Soaring fuel prices clip Air Berlin's wings

FRANKFURT (AFP) — Air Berlin's spreading wings have been clipped badly by soaring fuel prices and a series of austerity measures may not suffice to keep the German low-cost carrier in the air, analysts say.

From November, the second-biggest German airline behind Lufthansa will trim its fleet by 10 percent, cut long-distance services by nearly one-third and return 14 leased planes to their owners.

The carrier will also reduce administrative services at dba, another budget airline it owns, in southern Munich and lay off 52 workers, "to absorb part of the increased kerosene cost," it said last week.

Air Berlin will still face a tough future with these cost reductions.

It has already cut its 2008 forecasts twice and now only hopes to post a small operating profit, compared with an estimate earlier of 140-160 million euros (220-250 million dollars).

Mezler bank analyst ...