In future airberlin will be focusing even more on the synergies emerging from its association with its strategic partner Etihad Airways and the oneworld carriers, to derive even greater benefit from the potential stemming from the existing alliances and partnership.
airberlin has strategically revised its route network for next summer. The timetable modi-fications have been designed to increase efficiency and mainly refer to the intercontinental routes to the USA as well as the airline’s hubs in Palma de Mallorca and Vienna. The important consideration was not to reduce but to transfer capacities, thereby enhancing the airline’s profile in strategic core markets.
“Our goal is certain: to return airberlin to the profit zone in 2013,” said Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, airberlin’s Chief Strategy and Network Planning Officer. “By revising our current network strategy we are adapting to the growing challenges of an ever more dynamic economic environment and putting ourselves in a position where we can exploit the potential of our outstanding configuration of alliances to an even greater extent. Our intensified cooperation with Etihad Airways, with the members of the oneworld global airline alliance and, as regards our North American services, especially with our codeshare partner American Airlines, is a keystone in our strategy to prepare airberlin’s route network for the challenges of the future. By restructuring its network, airberlin is also enhancing its profile as a network carrier operating within a strong association of airlines.“
airberlin derives greater benefit from the synergies of its alliances in North America
The United States are a strategic growth market for airberlin. This will continue to be the case in the future. By restructuring its network in North America, airberlin has set the course for further growth in this market from summer 2013 onwards. The new non-stop service between Berlin and the American Airlines hub of Chicago from March 2013 underpins the strategy of the second largest German airline as regards developing the existing synergies from that association.
Against this background, airberlin will also be increasing its non-stop services to New York JFK, Los Angeles and Miami from May 2013 onwards, while at the same time cancelling its seasonal non-stop flights from Dusseldorf to Las Vegas, San Francisco and Vancouver.
The restructuring of the North American network is therefore aimed at selectively weeding out low-frequency routes while simultaneously strengthening the strategically important, high-turnover routes and making the best use of a strong network of partners. Consequently both San Francisco and Las Vegas will continue to be available for booking as codeshare flights with American Airlines, since this airline operates a far more frequent service to these destinations than airberlin – and throughout the year.
The expansion and optimisation of services from Berlin and Dusseldorf to the American Airlines hubs of New York JFK, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago is an important element in airberlin’s network strategy for summer 2013. Consequently airberlin will be increasing the number of non-stop flights between Dusseldorf and New York JFK from seven to ten flights per week, thereby ensuring greater timetable consistency with the same arrival and departure times throughout the year.
The number of flights from Dusseldorf to Miami is also being increased: from May 2013 a daily service will replace the previous five flights a week to this major US destination. Another new feature at airberlin’s Dusseldorf hub is that the number of non-stop flights to Los Angeles will be increased from three to four per week. The flights are scheduled for Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Since the service from Berlin to Los Angeles will still continue in summer 2013 with three flights a week – on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays – airberlin passengers will be offered a daily flight from Germany to West Coast USA from May 2013 onwards.
The times of the flights between Berlin and Los Angeles, a service that airberlin has been offering since 11th May 2012, have also been optimised for better connections to and from destinations in airberlin’s growth markets of Scandinavia and Russia. The service between Berlin and Miami is also being increased from three to five flights a week.
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
