EANS-News: airberlin: Significant strategic decisions in 2010

airberlin aims further growth with oneworld – Revenue increased to
EUR 3.72 billion, number of passengers to 33.6 million – Net debt
reduced by EUR 84.9 million – negative EBIT of EUR 9.3 million

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Financial Figures/Balance Sheet/Results 2010

Subtitle: airberlin aims further growth with oneworld – Revenue
increased to EUR 3.72 billion, number of passengers to 33.6 million –
Net debt reduced by EUR 84.9 million – negative EBIT of EUR 9.3
million

London/Berlin (euro adhoc) - In the current and in the coming year,
airberlin, Germany's second-largest airline company, will be
intensively preparing for its upcoming membership in the
international airline alliance oneworld®, which is scheduled for
spring 2012, as well as expanding its intercontinental flight
connections, and strategically enlarging its presence in Eastern
Europe. The key markets will remain Germany, Austria and Switzerland,
and the area surrounding the company's major hub in Palma de Mallorca
(Spain). For 2011, airberlin anticipates a further increase in the
number of passengers and an increase in total revenue. At the press
conference on the Annual Financial Accounts, held on Thursday in
Berlin, Joachim Hunold, airberlin's Chief Executive Officer, stated:
"We are not satisfied with the way earnings developed in 2010.
However, airberlin has taken significant strategic decisions to
prepare itself for the future". In this context, Hunold mentioned the
agreement with respect to airberlin's upcoming membership in
oneworld, and the increase of airberlin's participation in NIKI
Luftfahrt GmbH and the full consolidation of NIKI. "The decision to
join oneworld is one of the most important strategic steps in the
history of airberlin, and with NIKI, attractive opportunities for
growth, particularly in Eastern Europe, are opening up for us,"
stated Hunold.

For 2010, Air Berlin PLC increased its revenue to EUR 3.72 billion,
i.e. 1.1 percent more than in the previous year (2009: EUR 3.68
billion - including the TUIfly city routes and, as of July 2010, also
including NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH). The number of passengers increased by
3.8 percent to reach 33.6 million, thus achieving a new passenger
record. Nevertheless, the operating result fell short of expectations
due to the harsh winter in Europe, the air space restrictions imposed
as a result of the volcanic eruption in Iceland, the air traffic
controller strike in Spain and the announcement of strikes against
Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG. Whereas EBITDAR (Earnings
before leasing expenses, depreciation, amortization, interest and
taxes) increased from EUR 607.1 million to EUR 618.5 million, EBIT
(Earnings before interest and taxes) decreased from EUR 29 million to
EUR -9.3 million. The financial result decreased from EUR -59.3
million to EUR -133.3 million, total equity decreased from EUR 610
million to EUR 505.3 million. Ulf Hüttmeyer, airberlin's Chief
Financial Officer, stated that this development resulted from the
repurchase of the majority of a convertible bond placed in August
2009. "This transaction enabled us to prevent the dilution of our
shareholders' equity, and will reduce our financing costs by
approximately EUR 76 million by 2014," stated Hüttmeyer. Furthermore,
airberlin reduced its net debt by an additional EUR 84.9 million (15
percent). For the 2010 financial year, pre-tax earnings amounted to
EUR -141.6 million (2009: EUR -29.5 million).

Preparing for oneworld

"oneworld's invitation for airberlin to become a member of the global
airline alliance in the coming year provides airberlin with the
pre-requisites for connecting to additional key markets, such as
North America, Russia and the Far East, and thus for further stable
growth," stated Hunold. Therefore, airberlin is intensively preparing
for its upcoming 2012 membership. According to airberlin's CEO, this
includes expanding the selection of intercontinental flights,
starting from summer 2011, for example, by increasing the frequency
of flights to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Florida, New York and
Vancouver. Other examples are the bilateral cooperation agreements
for earning and redeeming topbonus miles on all eligible flights in
the oneworld network, acquiring access to the airport lounges of the
oneworld partners, and the bilateral agreements with the partner
airlines for operating flights under a shared flight number. Such
codeshare agreements have already been concluded with American
Airlines, Finnair and S7. Negotiations are currently being held with
British Airways and Iberia, and are making good progress.

