The Lufthansa Group has opened talks with rival carrier and Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International) equity partner, Air Berlin (1991) (Berlin Tegel), over the possible transfer of an undisclosed number of the latter's routes to Eurowings (EW, Düsseldorf).

German daily Handelsblatt says Lufthansa has focussed on the assumption of forty leased aircraft as well as routes that do not originate at either of Air Berlin's main Düsseldorf and Berlin Tegel hubs.

Though the exact routes under scrutiny were not disclosed, the ch-aviation route database shows that Air Berlin routes, exclusive of Berlin and Dusseldorf, focus on Germany (domestic) as well as Mediterranean and North African leisure destinations in Italy, Spain, Croatia, Greece, Israel, Malta, Portugal, Egypt, and Morocco. Select services are also offered to Austria, Kosovo, Iceland, Jersey, and Switzerland.

The talks are slated to end by October.

Air Berlin's financial woes are no secret with it having reported a EUR446.6 million loss in 2015, deepened from a EUR376.7 million loss the year before. For the first quarter of this year, Air Berlin reported an improved financial net loss of EUR182.3 million (USD206.2 million), narrowed from a EUR210.1 million loss for the same period last year.