Air Berlin takes off for China2008-05-10
On 1st May 2008 Air Berlin will begin its long-haul routes to China. From then on there will be five flights a week from Düsseldorf to the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai. The first flights to the Middle Kingdom have already been booked. There are feeder flights from Germany (including from Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart), Switzerland (Zurich) and Austria (Vienna) to both destinations. The route is operated with Airbus A330s. The aircraft take off from Düsseldorf International at 17:25 h on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays for Beijing and arrive at 09:00 h (local time). The return flight takes off at 10:45 h (local time) and arrives in Düsseldorf at 15:15 h. Flights to Shanghai take off at 17:25 h on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays and land at Pudong International at 10:20 (local time). The return flight takes off at 12:15 h (local time), to land in Düsseldorf at 18:20 h. Air Berlin is expecting its flights to the Middle Kingdom to be a long-term success. "China is a market of the future and has great potential," commented Air Berlin’s CEO Joachim Hunold at a press conference in Düsseldorf. He also mentioned that the timing for introducing this service was just right. Shanghai is a booming economic centre, and the Olympic Games will create a need for many people to visit China even in preparation of the sports event. And after the Olympic Games Hunold will be focusing on business travellers. That is why the existing Business Class will be upgraded to Premium Business Class from November 2008. 30 extremely comfortable "Contour" seats with a lie-flat setting will be installed in the Premium Business Class sections of the aircraft. "With the new Premium Business Class we are able to offer business travellers a significantly better product than many of our competitors," remarked Hunold. Furthermore, the partnership arrangement with Hainan Airlines means that Air Berlin passengers will be able to book connecting flights to all major Chinese airports. From Beijing alone Hainan Airlines, the country’s largest private airline, flies to 50 cities in China. In return, Hainan Airlines will be operating non-stop flights from Beijing to Berlin from 5th September 2008, with Air Berlin providing the feeder and connecting flights in Germany and Europe. The non-stop service to China signifies further consolidation of Düsseldorf as an operational centre with a catchment area of 18 million people and considerable economic potential. In the first three months of the year Air Berlin carried 1.37 million passengers, a 10.5 per cent increase over the same period in the previous year. In 2007 the airline carried approximately 6.5 million passengers from and to Düsseldorf. This makes Air Berlin the largest carrier at that airport and Düsseldorf the company’s most important German airport. During the summer schedule Air Berlin operates non-stop flights from Düsseldorf to 76 destinations. The company currently has 2549 employees in this major city on the Rhine. Once the new engineering hangar is built, Düsseldorf will also be Air Berlin’s largest maintenance site. 120 further technical jobs will soon need to be filled. The new flights to China can be booked online (airberlin.com), by calling the airline’s Service Centre (Tel.: 01805-737 800) any time or through travel agents. A one-way economy ticket to Beijing is available from 279 euros, or from 289 euros to Shanghai. In Business Class a one-way ticket to Beijing is available from 1,149 euros, or from 1,199 euros to Shanghai. Feeder flights from 40 euros are also available. The fares quoted already include taxes and charges. Press contact: Claudia Löffler Senior Manager Public Relations Air Berlin Tel.: + 49 30 3434 1500 Fax: + 49 30 3434 1509 E-mail: cloeffler@airberlin.com |
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