Air Berlin's December traffic slips 5.3 percent

Wednesday January 7, 8:03 PM

Germany's second-biggest airline Air Berlin PLC carried 5.3 percent fewer passengers in December than it did the same month a year earlier, the company said Wednesday.

Despite the decrease, the total number of passengers in 2008 rose 1 percent to 28.5 million compared with 28.2 million in 2007.

Turbulent oil prices over the summer affected the Berlin-based airline, resulting in a capacity cut on its domestic and long-haul flight routes for its winter timetable, and an increase in fuel surcharges.

The airline reduced the number of seats available in December by 6.4 percent as part of its cost saving program. As a result, the number of passengers decreased by 5.3 percent to 1.8 million passengers, compared with 1.9 million a year earlier.

Air Berlin shares were up 2.7 percent to euro5.19 in Frankfurt trading. ___ On the Net: http://www.airberlin.com