– Air Berlin’s accession to the Oneworld Alliance is a great opportunity for Berlin. Especially in view of the commissioning of the Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport (BBI) in 2012, cooperation within this structure is of great importance. It paves the way for further attractive connections between Berlin and the world. Through the BBI airport, Berlin offers airlines unique development opportunities in one of Europe’s most promising markets. We are pleased that Air Berlin is consistently taking advantage of this opportunity – says Prof. Dr. Rainer Schwarz, CEO of the Berlin Airports association.
Already today, Air Berlin is the most strongly represented airline at Berlin airports. The market share of this airline has grown from 5.4 percent in 2000 to over 30 percent at present. So far this year, Air Berlin has handled 3.7 million passengers at Berlin airports. Compared to the same period last year, this corresponds to an increase of nearly 140,000 passengers. In general, the number of passengers at Berlin airports has increased since the beginning of the year; despite the harsh winter, volcanic ash clouds, and strikes; by nearly half a million passengers. A significant growth factor that determined such successful development was the expansion by Air Berlin of its hub at Tegel Airport, which is served daily in six waves by 22 aircraft. During the week, Air Berlin currently offers over 6,000 connections through its hub. This hub has particular strategic importance. Since the start of its expansion in May 2010, the number of passengers using the Air Berlin hub as a transfer point has doubled. Starting from the winter flight schedule, Air Berlin is offering three new long-haul connections: to Dubai, Miami, and Mombasa. For this purpose, an Airbus A330-200 aircraft is stationed in Berlin. Besides Oneworld and SkyTeam, Star Alliance is also involved in passenger service at Berlin airports with a wide range of Lufthansa flights and, for example, a daily Continental Airlines flight to New York.