What happened after the airline went bankrupt

Insolvent airline

The name “Air Berlin” is still valuable

High losses and management errors sealed the demise of Air Berlin around seven years ago. But even after the bankruptcy in 2017, the brand remains present.

Air Berlin was once a fixture in European air traffic. As the second largest German airline, it carried millions of passengers annually and was considered a serious competitor to Lufthansa. Then the crash followed. The company's fate shows how quickly even established brands in the aviation industry can stumble. But what happened after the bankruptcy?

On August 15, 2017, Air Berlin filed for bankruptcy. The main reason for the move was the surprising decision by major shareholder Etihad Airways not to provide any further financial resources. Air Berlin had previously struggled with high losses for years. In 2016, the airline reported a record loss of 782 million euros.

The business model proved unsustainable. High operating costs and the attempt to simultaneously be a premium airline and offer low prices led to economic difficulties.

Thanks to a federal guarantee worth 150 million euros, flight operations were maintained until the end of October 2017. This gave those responsible time to sell parts of the company. Parts went to Lufthansa or Easyjet. Around half of the 8,000 employees are said to have found new jobs afterwards.

In August 2023 it was announced that the trademark rights to Air Berlin had been acquired by Marcos Rossello, founder of the airline Sundair from Stralsund in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. A new company was entered in the commercial register under the name “Airberlin Luftverkehrsgesellschaft mbH”, the purchase price was 120,190 euros.

After the purchase, Rossello emphasized that they had different ideas. “There are some ideas, anything is possible.” However, it is unlikely that he will turn Air Berlin into a new brand. “Sundair is now well established.”