Air Berlin scrapes 10 Boeing 787's from order.

Adjustments to fleet structure to account for operative requirements

Germany’s second-largest airline company has agreed with the airplane manufacturer Boeing, to streamline its order book to account for a change in market conditions and in order to meet Air Berlin’s specific operative requirements.

Air Berlin and Boeing have agreed on a reduction of the number of firm orders of 787 aircraft from 25 to 15 and to reduce the number of optional 787 aircraft from 10 to 5. The 10 aircraft order reduction has a current list price of approximately 1.7 billion US dollars.

The agreement also provides that the delivery of 9 Boeing 737 aircraft will be rescheduled to 2015. These aircraft were originally scheduled for delivery in 2010 or 2011, respectively.

Due to the long-standing relationship between Air Berlin and Boeing which is based on good faith, the adjustments to the Air Berlin order book were mutually agreed.

Ulf Hüttmeyer, Air Berlin’s CFO, stated: “With a partnership spirit we have mutually agreed with Boeing to adjust the Air Berlin order book to meet Air Berlin’s operational requirements and the market conditions. The agreement with Boeing demonstrates that Air Berlin believes in the future of the 787 aircraft. We look forward to the first delivery in November 2015. For Air Berlin, the agreement means a significant reduction of its financial obligations due to lower and much more distributed investment profile.”

 
Source: Air Berlin