Lufthansa stands to gain a substantial number of airport slots despite offering to give up some take-off and landing slots to win EU approval to buy Air Berlin assets, a person familiar with the matter said, indicating it may have to offer more concessions to satisfy Brussels. Lufthansa CE Carsten Spohr, who wants to expand budget arm Eurowings by buying parts of insolvent Air Berlin, broached the idea on Monday that Lufthansa could give up a large portion of Air Berlin subsidiary Niki’s slots to secure EU approval for the deal. But the limited practical impact of the offer suggests that the German airline will have to ramp up its concessions if it wants to secure EU approval or face an in-depth, four-month investigation that may lead to a veto. The EC Wednesday sought feedback from rivals and other interested parties to concessions offered by the German carrier last week. Lufthansa’s dominant position and slot allocation rules mean the company would eventually acquire Niki’s slots, the person said. “Under the (EU) Slot Regulation and due to the position of Lufthansa at these airports, Lufthansa would still end up with about 50% of these slots,” said the person. These would include all Niki slots at congested German airports such as Munich and Berlin Tegel. Lufthansa’s portfolio of slots would also expand with its proposed buy of the other Air Berlin unit LGW, which includes peak-time slots in Duesseldorf, the person said. Both LGW and Niki fly to Duesseldorf, a popular business and industrial destination. Lufthansa would also gain Air Berlin’s numerous popular holiday destinations if the deal was approved, the person said. The airline said it had made a sizeable offer to the Commission.<br/>
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Britain’s easyJet will start competing with Lufthansa’s airlines on domestic German routes from Berlin next month, following its planned takeover of parts of insolvent Air Berlin, it said Wednesday. The carrier currently flies from Berlin Schoenefeld airport to destinations outside of Germany, but the Air Berlin deal will see it move into the larger inner-city Tegel airport, previously home to Air Berlin. Along with four domestic routes to Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart, easyJet will also start flying from Tegel to 15 international destinations, including Zurich, Vienna, Paris Charles de Gaulle and holiday destinations including Mallorca, from January 5. The British carrier said it plans more routes from Tegel for the summer flying season, which begins in late March. EasyJet will therefore go head to head with Lufthansa’s airlines in competition for German business customers. “We believe our flight plan from Tegel will be of particular interest to business customers,” easyJet Europe MD Thomas Haagensen said. However, the added competition may also relieve pressure on Lufthansa, which has faced concerns over its dominance in Germany following the collapse of Air Berlin.<br/>
Air NZ and Singapore Airlines will jointly launch a third daily flight between Auckland and Singapore from later next year, boosting capacity on the route by up to 40%. The joint venture partners say they are adding more than 165,000 seats a year between the two cities in response to strong demand from Kiwis travelling north and even stronger demand from tourists heading for New Zealand. SIA will at times use its Airbus A380s, which are undergoing an interior overhaul, including introducing new luxury features in first class suites. Air NZ will use its new configuration 787-9 aircraft, which have more premium economy and business premier seats than its current 787-9 fleet. Simon Turcotte, Singapore Airlines' New Zealand general manager said all cabins have been performing well. "There's been strong demand across the board but there's no doubt the premium cabin is strong on this route and we're meeting this demand," he said.<br/>
An Air NZ flight from Auckland to Buenos Aires has spent less than two hours in the air before returning to Auckland International Airport. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner left the airport at 8.33pm and was due to arrive in Argentina at about 7am Thursday, NZ time. But flight trackers show it did a U-turn shortly after takeoff, before spending some time over the Pacific Ocean and then returning to touch down at the airport around 10pm. An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said the flight had returned as a precaution due to "a possible engineering issue". "The aircraft, which was less than an hour into its journey, circled for a short time to reduce fuel weight before landing without incident at around 9.50pm."<br/>