Photo: DPAFriday brings a moment of truth for bankrupt Air Berlin, as a raucous bidding war closes that could see Germany's second-largest airline broken down for parts amid wildcat strikes by pilots. Air Berlin carried 36 million passengers in 2016 but has long struggled for survival, booking losses amounting to €1.2 billion over the past two years. Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries declared that "no one company will be able to buy Air Berlin for competition reasons". Meanwhile, Bavarian aviation investor Hans Rudolf Wöhrl has already published a €500-million offer to buy Air Berlin as a whole - and invited his rivals to team up with him on the offer. "All the conversations surrounding insolvent Air Berlin are always about its economic interests, never about the jobs of its more than 8,000 employees," said Verdi board member Christine Behle.

Source: The Local September 15, 2017 07:41 UTC