German airline Lufthansa has signed a €210m agreement to buy certain business units of Air Berlin, which filed for insolvency in August this year.
As part of the agreement, Lufthansa is expected to acquire Air Berlin’s Niki Luftfahrt and Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter units.
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The latest deal is subject to regulatory approval, while the purchase price is subject to adjustments upon closing.
Air Berlin is still continuing discussions with UK-based airline easyJet and other bidders for disposing different other parts of its business.
Alongside Lufthansa, the German Federal Government and other parties are currently supporting Air Berlin to restructure its operations.
The government is also supporting Air Berlin with a bridging loan to continue its flight operations, although the carrier is intending to end its flights by 28 October and to let go of its employees.
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By GlobalDataAir Berlin employs around 8,600 people, and has already had talks with labour union to frame terms for the outgoing employees, reported Bloomberg.
In a letter to the workers, Air Berlin CEO Thomas Winkelmann said: "Prospective buyers of parts of Air Berlin intend to appoint new staff in the majority of cases.
"The Lufthansa group alone has already advertised 1,000 jobs with its subsidiary Eurowings."
Meanwhile, Lufthansa noted that it would take control of 81 aircraft and recruit 3,000 staff from Air Berlin under a €1.5bn investment plan, reported Rheinische Post.
