Air Berlin asks Berlin, NRW to consider state loan guarantees

Air Berlin said Thursday it has asked the German states of North-Rhine Westphalia and Berlin to consider possible loan guarantees amid signs of waning support from Etihad Airways, its biggest shareholder. Abu Dhabi-owned Etihad, which has thrown Air Berlin several life lines over the years, earlier Thursday said it had pulled out of a prospective deal to combine Air Berlin's holiday flight business Niki with tour operator TUI Group's own carrier TUIfly. Bigger rival Lufthansa, which last year agreed to lease 38 crewed planes from Air Berlin, has held talks recently with the Abu Dhabi government about taking part in salvaging the remaining Air Berlin business but said its debt was a sticking point. Air Berlin, whose losses increased to a record 782 million euros ($877 million) in 2016, is now scrambling to protect its roughly 8,000 jobs in Germany, mainly based in the two regional states of Berlin and NRW. Officials of the two states declined to comment.<br/>