Ryanair has joined Lufthansa, easyJet and Condor in circling Air Berlin, following the German low-cost airline’s insolvency announced on August 15th.(here)
Michael O'Leary, Ryanair’s ebullient chief executive, confirmed the Irish company’s interest during an interview with Reuters and says the aim would be to buy the entire company.
"We would like to make an offer for the whole company but we do not know the size of the restructuring, how much money it’s losing and why it’s losing money in a market where we make money," O'Leary told Reuters, explaining that before looking in too much detail, Ryanair needs to have a good look at Air Berlin’s accounts.
This would not be the first time that Ryanair has looked at buying capacity as in 2003 it acquired Buzz, a low-cost carrier belonging to KLM, and recently has showed interest in Alitalia, another insolvent company which needs a complete restructuring.
Lufthansa was the first airline to show an interest in the carcass of Air Berlin, although it only wants to pick and choose parts of the business rather than buy it outright.
Then came easyJet and Condor Flugdienst GmbH, a German leisure airline based in Frankfurt operating scheduled flights to the Mediterranean, Asia, Africa, North America, South America and the Caribbean.
