Air Berlin is to open a transfer base at London Stansted Airport, taking on Europe’s low-cost giants easyJet and Ryanair in their home market.
Initially, Air Berlin will offer flights from Manchester and Glasgow International into London Stansted, with onward connections to seven airports in Germany. More routes are expected to follow.
Marc Heinicke, Air Berlin’s Euro shuttle manager, is confident that the carrier can prosper in what is Europe’s most mature low-cost market. “We think the UK market is attractive. There are more low-cost frequencies than other markets, but it works for us.”
He points out that links between Glasgow and Germany are virtually non-existent, with the only direct services operated by Ryanair from Glasgow Prestwick to Frankfurt Hahn and Düsseldorf. “We are offering something unique,” Heinicke says.
Manchester to Germany is a busier market, with Lufthansa, British Airways, Hapag-Lloyd Express and Air Berlin all active. Lufthansa and BA have around three-quarters of the market between them according to schedule data provider Innovata. The Glasgow-Stansted leg will see the German carrier in competition with easyJet, Ryanair and Scottish carrier Globespan. The former two both offer over 9,000 weekly seats, while Globespan has over 3,000. Air Berlin will offer 4,000-5,000 seats a week.
Heinicke says Air Berlin expects 50-70% of volumes to be made up of transfer traffic. “A hub and spoke system creates domestic routes, but this is a byproduct,” he says. Transfer times, including baggage, will be around 45-60min. Air Berlin even discussed the possibility of interlining with MaxJet, which started an all-business service between Stansted and New York JFK in November. These talks came to nothing, however, he says.
Heinicke says that the Stansted hub is fully scaleable and that in the longer run, connections to the Spanish market are a possibility, although longer sector lengths could make this difficult. In May next year, Air Berlin is to open its first route between Stansted and the Spanish mainland when it starts flying to Alicante – where again it will be going head-to-head with easyJet.
Air Berlin already has a low-cost hub in Palma de Mallorca, which saw 200 flights a week during the summer 2005 season, as well as a smaller hub at Nuremberg.
Meanwhile, Air Berlin’s chairman, Joachim Hunold, is to take over the management of Berlin-based wet-lease specialist Germania following the death of its owner, Hinrich Bischoff.
COLIN BAKER/LONDON
Source: Airline Business
