For reasons of corporate governance, airberlin will be discontinuing press discounts on flights as of April 1, 2012. All flights booked at the discounted fares up until that date will remain valid, and the discounts currently available will continue to apply to such flights even when taken after April 1.
According to Hartmut Mehdorn, CEO of airberlin, the decision has been taken in response to the somewhat controversial public discussions concerning the personal gain enjoyed by members of individual professions: “The large number of inquiries we have recently received from many journalists indicates that even they are questioning whether such discounts make sense. We have scrutinized the current arrangement and have concluded that press discounts are also no longer in keeping with the times."
Airberlin had introduced the press discount to promote the company and the brand when the airline introduced seat-only sales in 1997. Mehdorn made the point that, with prompted awareness now reaching 91 percent in Germany (Stern magazine travel analysis), this argument is now also outdated.
In the past, airberlin has granted journalists a 25 percent discount on the net fare for international flights, while German domestic flights were available at a fixed flex fare price of 119 euros per person, per flight segment, including taxes and charges (exclusive of service charge).
Airberlin offers bargain fares at irregular intervals. Anyone interested in finding out more about special promotions will find the relevant information in the airberlin newsletter or at facebook.com/airberlin.com. Members of airberlin's topbonus frequent flyer program also have the option of using the award miles they have collected to book a free flight.
MEDIA CONTACT: Uwe Berlinghoff, Senior Vice President Communications, airberlin, phone: +49 30 3434 1500, fax: +49 30 3434 1509, e-mail: abpresse@airberlin.com
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