Bankrupt airberlin hopes to close its sale by September

frankfurt — Insolvent German airline airberlin hopes to complete its sale by September, the group’s chief executive said, as government officials fended off accusations of favouring Lufthansa in the bankruptcy process.

“We want to settle the sale in September at the latest, otherwise customers’ trust in the airline will vanish,” chief executive Thomas Winkelmann told newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

Lufthansa — which already leases 38 of airberlin’s 140 planes — could buy up to 70 aircraft with as many as 3,000 crew for its low-cost subsidiary Eurowings, Bild reported.

“I would welcome Lufthansa taking over larger parts of airberlin,” Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries told business daily Handelsblatt on Monday, while adding that it was up to the airlines to negotiate a deal between themselves.

Other interested airlines cited in media reports include package holiday firm TUI, British low-cost carrier EasyJet and Thomas Cook subsidiary Condor. Pugnacious Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary claimed last week that Lufthansa has enjoyed an unfair advantage in the scramble for chunks of the business, especially valuable landing slots at major German airports.

Bavarian investor Hans Rudolf Woehrl lent his voice to O’Leary’s criticism of a €150 million ($170 million) German government bridging loan to airberlin, writing on Facebook that it amounted to state aid for Lufthansa to build a monopoly. “It’s absurd to suggest that the federal government is in bed with Lufthansa,” Zypries told Handelsblatt. — AFP