Air Berlin to join oneworld

Air Berlin A330 200. Photo by Rob Finlayson.

Air Berlin said yesterday it will join oneworld and develop cooperative agreements with several members of the alliance.

In line with German stock exchange regulations, it said that it has reached an agreement with oneworld on “key aspects” of its membership and that it will work toward completing a full membership agreement under the sponsorship of British Airways. It added that “membership in oneworldwould strengthen Air Berlin’s competitive position and enable it to participate in the alliance’s revenue enhancement and cost reduction activities.”

AB also said it entered into codeshare agreements with American Airlines and Finnair that are scheduled to take effect Nov. 1. Responding to the AB statement, American Airlines said it"welcomes the news that Air Berlin has accepted an invitation to join the oneworld alliance and is delighted to be one of the first members of the alliance to announce a bilateral agreement with what is Germany’s second largest airline." The AA accord will give AB passengers access to 15 destinations in the US and two in the Bahamas. The Finnair cooperation will apply to codeshare flights to Helsinki, within Europe and to Asia. The agreements are subject to regulatory approvals.

The alliance is expected to officially invite AB to become a member in Berlin today, ATW has learned. The airline is Germany’s second largest after Lufthansa. In recent years, it has grown both organically and through acquisitions.

The Air Berlin Group includes Air Berlin, the Austrian airline NIKI (in which AB holds a 49.9% stake), the Swiss airline Belair (49%) and the Dusseldorf-based airline LTU (100%). At the end of the first quarter, the group operated 150 aircraft with an average age of 5.3 years. It carried 27.9 millionpassengers last year.

AB is attempting to position itself between traditional mainline carriers and LCCs, although several industry observers see it more as a hybrid between a charter carrier and an LCC. Its membership in oneworld would mark the first time such a crossover carrier has joined a global alliance.