Air Berlin

Cyprus's Council of Ministers has approved a series of actions to increase tourist arrivals from Germany, following the collapse of Germania, Cobalt and Air Berlin.

Niki Lauda aims to turn a profit from next year with Laudamotion, the airline he has rebranded after buying it back from insolvent Air Berlin, the ex-motor racing champion said on Friday.

The carrier will fly from Germany, Switzerland and Austria to holiday destinations in Greece, Spain and Italy in summer and add city shuttles and charter flights later this year.

[Reuters]

EasyJet has confirmed a €40m (£35m) deal with Air Berlin to buy part of the insolvent German airline's operations, in a move that will secure 1,000 jobs, reported BBC. 

EasyJet will buy some of the company's assets at Berlin Tegel Airport, including landing slots as well as leases for up to 25 A320 aircraft.

Lufthansa will sign a contract to buy big part of the property of the bankrupt Air Berlin. Lufthansa spokesman Karsten Spor announced that the contract will be confided to notary in Berlin at 12am local time.

Air Berlin announced insolvency in mid-August, operating since then with a EUR 150 million state credit.

Air Berlin has been forced to cancel about 100 flights after an "unusually high number" of pilots called in sick, in what is believed to be a wildcat strike against possible redundancies at the bankrupt airline, reported The Guardian. 

A dogfight over the assets of troubled Alitalia and Air Berlin heralds a new shake-up in the European airline industry -- but unless other carriers cut costs they may meet a similar fate themselves, analysts warn.

Insolvent German airline Air Berlin hopes to complete its sale by September, the group's chief executive said, as government officials fended off accusations of favoring Lufthansa in the bankruptcy process.

"We want to settle the sale in September at the latest, otherwise customers' trust in the airline will vanish," chief executive Thomas Winkelmann told newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

Air Berlin is in talks with three competitors about buying up its assets, the insolvent airline's boss said on Aug. 17, warning that not all jobs would be saved.

"Aside from Lufthansa, we are in contact with two other interested parties from the aviation industry," Air Berlin chief executive Thomas Winkelmann told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily.

The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair filed a complaint with EU competition authorities after German airline Air Berlin launched a bankruptcy procedure and then received a EUR 150 million loan from the government, the Associated Press reported.

Air Berlin, Germany's second-largest airline, filed for bankruptcy protection on Aug. 15 after key shareholder Etihad Airways withdrew funding following years of losses, leaving valuable runway slots up for grabs.