Air Berlin to axe 1,200 jobs as it splits into 3 businesses

Frankfurt

AIR Berlin plc will eliminate as many as 1,200 jobs as it splits into three businesses, operating about 40 aircraft on behalf of arch-rival Deutsche Lufthansa AG and transferring around 35 others to a tourism arm for which it is evaluating options.

That will leave Air Berlin with a core fleet of 75 planes based at its Berlin and Dusseldorf hubs, among them 17 Airbus Group SE A330 wide-bodies deployed on long-haul flights, according to a statement from the unprofitable company after markets closed on Wednesday.