German official downplays suggestions of a Lufthansa monopoly

A senior German government official has hosed down suggestions the Lufthansa group will be able to vacuum up the majority of Air Berlin’s assets after Germany’s second biggest carrier filed for insolvency. "It is quite clear that there won't be a takeover of Air Berlin by a single airline," Deputy Economy Minister Matthias Machnig told German media group Funke. "This is necessary and correct for antitrust and competitive reasons.’’ Air Berlin, which trades as airberlin, filed insolvency proceedings at the local District Court (Amtsgericht) of Berlin-Charlottenburg on Tuesday. The German government provided the company with a €150m bridging loan to keep the carrier and subsidiary NIKI flying and allow them to maintain their flight schedule. Aircraft operated by airberlin under a wet lease agreement with Lufthansa’s Eurowings and Austrian Airlines will also continue operating. An Air Berlin statement said Lufthansa and other partners were supporting restructuring efforts and there has since been media reports that Lufthansa was in talks to buy the majority of the airberlin group’s assets. Lufthansa confirmed it was in  negotiations with airberlin “to take-over parts of the airberlin group and is exploring the possibility of hiring additional staff”. “Lufthansa intends to conclude these negotiations successfully in due time,’’ it said. Bloomberg reported the deal could see Lufthansa take about 75 planes, including 38 already flying on its behalf. plus A330 wide-bodies and jets from NIKI. It said airberlin's Dusseldorf and Berlin bases would also provide Lufthansa’s Eurowings arm with a chance to expand a long-haul network beyond its current bases and slots in Berlin could benefit easyJet. Lufthansa’s involvement prompted Irish budget carrier Ryanair to lodge complaints with the German competition authority, the Bundeskartellamt,  and the European Commission about what it described as an  “obvious conspiracy” between Lufthansa, airberlin and the German government and to carve up the stricken company. “This manufactured insolvency is clearly being set up to allow Lufthansa to take over a debt-free Air Berlin which will be in breach of all known German and EU competition rules,’’ Ryanair said in a statement. “Now even the German Government is supporting this Lufthansa-led monopoly with €150m of state Aid so that Lufthansa can acquire Air Berlin and drive domestic air fares in Germany even higher than they already are.’’ Since then, Reuters has reported that aviation entrepreneur Hans Rudolf Woehrl, who bought Deutsche BA for a euro from British Airways,  is interested in making a bid. "INTRO already declared its interest years ago to take a majority stake in the Air Berlin group jointly with additional investors. This interest still exists," a spokeswoman Woehrl’s company, INTRO-Verwaltungs, told the news agency. "We think Air Berlin is meaningful only as a whole, because that is the only way to prevent a monopoly at the expense of passengers in Germany."