Air Berlin
The airline was established in July 1978 and started operations in April 1979 as an American
Oregon-based company named "Air Berlin USA" flying services out of West-Berlin. Air Berlin is the first German National
Airline after the fall of the Berlin Wall. They serve all the large airports but have also found a nice niche serving
passengers to all the tourist destinations. The airline has been posting profits in 2004 despite heavy competition from
discount airlines. Air Berlin is a major low-cost airline based in Berlin, Germany. It operates scheduled services from a
range of German airports.
Initial charter flights began with a Boeing 707 to Palma de Mallorca. Even today, the so called
Majorca Shuttle to Germany's favorite holiday island is one of Air Berlin's busiest routes. Air Berlin is also the biggest
airline on Majorca. Palma de Mallorca is also used a hub with about a dozen flights from/to Germany connecting to
destinations in the Iberian Peninsula.
After German reunification, German investors took over the majority of shares and the airline was
registered under German law and renamed Air Berlin. Due to airline deregulation in the European Union these flights are now
operated as scheduled flights. The airline started scheduled flights to European business capitals, such as London, Zurich,
Vienna and Barcelona, in the late 1990s using some of its aircraft for these so called "City Shuttles" in the early morning/
late evening and using these same aircraft to serve popular tourist destinations during the middle of the day.
The Air Berlin fleet consists of the following aircraft:
- 4 Airbus A320-200
- 5 Boeing 737-400
- 3 Boeing 737-700
- 38 Boeing 737-800
- 3 Fokker F100
