Air Berlin aiming to save 80% of jobs through easyJet, Lufthansa deals

Air Berlin said it will push on with negotiations with Lufthansa and easyJet until 12 October as it looks to secure the jobs of around 80% of its staff.

The airline, which filed for insolvency last month after Etihad said it no longer intended to provide the group with financial support, said that Lufthansa had made offers to buy parts of its low-cost Austrian airline, Niki, and LGW. It said successful conclusion of these negotiations will open up job prospects for several thousand employees.

Meanwhile, EasyJet has offered to take over some of the Air Berlin fleet, which would create new job opportunities for the company's employees.

Air Belin said that if the deals are finalised as planned, there is a good chance it will be able to repay the €150m development loan from the German government which has helped to keep the company in the air over the summer.

Chief executive officer Thomas Winkelmann said: "We are on the way to achieving good job prospects for around 80 % of our colleagues with our bidders.

"Furthermore, there is currently great demand for qualified employees on the labour market. The Federal Employment Office will therefore inform our company headquarters in Berlin about available vacancies. However, we will not be able to breathe a sigh of relief until the EU Commission has finally authorised the transactions. It has only been possible to reach the current stage of negotiations due to the rapid bridging assistance provided by the Federal Government. Otherwise, we would have been forced to ground the fleet on the weekend of 12/13 August 2017. This would have meant the immediate loss of employment for all employees".