Air Berlin says aims for deal with easyJet or Condor Friday

Air Berlin is aiming for a deal with either Thomas Cook’s Condor or easyJet on Friday for some of its remaining airline operations, it said on Thursday after agreeing to sell its maintenance unit to a consortium. “We are negotiating in parallel with easyJet and Condor. Our aim is to reach a deal with one of the two bidders on Friday,” a spokesman for the insolvent German airline said Thursday. The final Air Berlin-operated flight will take place on Friday, meaning the German airline is keen to clinch a deal before then. Lufthansa has already agreed to take on operations covering around 81 planes from Air Berlin. EasyJet has said it was interested in up to 25 planes, predominantly for operations from Berlin’s Tegel airport, where it does not yet fly from.<br/>