The field of bidders for Air Berlin’s assets appeared to narrow further Thursday when aviation investor Hans Rudolf Woehrl stepped back from the process to search for a partner. Air Berlin, Germany’s second-largest airline, filed for bankruptcy protection in August after shareholder Ethical Airways withdrew funding following years of losses. Now the carrier is to be carved up, most likely among several buyers, with about 140 leased aircraft and valuable take-off and landing slots in Germany up for grabs. Lufthansa, easyJet and Thomas Cook’s Condor are seen as likely bidders. Ryanair will not submit a bid, CE Michael O’Leary said Wednesday. Woehrl has proposed keeping Air Berlin intact as a charter airline rather than carving it up. But he declined to sign a confidentiality agreement that would allow him to look at Air Berlin’s books, a pre-condition for a formal offer for the carrier. Such a step would be inappropriate as it wants to work with one of the other bidders on a joint offer, Woehrl’s firm Intro said. “The agreement is unsuitable given the consortium solution that Intro is planning,” the statement said. Lufthansa has already turned Woehrl down, but he has received positive signals from other bidders, it said, without providing details. Woehrl reiterated that he was not interested in buying only parts of Air Berlin.<br/>
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German taxes and regulation have allowed foreign airlines to take market share from German carriers and contributed to the failure of Air Berlin, Germany's tourism trade body said on Thursday. Air Berlin filed for bankruptcy protection this month after shareholder Etihad Airways withdrew funding following years of losses. "Conditions distorting competition allow foreign competitors to carve out an increasingly large part of passenger volume," Michael Frenzel, President of the federal association of Germany's tourism sector, said. The association, which represents travel-related industries including tour operators, hotels and airlines, called on the German government to ease the burden of costs such as Germany's air travel tax, which was introduced in 2010. At the same time, Frenzel said the association had no interest in a national champion, after Germany's Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries said she would welcome it if Lufthansa took over substantial parts of Air Berlin. "The days of big national carriers are over," Frenzel said. <br/>
Cathay Pacific, under pressure from mainland Chinese carriers, plans to increase its passenger and cargo business in India where yields are holding up better than at home, a senior company executive said. Cathay, which can only operate a limited number of flights to India due to bilateral constraints, plans to fly bigger planes between Mumbai and Hong Kong to boost its passenger and cargo capacity, Mark Sutch, regional general manager for South Asia, Middle East and Africa, said in an interview on Thursday. “The Indian economy is pretty vibrant and the growth here is significantly higher than many countries,” said Sutch, adding India and China were two markets where Cathay saw a big future. In recent years, Cathay has seen its market share on international routes eroded by rapidly expanding mainland Chinese and Gulf airlines. This, with poor fuel hedges and lack of a budget arm, have hurt its competitiveness. India is among the top 10 markets for Cathay in terms of revenues. Its Indian revenues grew 5 percent in 2016 to 12.58b rupees ($197m), when overall the airline reported its first full-year loss since 2008. But competition in India, one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets with domestic passenger traffic rising at more than 20%, is on the increase and yields are under pressure. “Our yield year-on-year is certainly not strengthening in India. It is very much under pressure but not as much under pressure as some of our other key home markets,” Sutch said.<br/>
Qantas plans to extend its partnership with Emirates for a further five years, while making route and aircraft changes to reflect customer demand. The Australian carrier said the proposed changes will increase customer choice and allow frequent flyers increased opportunities to earn and redeem miles. The biggest change is Qantas switching its daily Sydney-London flight to transit through Singapore rather than Emirates’ Dubai hub. Its daily Melbourne-Singapore flight will be upgraded from an Airbus A330 to an A380 as Qantas pivots towards Asia and essentially leaves European routes to Emirates. Qantas’ Melbourne-London service via Dubai will be replaced by an already announced Boeing 787 service from Perth. Qantas said the adjustments will deliver financial advantages to both airlines, with Qantas’ net benefit estimated at more than AUD$80 million annually from the 2019 financial year onwards. For Emirates passengers, the partnership provides access to over 60 Australian destinations not currently served by that airline, and for Qantas, it gives access to over 40 cities in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, not served by Qantas.<br/>