Air Berlin to keep turning cost-cut screw: report
German loss-making airline Air Berlin
We have to build out our current restructuring programme, Air Berlin Chief Executive Hartmut Mehdorn was quoted as telling employees by business weekly Wirtschaftswoche on Saturday.
In an story released in advance of publication on Monday, the magazine also cited company sources as saying Germany's second-largest airline behind Lufthansa
The magazine quoted an unidentified Air Berlin manager as saying the company was pushing for bigger savings.
We are now targeting 220 million euros, the manager was quoted as saying. In the meantime we have even started to assume internally an improvement of 250 million euros, the manager added.
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 200 million euros in 2012, the spokeswoman said. We will not comment on speculation about the company's earnings in 2011, she added.
Air Berlin is currently trying to shrink its way back to profitability after growing rapidly over the last few years, racking up debt as it ordered dozens of planes.
It is therefore cutting seats, unprofitable routes and has postponed plane orders in a bid to reduce operating costs.
Air Berlin has ruled out returning to operating profit this year and has said it is difficult to predict whether it would break even in 2012, given the worsening global outlook.
It last made a full-year profit in 2007.
The magazine cited company sources as saying a new booking system planned to go into service at the end of May could boost revenue by up to 40 million euros next year and add at least 30 million per year on top of that from 2013.
The airline also planned deep cuts in its marketing budget, the magazine said.
(Reporting by Jonathan Gould and Hans Seidenstuecker; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
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