by Henning Lindhoff
The insolvency of the second-largest German airline Air Berlin will place considerable financial burdens on taxpayers.
The Federal Government, the German tax authorities and the Federal Labour Office are currently forecasting a deficit of around EUR 200 million. In addition, there are as yet unforeseeable costs for customers and employees, according to an internal report by the airline's insolvency administrator, from which the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" quoted yesterday, Wednesday. Employees' outstanding claims against Air Berlin alone amount to around EUR 9.5 million.
Air Berlin's few remaining assets are offset by a huge debt burden of EUR 4.4 billion. It is highly unlikely that the creditors will be able to recover a large part of the funds they have borrowed from the company.
While private sector providers, service and leasing partners are the hardest hit by Air Berlin's precarious financial situation, the German government has provided an emergency credit line of EUR 150 million from the tax base, of which EUR 84 million have not yet been repaid.
In addition, 121.3 million euros - funds that were also provided by the Federal Labour Office to secure salary payments for the airline company from August to October 2017 - are also involved. The taxpayer will also have to answer for this money.
In addition, Air Berlin still owes some customers damages for cancelled flights, delays and lost or damaged baggage amounting to EUR 30 million.
In addition, only EUR 67 million was generated from the sale of parts of the Air Berlin business. One third of this came from Lufthansa and 40 million euros from EasyJet. Proceeds from the recently agreed sale of the Austrian Air Berlin subsidiary Niki to its original founder, the former Formula 1 champion, Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda, are not included.
According to an initial analysis by the insolvency administrator, the failed management of Air Berlin is a major culprit. The company had been operating in a state of "permanent reorganisation" and in a "constant loss situation".