| Carrier: | dba
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| Headquarters: | Germany
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| Founded: | 1992
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| Destinations: | 41
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| Bases: | Munich, Dusseldorf
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| Owners: | HR Woehrl (59.9%), Lutz Helmig (25.1%), Private investors (15%)
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| Listed: | Yes
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| Online Booking: | Yes
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| Website: | www.flydba.com/
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| Fleet | B737-500 1
B737-700 10 On order
B737-800 25 On order
B737-300 14
| Overview - dba
dba – holding on in an increasingly crowded German market dba, formerly Deutsche BA, the German arm of British Airways, has since 2003 been offering low cost services as an independent operator.
Based in Munich, dba is essentially a point-to-point operator, connecting 13 German cities, as well as seven Continental European destinations. Its reach and frequency levels in the geographically large country have made it popular with the German business community. With Ryanair steadily building presence in Hahn and Air Berlin eclipsing it to become Germany’s second largest carrier (and launching a competing domestic shuttle service), dba recognises the need to grow in its core market.
In Feb-05 dba took over control of fellow LCC Germania’s domestic express arm (gexx) in a financially complex transaction that saw it add 12 F-100s to its fleet of 14 B737s. The added scale and removal of a competitor, as well as wage cuts, enabled dba to earn a EUR1.7 million profit in FY2004-2005, after 12 consecutive years of losses. And it is not standing still in the constantly evolving market.
Acquisition by Air Berlin In Aug-06 Air Berlin announced it had acquired a 100% shareholding in dba.
In the short term, dba will be operated as an independent carrier, retaining its existing executive team, but will be incrementally integrated as a unified carrier under the Air Berlin brand. A joint operations schedule will be launched from Apr-07, and existing schedules will be harmonised, potentially increasing aircraft utilisation for both carriers, as well as synergies from joint purchasing, yield management and logistics. Air Berlin’s marketing organisation and GDS links will make 13,000 tourist travel agencies in Germany accessible to dba.
Air Berlin and dba will operate a combined fleet of 87 aircraft and expect to carry up to 20 million passengers in FY06/07. In Nov-05 dba ordered 40 B737s, which would replace its current fleet and add 14 incremental units, selling a 25% stake to help fund the transaction. Air Berlin has retained the order, integrated dba's B737 order into its own fleet plans. In Feb-06, dba bought a 60% stake in German long-haul charter carrier LTU, saying it was now the first LCC with a global network. However, the chronically unprofitable LTU, a potential drain on results and management concentration, will be unlikely to follow dba into the merged LCC.
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