New bidder for Air Berlin as €150m loan approved

A German businessman has joined the field of potential bidders for insolvent Air Berlin, proposing to focus on only a few routes to holiday destinations.

Germany’s second-largest airline filed for bankruptcy protection last month after shareholder Etihad Airways withdrew funding following years of losses.

Alexander Skora, who owns a hostel in Berlin, said he is looking at Air Berlin’s books and will then decide whether to submit a formal bid. Any bid would be made jointly with a consortium of investors from Israel, Canada, and the US, he added.