Full consolidation of NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH

In July 2010, Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG acquired an
additional 25.9 percent of the shares of NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH from the
Privatstiftung Lauda (private Lauda foundation) and thereby increased
its current participation in NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH from 24 percent to
49.9 percent. From July 2010, NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH has been fully
consolidated within the airberlin group. NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH will
remain a legally independent company with its own management. Hunold
commented as follows: "Following years of successful cooperation and
partnership with NIKI, the increase of airberlin's participation was
a logical development. NIKI has allowed us to access the entire
Austrian market, and thus complements and expands our own network in
a meaningful manner. NIKI's base airport Vienna is developing more
and more into another significant hub of the airberlin group."

More business-class passengers and increased comfort

"airberlin is benefiting from the recovery of business travel,"
stated airberlin's CFO, Ulf Hüttmeyer. In a fiercely competitive
environment, airberlin was able to increase the number of corporate
agreements to 1,441, i.e. 286 more than in 2009. Furthermore, one
year ago, airberlin introduced a corporate program for small and
medium-sized businesses with three or more permanent employees,
namely the business points, for which 5,942 companies had signed up
by the end of 2010. Hunold stated: "In this manner, airberlin is
increasingly establishing itself as a business carrier." The growing
number of participants in the frequent flyer program is likewise a
contributing factor. Since April 2006, airberlin has been able to
increase the number of participants by 44 percent, to more than 2.4
million at present.

As of November 2011, airberlin will further improve the comfort on
its long-distance flights and equip its entire Airbus A330-200 fleet
with new seats in both the business and economy class. The in-flight
entertainment system will also be replaced in both classes. The new
seats and the on-board entertainment program will be gradually
installed in the long-distance fleet cabins.

Integration of LTU

The integration of LTU will take place according to plan as of 1
April 2011. LTU's flight operations will become part of airberlin,
and maintenance in Berlin, Düsseldorf and Cologne will be
consolidated in airberlin technik. "We have the approval of the
employee representatives and the authorization from the authorities.
We are anticipating significant savings due to reduced complexity,
the phasing-out of redundant structures, and the simplification of
the work flow," stated Hunold. The integration of LTU is part of the
new program "Accelerate 2012". This efficiency program is based on
the pillars revenue increase, capacity adjustment, and cost
reduction.

Outlook for airberlin

For 2011, airberlin anticipates a 4 to 5 percent increase in the
number of passengers by improving seat capacity utilization, and
higher revenue. "For airberlin, the current financial year 2011
started with an additional strain on both the revenue and the expense
side," stated Hunold. He cited the political turmoil in Tunisia and
Egypt as a reason: "As the market leader in Egypt, airberlin was the
airline which was affected the most by the flight cancellations and
the reduced number of bookings." As a result of the political
instability, kerosene prices have drastically increased. airberlin
will pass on the additional cost, via fuel surcharges. Hunold also
mentioned the additional risk ensuing from the aviation tax which has
increased the price pressure in Germany and will lead to changes in
demand, the extent of which is difficult to forecast. However, at
present, there are also positive signals, such as economic growth,
decreasing unemployment, an increase in business travel and increased
consumer confidence. "I am convinced that we can obtain a positive
operating result in 2011, provided that the framework conditions do
not worsen", stated Hunold.

end of announcement euro adhoc
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ots Originaltext: Air Berlin PLC & Co Luftverkehrs KG
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Further inquiry note:

Uwe Berlinghoff
Director Corporate Communications airberlin
Tel.: +49 30 3434 1500
Fax: +49 30 3434 1509
E-mail: abpresse@airberlin.com

Branche: Air Transport
ISIN: GB00B128C026
WKN: AB1000
Index: SDAX, Classic All Share, Prime All Share
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