Euroberlin France

Euroberlin France

Company type	Joint venture
Industry	Airline
Founded	1988
Founder	Air France and Lufthansa
Defunct	1994
Headquarters	Paris , France
Area served	West Berlin, Germany, France
Products	Air transport services
Owner	Air France (51% initially, later 50%), Lufthansa (49% initially, later 50%)
Number of employees	Not specified (majority cabin crew)
Parent	Air France and Lufthansa

Euroberlin France was a Franco-German joint venture airline established in 1988.

Overview

The airline was co-owned by Air France (51%) and Lufthansa (49%), with its corporate headquarters located in Paris, France, and its operational base situated at Berlin Tegel Airport in the former West Berlin.

Operations commenced during the 1988–89 winter schedule, utilizing four leased Boeing 737-300 aircraft provided by Monarch Airlines. Monarch was responsible for supplying flightdeck personnel and maintenance services under a wet lease agreement, while Air France handled administrative duties from Paris. The majority of Euroberlin’s workforce consisted of cabin crew, whereas ground handling was contracted to external agents.

After the German reunification in October 1990, ownership was adjusted to an equal split between Air France and Lufthansa at 50% each, which led to dropping the "France" suffix from the airline’s name.

Euroberlin terminated its operations by the end of 1994.

History

During the 1970s and early 1980s, West Berlin’s domestic German air traffic experienced years of stagnation and decline; however, from the mid-1980s onward, the market began to expand again.

In this period of decline, Pan Am and British Airways—dominant players in West Berlin’s internal German routes—significantly cut back flight frequencies and shifted their scheduling approach from competitive to cooperative, which drew criticism from West Berlin’s city authorities and business sectors.

Air France, which had been the third scheduled carrier in West Berlin, exited the internal German market in 1969, maintaining only a single daily Paris Orly–Tegel route. This withdrawal was influenced by financial losses incurred after Pan Am introduced jet aircraft in 1966 and BEA commenced jet services from Tempelhof in 1968. Additional challenges included Tegel Airport’s distance from central Berlin and inadequate transport connections, further weakening Air France’s market position. To sustain some presence, Air France collaborated with BEA on Berlin–Frankfurt and Berlin–Munich routes through joint operations employing BEA aircraft and mixed crews. This partnership ended in 1972 due to conflicting profitability reports; subsequently, Air France expanded its Orly–Tegel flights via Cologne and later Charles de Gaulle Airport, standardizing its fleet on Boeing 727-200 jets.

The absence of competition amid a growing market coincided with mounting criticism over Pan Am’s deteriorating internal German services. Several US carriers—including American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, and TWA—applied for licenses to operate scheduled internal German flights from West Berlin to challenge the Pan Am/British Airways duopoly. This situation motivated Air France and Lufthansa to seek entry into this profitable market.

To compete effectively, Air France and Lufthansa created a subsidiary designed to operate at lower costs than existing competitors. Due to post-WWII Allied restrictions limiting commercial air service from West Berlin exclusively to airlines from the three Western Allied nations, they established Euroberlin France as a jointly owned company with Air France holding a majority stake of 51%, making it legally French, while Lufthansa held 49%.

To maintain cost advantages against Pan Am and British Airways, UK-based Monarch Airlines provided aircraft along with flightdeck crews and maintenance services under a wet lease contract. Euroberlin outsourced all operational functions except for employing local flight attendants and managing day-to-day operations.

Euroberlin launched operations on November 7, 1988 using four Boeing 737-300s leased from Monarch. It initiated frequent shuttle flights from Berlin Tegel to Cologne/Bonn, Frankfurt, Munich, and Stuttgart. Its livery incorporated design elements blending Air France’s corporate colors with those of Lufthansa.

By summer 1989, Euroberlin expanded its fleet with a fifth leased Boeing 737-300 to increase flight frequencies and introduced new destinations including Düsseldorf and Hamburg. It also entered the short- to medium-haul charter market out of West Berlin to optimize weekend aircraft utilization.

By 1990 Euroberlin operated seven Boeing 737-300 aircraft, ranking as the third-largest carrier at Berlin Tegel behind Dan-Air Services. During the winter season of 1990/91, three additional leased planes were added.

The airline developed a loyal customer base by combining high-quality onboard service modeled after Air France’s European short-haul standards with a low-cost operating model. This approach allowed Euroberlin to achieve profitability quickly with an average load factor around 60%.

Following Germany’s reunification on October 3, 1990, Air France reduced its share by one percent while Lufthansa increased its stake to achieve equal ownership. Consequently, the airline dropped "France" from its title.

Reunification changed Euroberlin’s strategic purpose for Lufthansa: it subcontracted certain internal German routes operated from Tegel temporarily while progressively substituting Euroberlin’s fleet and personnel with Lufthansa’s own resources as part of Lufthansa’s plan to re-establish its presence in Berlin after a hiatus of forty-five years. As a result, both Euroberlin’s fleet size and employee numbers decreased.

Euroberlin discontinued operations in December 1994 and returned its remaining three Boeing 737-300 aircraft to Monarch Airlines.

Fleet

Throughout its operational period, Euroberlin maintained a fleet solely consisting of Boeing 737-300 aircraft. These airplanes were all subleased from Monarch Airlines, which in turn leased them from third-party lessors. The fleet size increased to five Boeing 737-300s beginning with the summer schedule of 1989. By the year 1990, Euroberlin was operating a total of seven Boeing 737-300s, all under lease agreements with Monarch. The number of aircraft further rose to ten during the 1990/91 winter season, following the addition of three more planes.

Bibliography

• (various backdated issues relating to Euroberlin, 1989–1995)