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Air Berlin saw annual losses deepen last year due to the impact of terrorist attacks in Egypt and Paris and heavy restructuring costs.
Net losses increased to €446.6 million from €376.7 million in 2014, including €92 million in one-off restructuring and other costs. Capacity was cut by 6.8% during the year.
However, the airline expects lower fuel costs to give it a boost of around €250 million in 2016, according to chief executive, Stefan Pichler.
The airline, in which Etihad Airways has a shareholding, is to focus on more long-haul routes, serving 90 destinations from its hubs in Berlin and Dusseldorf from this summer.
Pichler said: “Etihad Airways is committed to Air Berlin and we continue to play a key role towards its success.
“We delivered €140 million last year in direct passenger revenues to our major shareholder. We have its support for the aggressive and radical restructuring of our business.
“However, there are still hard decisions to be made, which require the clear support of key internal stakeholders.”
He added: “The partnership between Air Berlin and Etihad Airways offers a better range of flights and destinations for passengers, plus strong growth potential. Overall, the two airlines saw passenger numbers grow in 2015 by more than 20% to 720,000.
“Air Berlin passengers benefit especially from the numerous connections to Asia, Africa and Australia offered by Etihad Airways from its Abu Dhabi hub. Together with Etihad Airways and its six equity airline partners, we offer a competitive global network for our customers to more than 350 destinations across six continents.”
Pichler said: “We made the decision in 2015 to add more long-haul flights, mainly to the US. This segment offers growth, better margins and increased customer loyalty as we continue on our path to become a network airline.
“Moreover, we are deepening our existing cooperation with Alitalia to strengthen further air connections between Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Customers benefit from up to 25% more weekly non-stop flights to Italy.
“The deeper co-operation with Alitalia paves the way for enhanced competiveness and our common passengers are already benefitting from greater travel comfort, improved connections and a much more attractive route network.”