Photo: DPAInsolvent German airline Air Berlin hopes to complete its sale by September, the group's chief executive said, as government officials fended off accusations of favouring Lufthansa in the bankruptcy process. "I would welcome Lufthansa taking over larger parts of Air Berlin," Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries told business daily Handelsblatt on Monday, while adding that it was up to the airlines to negotiate a deal between themselves. Bavarian investor Hans Rudolf Wöhrl lent his voice to O'Leary's criticism of a €150 million German government bridging loan to Air Berlin, writing on Facebook that it amounted to state aid for Lufthansa to build a monopoly. "It's absurd to suggest that the federal government is in bed with Lufthansa," Zypries told Handelsblatt. Both Air Berlin and the federal government said a Friday offer from Wöhrl to buy the airline outright and maintain it as an independent carrier was unworkable.

Source: The Local August 21, 2017 09:46 UTC