airberlin to Return to Warsaw

German carrier airberlin is to resume flights between Berlin Tegel and Warsaw Chopin in March next year, just over eight years since it linked the two European capitals. The Oneworld alliance member will offer eight flights per week on the route, operated mainly using Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 turboprops. The airline last flew between the two cities in January 2005.

The up to three times daily offering will be introduced from March 23, 2013 at the start of the Northern Hemisphere summer schedules. It will compete directly with LOT Polish Airlines, a member of rival Star Alliance, which currently the route twice daily using a mix of Embraer E-Jet variants.

“Eastern Europe is a strategically important market for airberlin. With the new route to Warsaw, airberlin now flies to all major airports in Poland. The connection is also a major route expansion for our Berlin hub. For our passengers from Poland, connections are available to attractive destinations in the US such as Miami, Los Angeles, New York and - starting March 23, 2013 - the new service to Chicago,” said Paul Gregorowitsch, Chief Commercial Officer, airberlin.

airberlin introduced its first direct link into Poland from Berlin Tegel in June 2004 when it inaugurated flights to Warsaw, but as mentioned previously this route was closed in January 2005. The German carrier made its return in April 2009 when it introduced flights from the German capital to Krakow and a seasonal summer link to Gdansk followed in 2010 and was subsequently reintroduced in May this year. The airline says that as part of its summer 2013 schedule it will increase the number of flights to Krakow up to three times daily, while Gdansk will continue to be served up to twice daily.

In 2011 an estimated 1.68 million O&D passengers travelled between Germany and Poland with approximately 4.6 per cent of these flying to or from Berlin. The table below highlights the leading operators in this market by passenger demand during 2011 and how this has changed since the previous year.

The statistics clearly show what impact a reduction in capacity between Germany and Poland has had on the operations of Ryanair during 2011. In the year the Irish budget carrier saw its share of the market between the two countries decline by almost 10 per cent, while the decision not to offer its seasonal link between Berlin and Gdansk during 2011 meant airberlin’s own share of traffic declined 2.6 per cent during the year. Lufthansa and Wizz Air both reported strong years with market share increasing 5.8 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively, but it was LOT Polish Airlines which witnessed the strongest climb with a 7.7 per cent increase in its traffic share, positioning it only just behind market leader Wizz Air with 32.0 per cent of the traffic between Germany and Poland.