Germany’s second-largest airline behind Lufthansa may rack up a record net loss this year, could be double that of last year according to unidentified company manager GERMAN loss-making airline Air Berlin aims to trim costs by up to €250m a year, a German magazine reported, above its official savings target of €200m for next year. "We have to build out our current restructuring programme," Air Berlin CE Hartmut Mehdorn was quoted as telling employees by business weekly Wirtschaftswoche on Saturday. In a story released in advance of publication today, the magazine also quoted company sources as saying Germany’s second-largest airline behind Lufthansa would rack up a record net loss of €200m this year, double that of last year. The magazine quoted an unidentified Air Berlin manager as saying the airline was pushing for bigger savings. "We are now targeting €220m. "In the meantime, we have even started to assume internally an improvement of €250m," the manager said. An Air Berlin spokeswoman on Saturday said there was no reason to change the company’s announced savings target. "The goal is to reach a volume of €200m in 2012," the spokeswoman said. "We will not comment on speculation about the company’s earnings in 2011."Source: Business Day, ***
