In preparation for its upcoming membership in the oneworld alliance, airberlin is strengthening its role as a European carrier by expanding its competence in Eastern Europe. For the first time, airberlin's and NIKI's 2011/12 winter flight schedule is offering synchronized flights catering to the growth markets of Rumania, Bulgaria and Serbia. With up to three flights daily, the capital cities of these countries, namely Bucharest, Sofia and Belgrade, will be linked with the Vienna hub. Flight times and connections are scheduled such that airberlin can offer significantly faster connections from the German-speaking regions to South Eastern Europe. This applies to the routes from Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover, Nuremberg and Zurich.

Flight connections to Russia are also being improved. A capacity increase of almost 35% from the Russian market enabled better connections to Europe-bound and long-haul flights. The number of passengers transported increased by more than 50%. airberlin wants to take part in this development and therefore, starting from the winter flight schedule, will be offering 50 flights per week to Moscow and St. Petersburg from Berlin, Dusseldorf, Munich, Stuttgart, Vienna and Salzburg.

airberlin will also strengthen its position in Poland. As of 1 May 2012, airberlin, Germany's second-largest airline company, will triple its flights to Cracow and will link the city of Gdansk to the Berlin hub. With two daily connections per week during off-peak times and one flight connection on Saturdays and Sundays, travelers from Northern and Southern Poland will be able to catch connections to flights within Germany, to Austria, Switzerland or the Nordic countries. Furthermore, long-haul connections to New York, Miami or Bangkok will be available. Travelers to Gdansk will thus have rapid access to the Polish region of the Baltic Sea, to Masuria, and to the European Football Championship in the summer of 2012.