Air Berlin
Defunct airline of Germany (1978–2017)
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Key Takeaways
- Air Berlin plc & Co.
- com (28 April 1979 – 27 October 2017), was a major German airline.
- It was headquartered in Berlin and had hubs at Berlin Tegel Airport and Düsseldorf Airport.
- The airline was originally founded by American interests in 1978 to provide airline service to West Berlin, a territory that could not legally be served by West German airlines such as Lufthansa due to political restrictions on East German airspace.
- After years of losses, however, Air Berlin filed for insolvency in August 2017 and ceased operations two months later.
Air Berlin plc & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (FWB: AB1), branded as airberlin or airberlin.com (28 April 1979 – 27 October 2017), was a major German airline. At its peak, it was Germany's second-largest airline after Lufthansa, as well as Europe's tenth-largest airline in terms of passengers carried. It was headquartered in Berlin and had hubs at Berlin Tegel Airport and Düsseldorf Airport. At the time of its insolvency, it was a member of the Oneworld airline alliance, having joined in 2012.
The airline was originally founded by American interests in 1978 to provide airline service to West Berlin, a territory that could not legally be served by West German airlines such as Lufthansa due to political restrictions on East German airspace. In 1991, shortly after German reunification, Air Berlin became a German-owned company and shifted its core business to compete more directly with Lufthansa, eventually becoming one of Germany's biggest airlines. After years of losses, however, Air Berlin filed for insolvency in August 2017 and ceased operations two months later.
History
1978–1990: American charter airline in West Berlin
Originally registered as Air Berlin USA, the company was founded in 1978 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Lelco, an American agricultural enterprise headquartered in Oregon, to operate charter flights on behalf of German tour operators from Berlin Tegel Airport, mostly to Mediterranean holiday resorts.
The co-founders of Air Berlin USA were:
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