Lufthansa eyes Air Berlin's Niki as bidders jostle for position

Lufthansa has submitted a letter of interest in Air Berlin's Niki unit and other parts of the insolvent carrier, a source familiar with the talks said on Wednesday. Air Berlin, which is being kept in the air thanks to a E150m ($177m) government loan, has been in talks with interested parties since last week when it filed for insolvency after major shareholder, Gulf carrier Etihad, said it would no longer provide funding. Part of Air Berlin's appeal to bidders lies in its access to take-off and landing slots at airports such as Duesseldorf, in Germany's most populous region. Lufthansa said Wednesday it reaffirmed that it was keen to absorb part of Air Berlin. "The interest in a takeover of parts of Air Berlin Group was reinforced with a termsheet presented today," Lufthansa said. As part of a restructuring this year, Air Berlin transferred leisure routes to tourist destinations in Spain and Greece to its Austria-based unit Niki, founded by former F1 driver Niki Lauda. Analysts at Goodbody said buying Niki would strengthen Lufthansa's position against Ryanair on such routes. Lufthansa is unlikely to be able to buy all of Air Berlin for competition reasons. Any sale will be decided by a creditor committee, which met for the first time on Wednesday and includes representatives from Air Berlin, the federal labor office which is paying staff wages, Commerzbank, and Eurowings.<br/>