Airberlin Prepares for Opening of Brand-New BER Airport

BERLIN, Germany - An airberlin aircraft with a very special design landed at Berlin-Tegel Airport. The long-haul Airbus A330-200 carries a 1.60-metre-high and 8.10-metre-long logo for the new airport for the capital region and will from now on fly around the world bearing the message "BER Berlin Brandenburg Airport - Europe's most modern airport". The plane with its BER livery was welcomed by CEO Berlin Brandenburg Airport, Prof. Dr. Rainer Schwarz, and airberlin CEO, Hartmut Mehdorn.

Hartmut Mehdorn, CEO airberlin, said: "This branding demonstrates our clear commitment to Berlin and emphasises our position as the number one airline in the capital region. We are very pleased to already be carrying the name of our new home base around the world with us; in the future we are planning further growth at our hub here, where we have our headquarters and where more than 2,800 of our workforce are employed."

CEO Berlin Brandenburg Airport, Prof. Dr. Rainer Schwarz, commented: "airberlin is the home carrier at the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport. So we're particularly pleased airberlin is now going to be carrying the airport's name with it around the world. We're tantalisingly close to the opening of BER on 3rd June - when together we'll be heading for a very promising future."

The airberlin Airbus A330-200, registration number D-ALPJ, was given the new branded look by engineers at airberlin technik in D�sseldorf, flying from there to land in Berlin at 12.00 noon. The plane will carry the BER livery for two years and fly passengers to destinations such as Abu Dhabi, New York and Los Angeles.

Anyone interested can track the progress of the entire flight online at: www.airberlin.com/ber-airbus.

Furthermore, airberlin has launched the first of its long-haul fleet of A330-200s to have been equipped with new seats in Business and Economy Class and a new in-flight entertainment system.

In Business Class, the new fully-automatic seats offer passengers outstanding comfort whether they are sitting or lying down. The new seat reclines 170 degrees, which allows it to be transformed into a comfortable reclining seat 181 cm long and 50 cm wide. In addition, every seat has a connection for a laptop or other electronic device. Following the upgrade, the Business Class cabin has a total of 20 seats.

In Economy Class, new light-weight seats are being fitted. The use of slimmer back rests guarantees maximum leg room and increases the cabin "living space". Additional amenities such as adjustable headrests, coat hooks and pockets for magazines and books are also included. After the upgrade, the Economy Class cabin has 279 seats in total.

airberlin is also setting a new benchmark in the field of in-flight entertainment. The on-demand audio-video system provides an individualized entertainment program. Passengers can choose from a wide selection of box office hits, TV sitcoms, games, music albums or even audio books. The 8.9 inch high-resolution monitor uses the latest LED technology and is operated via a touchscreen. A USB port for operating small electronic devices, such as an iPhone or Blackberry, is located directly on the monitor.

The upgrade of all airberlin's long-haul aircraft should be completed by the start of the summer 2012 flight schedule. Airberlin currently offers flights from New York, Miami and Ft Myers nonstop to Dusseldorf and Berlin and starting in May 2012, it will also offer service from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas (new) and Vancouver, Canada. Visit us at airberlin.com for information on all airberlin schedules and flight routes.

Photos of our new cabins and further information about our cabin upgrades are available online at www.airberlin.com and www.facebook.com/airberlin.

airberlin is Germany's second largest airline. The company has a workforce of 9,200 employees. In 2010 alone, airberlin received more than 10 awards for service and quality. The fleet comprises 170 aircraft with an average age of five years, making it one of the most modern in Europe. The airline's state-of-the-art aircraft are highly fuel efficient, which contributes towards a long-term reduction in pollution emissions from aircraft.

As one of the major European airlines, airberlin flies to 171 destinations in 45 countries. In 2010, the airline carried 33.6 million passengers. airberlin has signed up for membership of the global airline alliance oneworld� and is expected to become a full member at the start of 2012. airberlin operates codeshare flights with oneworld members American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Mal�v, Royal Jordanian and S7. In December 2011, airberlin entered into a strategic partnership with Etihad Airways.