Insolvent Air Berlin scraps flights over ‘ill’ pilots

BERLIN: Bankrupt Air Berlin said it was forced to cancel dozens of flights on Tuesday, after ‘an exceptionally high number’ of pilots called in sick.

“We regret the inconvenience for our passengers,” said the airline on its website.

Both domestic and international flights were affected, including links between Berlin and Los Angeles or Dubai.

Lufthansa’s low- cost subsidiary Eurowings, which is renting aircraft as well as pilot and crew from Air Berlin, has also been forced to cancel some flights.

Air Berlin filed for insolvency in mid-August, after its main shareholder Gulf carrier Etihad pulled the plug on its cash lifeline.

The airline had for years struggled for survival, and booked losses amounting to 1.2 billion euros ( US$ 1.4 billion) over the past two years.

In order not to leave travellers stranded during the busy summer season, the German government agreed to provide a bridging loan of 150 million euros to keep the airline flying for three months. — AFP