The fate of thousands of employees who had been working for Air Berlin remains uncertain as the airline flew for last time on 27th October after being bankrupt.
Air Berlin, which employs some 8,000 people, triggered bankruptcy proceedings in August after its biggest shareholder Etihad Airways pulled the plug on a cash lifeline following years of losses.
Lufthansa will definitely have some profit as it will be taking control of 81 of 134 jets of Air Berlin. 3000 Air Berlin employees will be taken by Lufthansa but the future of other employees remain in shadow.
The struggling Air Berlin kept on flying till Oct.27 as it received €150 million bridging loan from the German government, giving it time to negotiate the sale of its assets.
The collapse of Germany’s second-largest airline will no doubt please its biggest, Lufthansa, and others with an interest such as TUI Group, Ryanair, and EasyJet.
easyJet has expanded its operations in Germany with the purchase of a part of airberlin‘s operations at Berlin Tegel airport, providing a solution for the bankrupt carrier’s remaining assets.
The British carrier is expected to enter leases for 25 A320 aircraft, take additional take-off and landing slots, and hire new staff as part of its expansion in Germany.
The last ever flight for Air Berlin was from Munich to Berlin. The airlines flew for 40 years making it the second largest airline in Germany.
Air Berlin Flight AB 6210 was the final ever flight that landed at Berlin-Tegel airport at 23:45 local time.
