Lufthansa

Insolvent German airline Air Berlin hopes to complete its sale by September, the group's chief executive said, as government officials fended off accusations of favoring Lufthansa in the bankruptcy process.

"We want to settle the sale in September at the latest, otherwise customers' trust in the airline will vanish," chief executive Thomas Winkelmann told newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

Air Berlin is in talks with three competitors about buying up its assets, the insolvent airline's boss said on Aug. 17, warning that not all jobs would be saved.

"Aside from Lufthansa, we are in contact with two other interested parties from the aviation industry," Air Berlin chief executive Thomas Winkelmann told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily.

The Irish low-cost airline Ryanair filed a complaint with EU competition authorities after German airline Air Berlin launched a bankruptcy procedure and then received a EUR 150 million loan from the government, the Associated Press reported.

Air Berlin, Germany's second-largest airline, filed for bankruptcy protection on Aug. 15 after key shareholder Etihad Airways withdrew funding following years of losses, leaving valuable runway slots up for grabs.

"In Lufthansa we are very proud, this is an incredible and very emotional moment that happens very rarely." This was announced on bTV by the representative of the German airline for Bulgaria, Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo Alexandr Tolvet on the occasion of the birth of Bulgarian Nikolay aboard their plane.

A Bulgarian baby was born on board of Lufthansa aircraft. Little Nikolay was born on a flight from Bogota to Frankfurt high above the clouds and the Atlantic Ocean, the airline has said, according to BGNES.

The mother and baby are feeling well.

Ryanair has made a "non-binding offer" for its loss-making Italian rival Alitalia, the Irish no-frills carrier said on July 24.

"We have made a non-binding offer for Alitalia. As the largest airline in Italy, it's important we are involved in the process," Ryanair said in a statement after Italian media said Friday that about ten such bids had been made.

Passenger aircraft of the German airline company Lufthansa with over 180 people on board had to make emergency landing in Cyprus due to broken coffee machine, reported RIA Novosti.

SunExpress, a joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, has started its direct flights between Turkey's Mediterranean resort Antalya and Moscow, taking its first step into the Russian market.

The first flight was made on June 27. 

Turkish Airlines has been named the best airline in southern Europe for the ninth consecutive year in the 2017 Skytrax World Airlines Awards.