Air Berlin (1991) (Berlin Tegel) nor any of its partners has not been in contact with Hans Rudolf Woehrl the airline investment magnate has said. In a statement issued to Reuters, Woehrl refuted claims in German newspaper Handelsblatt that he, along with Air Berlin CEO Joachim Hunold and Severin Schulte, had been approached over the possibility of their taking a new majority stake in the airline.
"There wasn't a single conversation, not even Air Berlin or one of its shareholders contacting me," Woehrl said.
The report had alleged that the trio would form a new investment vehicle to take a majority 50.1% stake in Air Berlin with the remaining 49.9% to be taken over by Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International).
Last month, German periodical WirtschaftsWoche said with a 49.9% stake in Air Berlin, Etihad would delist the carrier from the stock market and merge it with its other European interest, Alitalia (AZA, Rome Fiumicino).
Meanwhile, German aviation portal, aero.de, reports that Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International), fearing the threat of an Etihad-controlled Air Berlin, has taken the Berlin-based carrier to the German civil aviation authority (Luftfahrt-Bundesamt - LBA) and the local competition regulator (Bundeskartellamt) in a bid to have the process more closely scrutinized.
The move comes hard on the heels of a European Commission announcement that it has now launched a formal investigation into Etihad's stake in Air Berlin to see if it complies with EC ownership regulations governing European airlines.
