Air Berlin (1991) (Berlin Tegel) has been given the greenlight from the German government concerning its partnership with Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International). The approval, however, is not without restrictions.
According to the Focus magazine, an investigation by Germany's federal aviation office (Luftfahrt-Bundesamt - LBA) and the country's transport ministry recently concluded that the Emirati carrier does not have effective control over Air Berlin. However, in order to ensure such conditions are maintained, Air Berlin must ensure that the majority of its board membership - chairman included - are European citizens. In addition, full copies of all boardroom meeting minutes must be availed to the LBA for inspection.
Despite its 29% minority stake in the German carrier, Etihad has availed more than EUR300million (USD372million) in financial aid to Air Berlin leading to queries about its say in the airline's operations.
The deal mirrors a similar agreement reached between the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) and Darwin Airline (Lugano) and Etihad in which Etihad amended several aspects of its agreement to acquire a 33% stake in Darwin including scrapping a monitoring agreement over the airline’s quality and safety and relinquishing a role in the appointment of Darwin top management.
Etihad's acquisition of stakes in various European carriers has come under close scrutiny from both local and European authorities over concerns the carrier was using its financial muscle to call the proverbial shots.
