Lufthansa Set To Takeover Air Berlin

Germany’s biggest airline Lufthansa is set to buyout Air Berlin.

Carsten Spohr, chief executive of Lufthansa air, who revealed this on Thursday, said that the Frankfurt-based carrier, will sign a contract to buy 81 of Air Berlin’s 144 planes and take on 3,000 of its 8,500 staff.

Air Berlin in august filed for bankruptcy after its main shareholder, Etihad, said it would not give further financial support.

Flights continued after a transitional loan of €150m from the German government.

The airline has since been negotiating with potential buyers for parts of its business.

Spohr said, “We will see a milestone in the history of Lufthansa and Air Berlin today,”

Mr Spohr said he expected the imminent Air Berlin deal to receive European Union approval by the end of the year, allowing operations to stabilise within about six to nine months.

Shares in Lufthansa rose more than 3% to top Germany’s Dax index after the chief executive’s comments and upbeat notes from analysts.

Air Berlin, which accumulated debt for almost a decade, reported a record loss of €782m (£713m) for last year.