Three new long-haul routes from Berlin

From the winter timetable onwards, Air Berlin will be offering three new long-haul routes from Berlin-Tegel airport. The destinations of these non-stop services are Dubai, Miami and Mombasa. A further weekly flight to Phuket is also being added to the schedule. An additional Airbus A 330-200 will be stationed in Berlin to operate these new flights.

Klaus Wowereit, Governing Mayor of Berlin: "An attractive range of flights is a decisive advantage in terms of location, and this is true for every region. Air Berlin‘s three new long-haul routes mean that the German capital will have even better connections with the rest of the world. A large number of new jobs will be created both at the airport and in the city. This trend will continue. Air Berlin's commitment shows that the opening of the new Berlin Brandenburg International airport next year is already having a positive effect. The new "Willy Brandt" airport will offer an efficient aviation infrastructure that is also superbly suited to Berlin being used as a transfer hub. As a result the region will be provided with the necessary capacities, while airlines will have excellent growth opportunities."

Joachim Hunold, Chief Executive Officer Air Berlin: "The new long-haul destinations reflect Air Berlin’s desire to make the most of this market opportunity and will strengthen the airline’s position in Berlin for years to come. The service to Dubai is Air Berlin’s first regular non-stop flight from Germany to the Middle East. By operating these flights, Air Berlin is offering an attractive product to business travellers as well as to holidaymakers."

Prof. Rainer Schwarz, Managing Board Spokesman for Berliner Flughäfen (Berlin Airports): "With these three new long-haul destinations we have come another step closer to our aim of establishing Berlin as an east-west hub. The fact that Air Berlin is already increasing the range of its flight services even before BBI has opened shows just how attractive the Berlin region is for aviation. Once BBI opens next year, we will have not only the requisite infrastructure, but are also gradually developing the general transport capacity."

In future there will be three services a week to Dubai (from 199 euros one way, incl. taxes and charges), two services a week to Miami (from 239 euros one way, incl. taxes and charges) and one service a week to Mombasa (from 376 euros one way, incl. taxes and charges). The three new long-haul destinations have been integrated in Air Berlin's hub structure and flights are now available for booking. There are connecting flights to and from Germany, Russia and Scandinavia, as well as Zurich and Vienna.

As a business location, Berlin will also become more attractive on account of these new destinations. For business travellers the non-stop flights mean greater accessibility and offer a major time saving in comparison with flights via other European hubs. Furthermore, Air Berlin is now stationing an additional aircraft in Berlin. This measure creates about 120 new jobs. The city also benefits from greater numbers of tourists who, thanks to the new long-haul routes, now find Berlin a more convenient destination.

Including the new destinations, Air Berlin offers 18 weekly intercontinental flights from Berlin:

Dubai (DXB): 3 flights a week; Miami (MIA): 2 flights a week; Mombasa (MBA): 1 flight a week; Bangkok (BKK): 3 flights a week; Phuket (HKT): 2 flights a week; Tel Aviv (TLV): 3 flights a week; Cairo (CAI): 2 flights a week; Punta Cana (PUJ): 1 flight a week; Varadero (VRA): 1 flight a week.