Air Berlin increases net profit

Despite LTU integration, net profit for the third quarter exceeds EUR
60 million

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ots.CorporateNews transmitted by euro adhoc. The issuer is responsible for
the content of this announcement.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

air transport/9-month report/Q3-report

London/Berlin (euro adhoc) - In the third quarter of 2007, the Air
Berlin Group transported 12 percent more passengers than during the
corresponding quarter of the previous year, increased its fleet
capacity utilization by 2.3 percentage points, raised its sales
volume by 7.2 percent and, with net profit exceeding EUR 60 million,
achieved the highest quarterly net profit in its corporate history.
However, Management is not entirely satisfied with this performance.
Due to the delayed LTU acquisition, the envisioned synergy effects
did not reach their full potential. One-time charges for integration
and restructuring totaled EUR 13 million.

The Group consisting of Air Berlin, dba and LTU (the latter included
for the months of August and September) increased its seating
capacity in the third quarter of 2007 by 8.9 percent in comparison
with the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The fleet
increased to 126 aircraft from 118. The number of passengers welcomed
on board increased by 12 percent, and with 8.08 million passengers
transported, the seat load factor improved from 81.5 to 83.7 percent.
Sales volume increased from EUR 799.9 million to EUR 857.6 million,
i.e. an increase of 7.2 percent. Whereas EBITDAR (Earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and leasing expenses)
increased by 12.5 percent from EUR 155.4 million to EUR 174.8
million, EBIT (Earnings before interest and taxes) increased by
merely 0.7 percent from EUR 69.6 million to EUR 69.8 million. Lastly,
due to favorable financial and tax results, net profit increased from
EUR 50.9 million to EUR 60.8 million (+19.4 percent).

"Synergies to take effect in 2008"

As Joachim Hunold, Air Berlin´s CEO, stated in Berlin on Tuesday:
"Despite the good performance in the third quarter, these figures put
us in the lowest bracket of our planning for the nine-month period.
This state of affairs is partially due to the modest performance in
the second quarter and also to the circumstance that we were not able
to integrate LTU prior to 8 August. Only from that point in time
onwards were we able to optimize LTU´s yield management and capacity
control. It was not possible to eliminate overlapping flights between
Air Berlin and LTU due to the elevated number of reservations.
Therefore, we have not yet been able to realize the planned synergy
effects to their full extent. We had to take a one-time charge for
integration and restructuring measures amounting to EUR 13.2 million.
However, in 2008, these synergies will take effect."

On the right track with cost reduction

Ulf Hüttmeyer, Air Berlin´s Chief Financial Officer, commented on the
individual results as follows: "Due to the competitive environment,
the introduction of new flight routes and increased flight
frequencies, and the introductory prices associated therewith,
revenue per passenger decreased by 4 percent to average EUR 106.
Profit per available seat kilometer decreased by 1.2 percent, i.e.
from 5.84 to 5.77 Eurocents. Nevertheless, this development was
significantly more stable than in the second quarter, during which
the decline in yield still exceeded 5 percent. Despite the charge for
restructuring, we succeeded in cutting cost at the EBITDAR level by
2.6 percent, and in increasing the margin by one percentage point to
20.4 percent of sales revenue. Due to the increased costs for wet
leases, EBIT, with a margin of 8.1 percent, is only slightly below
that of the previous year (8.7 percent). With almost EUR 70 million,
Air Berlin´s operating income lies, just like the sales volume, at
the lower end of our planning range, which was between EUR 68 million
and EUR 81 million. However, at more than EUR 60 million, net income
has exceeded our expectations. We had anticipated a net income
between EUR 48 million and EUR 57 million. Over the first nine
months, we earned EUR 31 million, as compared to EUR 34 million in
the corresponding period of the previous year."

Chief Executive Officer Joachim Hunold concluded: "We have now laid
the foundations for optimally positioning ourselves strategically for
the future. As of now, we will concentrate on cutting additional
costs. 2008 will be the year of increased profit for the Air Berlin
Group."

end of announcement euro adhoc 20.11.2007 07:51:52
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ots Originaltext: Air Berlin PLC & Co Luftverkehrs KG
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:
Peter Hauptvogel
Director of Corporate Communications Air Berlin
phone: +49 30 3434 1500
e-mail: abpresse@airberlin.com

Branche: Air Transport
ISIN: GB00B128C026
WKN: AB1000
Index: Classic All Share, Prime All Share, SDAX
Börsen: Börse Frankfurt / regulated dealing/prime standard
Börse Berlin / free trade
Börse Hamburg / free trade
Börse Stuttgart / free trade
Börse Düsseldorf / free trade
Börse München / free trade