Airlines
Etihad, TUI Group In Talks To Launch New Leisure Carrier
Deal would mark latest consolidation effort by Air Berlin
A co-branded Air Berlin Airbus A320 taxis at Milan Linate Airport. Etihad Airways owns 29.21 percent of Air Berlin. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-SA) by Anna Zvereva)
A co-branded Air Berlin Airbus A320 taxis at Milan Linate Airport. Etihad Airways owns 29.21 percent of Air Berlin. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-SA) by Anna Zvereva)

Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Aviation Group and German travel company TUI have entered talks to create a new European leisure airline group through the combination of Air Berlin’s “touristic” operations and TUIfly, the prospective partners announced Wednesday. The new airline would concentrate on point-to-point flying between “key” European tourist markets. Etihad owns a 29.21 percent stake in Air Berlin, now the second largest airline in Germany.