airberlin exceeds efficiency programme targets for first quarter

June 7, 2012 flight2000it

airberlin has exceeded the target set by its efficiency-increasing programme “Shape & Size” for the first quarter of 2012 and has therefore increased its target for the year as a whole by 25 million to 225 million euros at the EBIT level (earnings before interest and taxes). At the German airline’s Annual General Meeting in London today, airberlin CEO Hartmut Mehdorn said: “We are on the right track. Despite difficult market conditions we have managed to reduce costs, increase our turnover and yield (revenue per passenger) and achieve the best capacity utilization for a first quarter since the company was listed on the stock exchange.” All the management’s endeavours are focussed on making airberlin fit for the future and achieving a positive result in 2013, Mehdorn said.

The “Shape & Size” programme aims, on the one hand, at increasing turnover and improving performance, and, on the other hand, at rationalizing and improving airberlin’s internal processes and works intensively towards reducing costs. The programme includes the newly introduced three-tier fare structure “YourFare”, which is tailored even further to customers‘ needs, the continued integration of the Austrian airline NIKI, system changes in the areas of Revenue Management and reservation systems and the constant scrutiny of the route network and the fleet of aircraft required.

The CEO of airberlin gave a positive assessment of the first few months of the strategic partnership with Etihad Airways and of airberlin’s membership of the airline alliance oneworld® which began in March. Mehdorn said: “Our collaboration with Etihad Airways has got off to a very good start; we are working in partnership towards common goals and I am confident that the two partners will be able to achieve turnovers in the tens of millions over the next two to three years by exploiting synergies.” A project team set up between airberlin and Etihad Airways is coordinating all the initiatives involved. Their work includes the alignment of product standards, the cooperation of the two frequent flyer programmes, the planned collaboration in the area of Boeing 787s, the further extension of codeshare agreements and measures to improve the service offered to customers in the Sales, Marketing and Ground Operations Departments.

In the current year, Mehdorn predicts that airberlin will gain more than 240,000 additional customers through its membership of oneworld. airberlin already had codeshare agreements with seven oneworld members which created new possibilities in terms of connections for its customers. As a full member of the alliance the number of destinations available to airberlin customers has increased to more than 800 destinations worldwide. This means that airberlin’s topbonus frequent flyer programme is now on an equal footing with the competition.

Regarding the postponement of the opening of Berlin’s new airport from 3rd June 2012 to 17th March 2013, Mehdorn said: “It will be a challenge to operate our expanded flight schedule, which was planned for our new home base at BER, from Tegel Airport. We are doing everything we can to minimise the impact on our customers.”

On Thursday, the Annual General Meeting adopted the annual accounts 2011 by a large majority. Alongside airberlin Executive Directors CCO Paul Gregorowitsch and COO Helmut Himmelreich, the Non-Executive Directors James Hogan, Andreas Nikolaus Lauda, James Rigney, Ali Ismail Sabanci and Heinz-Peter Schlüter were re-elected as scheduled as Board Members.

Source: airberlin