Airlines
Lufthansa Agrees to Buy Parts of Air Berlin
Deal draws protest from Ryanair, which pledged to take its challenge to EC competition authorities
A Lufthansa Airbus Airbus A319 and an Air Berlin Boeing 737-800 taxi at Dusseldorf Airport. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-SA) by calflier001)
A Lufthansa Airbus Airbus A319 and an Air Berlin Boeing 737-800 taxi at Dusseldorf Airport. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-SA) by calflier001)

Lufthansa Group has agreed to buy major parts of insolvent Air Berlin, including Austrian subsidiary Niki, regional unit Luftverkehrsgesellschaft Walter (LGW), along with an additional 20 aircraft, Air Berlin announced Thursday. According to Air Berlin, the €210 million purchase guarantees the preservation of all jobs at Niki and LGW and opens the prospect of employment for “several thousand” Air Berlin employees. The deal remains subject to approval by Air Berlin’s creditors’ committee, the administrator in the insolvency proceedings and the European Competition Authority in Brussels.