Airberlin strengthens its hub in the German capital

More nonstop flights to Scandinavia and Eastern Europe in summer 2013

New from March 2013: the airline connects Berlin with Chicago and Warsaw

64 destinations in 22 countries, with up to 1,578 departures and arrivals every week – this is the flight schedule that will help Germany’s second largest airline to further establish its position as market leader at its home base in Berlin in summer 2013. 

“The systematic expansion of our Berlin hub shows that airberlin is committed to the city and also to a future at the capital’s BER Airport. Through our partnership with Etihad Airways and membership of the leading global airline alliance oneworld®, we have laid the strategic foundations to further reinforce our position as the leading network carrier at the Berlin hub. Expanding the services we offer, especially to Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and the USA, is part of this initiative, as well as improving the connections for airberlin passengers who use Berlin as a hub to transfer to flights all over the world,” Hartmut Mehdorn, CEO airberlin, said. 

The further expansion of the nonstop services between the German capital and Denmark, Finland and Sweden plays an important part in strengthening the hub for the coming summer. From 6th May 2013, airberlin will increase the number of nonstop flights from Berlin to Stockholm and Copenhagen from three to four a day and to Helsinki from two to three flights (on Mondays to Fridays). No other airline offers such an extensive service to these three Nordic cities. The significantly improved connections via Berlin to numerous destinations across airberlin‘s global route network give the airline a further competitive advantage.  

Alongside the Nordic countries, Eastern European countries also figure among airberlin’s strategic emerging markets. Warsaw is a new destination on the route network and as from 23rd March 2013 airberlin will operate up to three flights a day from Berlin to the Polish capital. Prospects for future growth also look promising for the Polish destination of Krakow, and airberlin is the only airline to offer a nonstop service from Berlin to this city. As from 22nd March, airberlin will therefore increase the number of daily flights offered on this route on weekdays from two to three and will offer an additional second flight from Berlin on Sundays. This represents a 50 percent increase in the number of flights offered compared to the same month last year. On Saturdays airberlin will continue to operate one nonstop flight a day to the city on the River Weichsel and will offer an additional flight from Krakow to the German capital. The flights from both Warsaw and Krakow have excellent connections via the hub in Berlin. With the increased frequency of flights from March 2013, passengers from Krakow will be able to take greater advantage of our Berlin hub in future. From both these Polish cities there are particularly attractive flight connections available via Berlin to Chicago, New York, Miami and Los Angeles, for example, and also to destinations in Scandinavia, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.  

There is also positive development on the route from Berlin to Kaliningrad, which airberlin has been the only airline to offer from Berlin since June 2012. Following just four months of operation, airberlin plans to increase the number of flights to this Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea by three departures a week from 6th May 2013, operating a daily service to Kaliningrad during the summer. The flight times on this route are also especially tailored to suit business travellers and holidaymakers. Daily connecting flights make it even easier to travel to other airberlin destinations such as Dusseldorf, Frankfurt or Munich. 

airberlin has been operating flights between the Hungarian capital Budapest and Berlin since February this year. As part of the sustained strengthening of the Berlin hub, the airline is now once again expanding its flight schedule between Berlin and Budapest, adding a further service to the Hungarian city on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6th May 2013. airberlin will thus offer two nonstop flights on every weekday between Berlin and the Hungarian metropolis. Another new feature of the summer schedule is the nonstop flight from Berlin to Budapest on Saturdays, in addition to the existing service from Budapest to Berlin. 

Alongside Warsaw, Chicago is another new destination; for the first time in its history, airberlin will begin operating flights from Berlin to Chicago three times a week from March 2013. At the start of the summer schedule in May 2013, airberlin will increase the number of nonstop flights to the “windy city” to five per week, offering the connection on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. At the same time airberlin will link the two cities of Chicago and Warsaw via its hub in Berlin and, thanks to the excellent transfer options, provide a rapid connection between one of the largest Polish communities in the world, outside of Poland, and Warsaw. With the new destination of Chicago airberlin is strengthening its capacity to the USA from its Berlin hub and will operate flights to a total of four destinations in the United States next year. There will be flights all year round from or via Berlin to Miami, New York and additionally, from March, to Chicago. In the summer airberlin will also begin flying nonstop from Berlin to Los Angeles. 

Connections to Austria will also be further improved under the summer schedule 2013. From 6th May airberlin will increase its services from Berlin to Graz, operating flights to the capital of the Austrian state of Styria every day except Saturdays. This represents a 20 percent increase in the number of flights available. At the same time the additional flights improve the service between Graz and the Berlin hub and offer access to further connections within Germany, to Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, and also to long-haul destinations such as Abu Dhabi.  

These new nonstop flights and additional services for next summer can be booked online at  airberlin.com, through our Service Center (phone: 030 3434 3434, calls charged at the local rate) or at a travel agents.

Source and photo: airberlin