2013-03-05 — /travelprnews.com/ — airberlin has strategically revised its route network for 2013. The airline’s hubs in Berlin and Dusseldorf are being strengthened, the schedule is being organised more efficiently and tailored to meet the needs of strategic key markets. During this process capacities will be shifted and new routes and services will be introduced so that the airline’s profile as a company operating on a global level is streamlined. In 2013 airberlin is counting even more strongly on collaboration with its strategic partner Etihad Airways and on its partnerships with the airlines that are part of theoneworld® alliance.
“2013 will be marked by improved efficiency and strategic realignment at airberlin. We started the year on a positive note and we are on the right track to persevere in this direction. The revision of our network has been and continues to be an important element in this undertaking. Our goal is to provide our flight guests with an optimal route network that is tailored to demand and is at the same time efficient and commercially viable. To achieve this we are relying on our own competence in the fields of tourist and scheduled services but also on the synergies that have arisen through the partnership with Etihad Airways and the oneworld alliance”, said Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO airberlin.
Partnership with Etihad Airways
In the course of the first year of the strategic partnership between airberlin and Etihad Airways the two airlines carried more than 300,000 passengers on their combined route networks and together generated additional revenues of more than 100 million euros. This has far exceeded initial expectations.
In the space of one year the number of codeshare flights operated by the two airlines has increased to 90. airberlin and Etihad Airways currently offer 239 common destinations in 77 countries and the number is steadily increasing. There are tempting long-haul destinations in the Arab world, in Thailand, Japan and China. Flights to the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne are also on offer through airberlin’s partnership with Etihad Airways.
The harmonisation and strengthening of the two partners’ respective hubs means that flight guests with airberlin and Etihad Airways are being offered a steadily growing number of connecting flights to destinations all over the world.
Strengthening the hubs in Berlin and Dusseldorf: USA remains a key market
The hubs in Berlin and Düsseldorf will be further expanded in 2013. The number of connections offered from Berlin will increase in comparison to the summer of 2012 from around 7,600 to around 11,000 and those from Dusseldorf from around 3,000 to around 4,050 flights per week. New routes will be introduced for both these airports, flight frequencies will be increased and flight times will be adjusted in some cases to make for better connections. The routes to North America are an important part of this strategic expansion of the hubs.
The USA is a strategic growth market for airberlin. The new non-stop service between Berlin and the American Airlines’ hub in Chicago to be introduced in March 2013 underpins the strategy of Germany’s second largest airline to further expand the existing network synergies with itsoneworld partners. From all its destinations in North America airberlin offers numerous connections through codeshare flights with American Airlines, so that airberlin flight guests have access to almost every region of the USA.
Against this backdrop, airberlin is increasing the number of non-stop flights from Berlin and Dusseldorf to Miami: from May 2013 there will be five flights a week from Berlin and one flight every day from Dusseldorf to the US metropolis. airberlin is also increasing the number of non-stop flights between Dusseldorf and New York-JFK from seven to ten per week and making the schedule more consistent by standardising the arrival and departure times throughout the whole year. The number of services from Dusseldorf to Los Angeles will also be increased from three to four a week. With the three flights each week from Berlin this means that, from May 2013, airberlin flight guests will be able to fly from Germany to the West coast of the USA every day. The optimisation of flight times from Berlin will primarily benefit guests from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Russia and Scandinavia. Tickets to San Francisco and Las Vegas can still be booked on codeshare flights with American Airlines.
Development of routes for the key markets in Europe
airberlin is counting on further expansion of its competence in Eastern Europe at its hub in the capital, Berlin. In January 2013 daily flights to Sofia and Bucharest were introduced. On 22nd March the inaugural flight will take off from Berlin to Warsaw and airberlin will fly up to three times a day to the Polish capital. The airline will increase the number of flights from Berlin to Budapest – a service which has been in existence for a year – to up to two flights a day from the beginning of the summer flight schedule. The service between Kaliningrad and Berlin will also be expanded to one flight every day with a total of three additional flights a week on offer.
airberlin is also expanding the number of flights it offers to Scandinavia and Finland. From May 2013 the airline will fly four times a day from Berlin to Copenhagen and Stockholm and up to three times a day to Helsinki. airberlin is also optimising the service it offers to Scandinavia at the weekends with an increased number of flights. From May airberlin will restart the service from Dusseldorf to Cagliari operating three flights a week on this route. In the summer airberlin will add six additional flights to its service from Düsseldorf to Milan, making a total of 18 flights per week. The services from Dusseldorf to Nuremberg and Salzburg will also see an increase of six flights per week. From Zurich the routes to Naples and Cagliari will be on offer again twice a week and there will now be one flight a week to Sylt.
Strengthening Palma de Mallorca and new service to Madrid
At the beginning of the summer schedule airberlin will increase the number of flights from Germany, Austria and Switzerland to Majorca by 12%, thus reinforcing its position as market leader in Palma. In summer 2013, there will be up to 402 flights a week taking off for the Mediterranean island from Germany alone. This corresponds to an increase of 14% in comparison to summer last year (summer 2012: 352 non-stop flights a week from Germany) New services from this summer include additional flights from Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich to Palma de Mallorca. In addition, airberlin has been operating a new daily flight from Berlin to Madrid since 25th February and is thus the only airline to offer a non-stop flight from Berlin-Tegel to Madrid.
Wider offer of tourist flights from Vienna and increased services to Moscow
The route network from Vienna has been further strengthened on the one hand due to the increase in the number of flights on offer to new touristic destinations in Greece such as Kalamata, Karpathos, Kavala, Lesbos, Thessaloniki and Volos, and on the other hand due to the increased frequency of flights to existing destinations in Egypt, Spain and Turkey. The route from Vienna to Moscow, which is important for business travellers and tourists alike, will be expanded to two flights a day from 27th April. In collaboration with oneworld Partner S7 NIKI offers up to 400 connecting flights a week to other destinations in Russia via Moscow.
Press contact
Alexandra Bakir
Phone: +49 (0)30 3434 1500
Fax: +49 (0)30 3434 1509
internationalmedia@airberlin.com