German carrier axes flights to UK
Air Berlin is axing regional flights to the UK as part of a plan to partially withdraw from regional airports in Germany and shed unprofitable routes after announcing a €32.2m loss for the second quarter.
Flights from London to Munster/Osnabruck and Hanover will be cancelled this winter and flights from London and Manchester to Paderborn will also be dropped.
Germany's second largest airline said the cancellations were necessary as its cost reductions had not been sufficient to offset higher costs resulting from aviation tax, rising fuel prices and the decline of Egypt-based business.
Launching the airline's "Shape & Size" cost-cutting programme, CEO Joachim Hunold, whose offer to resign was accepted by the Board yesterday, said: "In order to become profitable we need to make cuts in our flight routes and in our fleet."
The airline will cut its fleet by eight aircraft, slashing one million seats from its overall capacity for the second half of this year.
In future, it will concentrate on its hubs in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Palma and Vienna.
Harmut Mehdorn, an Air Berlin board member since July 2009, will become interim CEO from September 1.
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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