.
Lufthansa said it would deploy 35 of the aircraft to its discount carrier Eurowings, with the remainder to fly under the Austrian Airlines livery. The move will burnish Lufthansa’s effort to hold off Eurowings’ low-cost competitors Ryanair and EasyJet within the intra-Europe market. The announcement came just a day after the Lufthansa board approved an option to acquire the remaining 55% of shares of Brussels Airlines. The airline company has previously said that it is considering folding Brussels into Eurowings.
Air Berlin, Germany’s second-largest carrier behind Lufthansa, said that the lease deal would allow it to downsize by 1,200 employees. The carrier plans to reduce its flying on short and mid-length leisure routes, but said it would expand long-haul offerings, “particularly to the United States.”
In August, Air Berlin announced plans to expand service to the U.S. by more than 40% next summer. New routes to Orlando, Los Angeles and San Francisco are to be added and frequencies will be increased on existing Air Berlin service to Miami, Boston, New York and San Francisco.
Sourse: travelweekly.com
