Air Berlin (1991) (Berlin Tegel) is critical to Germany's aviation landscape German chancellor Angela Merkel has allegedly said. Quoting unnamed sources, German magazine Focus says Merkel told transport minister Alexander Dobrindt at a recent cabinet meeting that she did not want to "dig the grave" of Air Berlin adding that it balanced out the playing field which would otherwise be dominated by Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International).

Merkel is said to have given her tacit backing to the troubled German carrier whose tie up with Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) is currently being scrutinized by both German and European regulatory bodies.

As recently reported, Germany's federal aviation office (Luftfahrt-Bundesamt - LBA) is set to finalize a report into its investigation into the extent to which Etihad has a say in Air Berlin's operations. However, it has now emerged that Dobrindt will only make a final decision on the matter early next year, much to Air Berlin's chagrin.

Meanwhile, TUI fly (Germany) (X3, Hannover) parent firm, TUI Group, has continued its divestment from Air Berlin watering down its shareholding to just under 3%. In October, the group offloaded over 5% of its original 9.9% stake in the carrier leaving it with just under 4%. A total sell off of its remaining Air Berlin stock is expected before year-end aero.de reports.