German investor Hans Rudolf Wöhrl has unveiled a €500-million offer for bankrupt Air Berlin, hoping to buy the country's second-largest airline whole rather than see it split up. Nuremberg-based Wöhrl first rose to prominence when he bought airline Deutsche BA from British Airways for a symbolic one euro in 2003, later selling it to Air Berlin. The German government has argued that competition rules prevent any single airline taking over Air Berlin, the country's second-largest carrier after Lufthansa. After losing the lifeline of regular cash infusions from Gulf carrier Etihad in June, Air Berlin filed for insolvency on August 15th. In the meantime, the airline has been kept aloft by a hastily-agreed 150-million-euro loan from the German government.

Source: The Local September 11, 2017 10:18 UTC