07.03.2012
airberlin comfort service: new benefits for frequent flyers and business travellers
• strategic partnership between airberlin and Etihad Airways
• airberlin becomes a full member of the global airline alliance oneworld®
• intensified activity at the Berlin, Dusseldorf und Vienna hubs
• new: the topbonus Platinum Card for frequent flyers
• two years of business points: 10,000 members
The main areas of focus for airberlin in 2012 are the
strategic partnership with Etihad Airways, membership in
the global airline alliance oneworld, intensified activity
at its hubs both at its future home base at
Berlin-Brandenburg (BER), but also in the expansion of the
hubs in Dusseldorf and Vienna and the continuation of its
comfort initiative. airberlin CEO Hartmut Mehdorn said: "In
collaboration with our new partner Etihad Airways and as a
member of the oneworld airline alliance, we are able to
offer our customers a significantly improved and more
attractive range of flights, as well as the opportunity to
earn topbonus award and status miles on all flights with
Etihad Airways and across the entire network of the
oneworld Alliance. Award miles can be redeemed for award
flights all over the world. airberlin is thus taking the
next step towards even greater globalisation. We are
systematically implementing the comfort initiative which we
began last year."
Strategic partnership with Etihad Airways
On 19th December 2011 airberlin and Etihad Airways
announced that they were entering into a strategic
partnership. The two airlines transport a total of over 40
million customers each year and operate 233 aircraft. Their
combined route network covers 239 destinations in 77
countries. The hub in Abu Dhabi offers airberlin customers
a gateway to Africa, Asia and Australia. Etihad Airways
already markets numerous airberlin flights, such as those
from Berlin to Austria and Switzerland and from Dusseldorf
to Miami and New York. Good connections to Spain via
Dusseldorf and Munich are also available for Etihad Airways
passengers. The frequent flyer programs of the two airlines
are integrated so that topbonus members can earn status and
award miles on all flights operated by Etihad Airways.
Membership in the oneworld airline alliance
Following just 20 months of intense preparation, Germany's
second largest airline will become a full member of the
global airline alliance oneworld on 20th March. airberlin's
membership in the alliance will add another 70 destinations
to the oneworld network. oneworld will then offer flights
to 800 destinations in 150 countries with a total of around
9,000 departures every day. The combined fleet amounts to
2,500 aircraft. airberlin has already set up active
codeshare agreements with American Airlines, British
Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Royal Jordanian, S7 and Japan
Airlines. airberlin's frequent flyer program is already
integrated with the frequent flyer programs of several
other oneworld members. From 20th March 2012 topbonus
members will be able to earn and redeem award miles on the
entire network of the oneworld Alliance.
Further expansion of the hub at the BER home airport in
Berlin
airberlin recorded a total of approximately 7.9 million
flight guests in 2011 alone and in the same period,
airberlin operated over 70 nonstop flights from Berlin. One
third of the airline's passengers depart from Berlin. Since
2010 airberlin has expanded its hub in the German capital
and initiated a hub structure based on six waves of
traffic. During peak times, up to 24 airberlin aircraft can
land and the airline records a total of up to 17,000
connecting passengers every week. The expansion of the hub
also means improved connectivity for customers of
airberlin's codeshare partners. At the new Berlin airport
(BER), airberlin expects up to 750 flights per week and
10,500 connecting flights. There are three new connections
weekly to Los Angeles and two new flights weekly to Danzig.
airberlin offers three nonstop long-haul connections from
Berlin to Abu Dhabi, Los Angeles, Miami, New York (JFK) and
Windhoek. Just recently, airberlin has started flying to
Budapest on a daily basis. The nonstop connections to Abu
Dhabi, Krakow and New York will be extended to daily
services, as will the connection to Bangkok and Phuket via
Abu Dhabi. With the start of the summer schedule, flights
to Stuttgart, Vienna, Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Oslo and
Stockholm will also be increased in number.
Expansion of the Dusseldorf hub
airberlin is also offering new connections and an increased
number of flights from its hub in Dusseldorf. There will be
a new daily connection to Abu Dhabi from 25th March and a
new weekly flight to Mombasa. In future, airberlin will
offer two flights per week on the route from Dusseldorf to
Las Vegas, making the airline the largest provider of
nonstop flights from Dusseldorf. In addition, the number of
flights offered to the USA will be increased to five weekly
departures to Miami and three connections per week to San
Francisco. airberlin will operate flights from Dusseldorf
to Palma de Mallorca 38 times a week. The number of
departures to Naples, Venice and Vienna will also be
increased.
Increased activity at the Vienna hub
The hub in Vienna will see a growth in activity through the
new connections to Eastern Europe. airberlin operates
flights several times a day to Sofia and Bucharest (3
departures a day) and to Belgrade (twice daily). These
flights are scheduled at times which are particularly
attractive for business travellers. There are up to six
flights every day from German airports to the hub in
Vienna.
topbonus frequent flyer program: Introduction of the
topbonus Platinum Card
airberlin is constantly extending its topbonus frequent
flyer program. At the start of this year, airberlin was the
first airline to enable customers to earn status and award
miles when paying with their airberlin credit card. This
allows frequent flyers to maintain their status or to reach
the next status level more quickly. On 20th March topbonus
will introduce the new Platinum status for its most active
frequent flyers who have collected 100,000 topbonus status
miles within twelve months This status level includes
privileges such as Platinum Service with a personal
customer service team, upgrade vouchers for Business Class
on airberlin flights or a topbonus Silver Card for the
member's partner. The topbonus Platinum Card is equivalent
to oneworld's Emerald status and allows the holder to use
oneworld status benefits, such as access to oneworld First
Class lounges across the entire oneworld network. Gold
status corresponds to oneworld's Sapphire status and
holders of a topbonus Silver Card can enjoy the same
benefits as oneworld members with Ruby status. On 20th
March, all topbonus status cardholders will receive a new
topbonus Card which shows their corresponding oneworld
status. Silver Card and Gold Card holders who have not
reached Platinum status will keep their current status.
The 10,000th member of the business points program
Just two years after it was introduced, airberlin's
business points program has more than 10,000 registered
customers from small and medium-sized companies. Today,
during the International Tourism Fair (ITB), airberlin CEO
Hartmut Mehdorn congratulated Roman Schikorsky, managing
director of Berlin's mmpro GmbH, on being the 10,000th
member of the corporate program for small and medium-sized
companies. "The business points program is especially
popular with small and medium-sized companies, which do not
have their own travel departments, because it can be
managed online and involves hardly any administrative
burden," explains airberlin CEO Hartmut Mehdorn. Other
advantages of the program are the crediting of points
immediately after departure, the ability to book award
flights online on the day of departure (subject to
availability), or free rebooking of an award flight on the
day of departure. "This really sets us apart from our
competitors and provides added value for our customers,"
says Mehdorn.
Press contact:
Uwe Berlinghoff
Senior Vice President Communications airberlin
Phone: +49 30 3434 1500
Fax: +49 30 3434 1509
email: abpresse@airberlin.com