Air Berlin wants to go faster.. The second German airline, on the verge of bankruptcy, hopes to conclude by September the sale of its operations, said his boss, Thomas Winkelmann in an interview in the Bild am Sonntag, version Sunday in the Bild-zeitung. Several groups, including Lufthansa, are on the ranks.
“We have talked with more than ten interested parties, including several airlines. […] We want to conclude the sale no later than September. Without this, the confidence of customers in the company will wither,” said the officer.
Discussions with the gc contenders, started several weeks ago, have intensified since the launch last Tuesday of an insolvency proceeding of the company in berlin.
Lufthansa could ally with other companies
According to the German press, the German Lufthansa, which has received the support without ambiguity the German Transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, could take over a large part of the activity of his rival, at the side of other companies. Lufthansa, which rents already 38 of the approximately 140 aircraft of Air Berlin, is seeking to acquire up to 70 devices, some of which ensuring of long-haul flights and 21 aircraft belonging to Niki, addition, austrian subsidiary of Air Berlin. The group would also take up to 3,000 employees on the some 8,000 that the company failed, according to the information of Bild.
“There will be not one, but two or three buyers,” said Thomas Winkelmann.
The touring group TUI, owner of TUIfly – the airline specializes in vacation destinations – want to buy 6 or 7 aircraft of the fleet Air Berlin, always according to the newspaper. The names of Easyjet and Condor group (Thomas Cook) are also mentioned by the media.
“A company can not buy-only Air Berlin,” said Berlin
A contractor, bavarian, Hans Rudolf Wöhrl, has publicly expressed his interest to buy only Air Berlin, however, without providing concrete offer, and accused Berlin of promoting Lufthansa. A criticism already made by the company irish low-cost Ryanair, and rejected by the German government.
“The companies are currently in negotiations. The government is not at the negotiating table, and it does not lead more discussions”, however, has declared Friday, Korbinian Wagner, a spokesman for the minister of the Economy, during a press conference in Berlin.
“For competitive reasons, a company cannot buy-only Air Berlin”, was later highlighted in the newspaper Handelsblatt published Monday, Brigitte Zypries, the minister of the Economy.
Berlin has granted a loan of 150 million euros to Air Berlin to allow him to continue to fly its aircraft, the time that buyers are found.
(with AFP and Reuters)
