09. 08. 10. - 14:00

Air Berlin to get busier in Salzburg

Air Berlin will expand its network of flights departing Salzburg Airport from December, it has emerged.

The German company – which cooperates with Austrian budget carrier FlyNiki – announced today (Mon) it will offer two instead of one daily flight to the German capital Berlin.

The firm also presented two new connections with four weekly flights each to the German city of Hanover and to London-Stansted. Air Berlin said these flights will operate from December, adding that tickets for all new and additional connections could be booked as of now on its website, www.airberlin.com.

The company, which had to cancel around 3,500 flights due to the Europe-wide air traffic shutdown earlier this year, has developed into one of the main partners of Salzburg Airport as it also offers connections to Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and the German cities of Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Nuremberg.

Air Berlin is Germany’s second biggest airline after Lufthansa. It increased its interest in FlyNiki by 25.9 per cent to 49.9 per cent last February. The deal included a takeover option, but FlyNiki chief Niki Lauda stressed: "I am and will remain major stakeholder and boss of my airline."

Lauda said the development was a "logical step". He explained: "The even more intensive cooperation will make us more efficient and more attractive for customers."

FlyNiki, which was founded in 2003, has 450 employees. It had around 2.6 million passengers last year and Lauda explained the goal was to serve more than three million customers in 2010.

Meanwhile, Lufthansa CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber caused a stir by calling on the world’s top countries in aviation to team up over standardised safety procedures to make travelling more convenient.

The Upper Austrian entrepreneur said: "It would be ideal if the five biggest countries (in aviation) meet and agree on security and safety regulations."

Mayrhuber claimed in the interview with Austrian weekly magazine profil that automatic customer identification systems and a system informing airports of all relevant information about frequent fliers would help reduce waiting time and all kinds of nuisances for travellers.