Thursday, November 24, 2011

Air Berlin scouts around for strong partner -paper

FRANKFURT Nov 24 (Reuters) - Air Berlin, Germany's second largest airline behind Lufthansa is looking for a partner, with its new chief executive holding talks with several potential interested parties, a German daily said on Thursday, citing sources.

United Arab Emirates' Etihad Airways and China's HNA Group were among those Chief Executive Hartmut Mehdorn has approached for discussions, Sueddeutsche Zeitung said in a prerelease of its Friday edition.

A sale of a substantial stake in Air Berlin cannot be ruled out, it added.

Air Berlin declined to comment.

Air Berlin had already pre-released third quarter results at the end of October, showing a 44 percent drop in operating profit to 96.8 million euros ($130.97 million), hurt by an air travel tax in Germany and high fuel prices. The airline made a 9.3 million euro operating loss in 2010.

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