Etihad Airways is to increase its stake in Air Berlin to 29.21%, which will make it the largest single shareholder in the German carrier. For Air Berlin, this could seem an angelic feat as they are in the middle of a restructuring programme.
They are increasing their stake by 2.99%, at a cost of €2.31 ($3) per share. Eithad will also invest up to to $255 million in Air Berlin over five years to support its fleet development and future network growth. It will also gain 2 seats on the Air Berlin board too.
In Air Berlin’s part, they will move their Middle Eastern operation from Dubai to to Abu Dhabi, operating four flights a week from 15th January 2012 with Airbus A330-200. Both carriers will extend their codeshares and integrate their frequent flying programmes.
To aid their future developments, both Etihad and Air Berlin will seek antitrust immunity.
Etihad is a serial investor, owning shares of 34 airlines, with Etihad seeing this as a way to increase its European footprint.
Combined, Air Berlin and Etihad carry 40 million passengers a year, operating 233 aircraft, and employ 18,000 people.
Etihad Airways is currently not aligned to any alliance, whilst Air Berlin is still integrating for OneWorld membership.