Air Berlin reports return to profit, plans restructuring

Air Berlin, Germany's second-biggest airline, said on Thursday it flew back into profit in the second quarter and promised a massive restructuring programme later this year. Presenting the company's second-quarter results, chief executive Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said: ‘We were able to improve the net result and our operating result is looking better than it did a year ago, but this is not sufficient. ‘We are determined to restructure Air Berlin to ensure the airline moves back to a sustainable profitability within three years,’ Prock-Schauer said. In the period from April to June, Air Berlin booked bottom-line net profit of 8.6 million euros ($11.4 million), compared with a loss of 38 million euros a year earlier. At an underlying or underlying level, the carrier narrowed its loss to 6.9 million euros from 8.1 million in the second quarter a year earlier. Revenues increased by 2.9 per cent to 1.146 billion euros. ‘Over the last few months we have been intensively working on the restructuring programme,’ chief executive Prock-Schauer said, according to AFP.