15 December, 2018

Etihad sued for €2 billion over Air Berlin

The German insolvency administrators dealing with the collapsed airline Air Berlin are taking one of its major backers to court.

It has been revealed that German officials are suing the Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways, which owned nearly 30% of Air Berlin, for damages of up €2 billion euros around $2.26 billion. It was the decision Etihad Airways took to withdraw funding for Air Berlin that sent the second biggest airline in Germany crashing into insolvency. According to the administrator, Etihad did not meet its financial obligations towards Air Berlin.

“The claims are for payment of 500 million and the establishment that the defendant is obliged to pay further damages. The Chamber has provisionally set the amount in dispute at up to 2 billion euros,” stated in a statement issued by the court on Friday.

Etihad will need to respond to the court action before the end of January, however, a spokesperson for the airline said  “We believe that the claim is without merit and will defend ourselves vigorously against it,” stressing no further public comment on the subject would be made.

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