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End of airberlin, a chance for DB?

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duesselmartin

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As Germany's second air carrier will cease trading today, I wonder how much is that a chance for national rail carriers. Are plane passengers prepared to switch to slower rail or would they rather pay more as air capacity consolidates and competition decreases?
Are there any example from the past?
Looking foreward to your thoughts.
Martin
 
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johnnychips

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I would have thought that any routes that are worth having would be snapped up by carriers like Eurowings and Ryanair, in a similar way that Jet2 and Thomas Cook have increased flights or introduced routes once operated by Monarch that they perceive as profitable.
 

LNW-GW Joint

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The new NBS from Erfurt to Nuremburg opens in 6 weeks, reducing Berlin-Munich times substantially, which should increase DB's competetiveness.
However the comments on airliners.net basically say DB has lost the plot on punctuality, and there is still a market for airline LCCs.
The final act of disposing of Air Berlin has still to play out though, with Lufthansa facing competition issues having taken a big slice and EasyJet and Condor vying for the remaining routes and staff.
Ryanair seems to have ruled itself out with its recent crewing issues.
 

Groningen

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I believe Deutsche Bahn has to fear more from things on the Autobahn (Flixbus). If you have the time for a cheap ticket, than you take the bus. At least (that what i heard) that the real cheap airlinetickets in Germany are/is over. Berlin - Muenchen is fastest with double the time for the train, but at 22 euro one way. Berlin - Muenchen will be 4 hours in December.

ICE Sprinter is 90 euro one way on 22 December 2017.
Berlin Hbf (tief) 06:02
Berlin Südkreuz 06:08
Halle(Saale)Hbf 07:10 - 07:12
Erfurt Hbf 07:40 - 07:47
Nürnberg Hbf 08:58 ab 09:01
München Hbf 10:04
 

duesselmartin

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I would have thought that any routes that are worth having would be snapped up by carriers like Eurowings and Ryanair, in a similar way that Jet2 and Thomas Cook have increased flights or introduced routes once operated by Monarch that they perceive as profitable.

My thought was with Lufthansa announcing that it will take months for full service to resume, rail could take the opportunity to convince, or can they?
As pointed Out, DBs reputation in Germany has suffered severly.
 

Bletchleyite

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I believe Deutsche Bahn has to fear more from things on the Autobahn (Flixbus). If you have the time for a cheap ticket, than you take the bus.

And the difference between the bus in Germany and here is that it doesn't have a reputation for being something only a particular sector of society use. Of course the newer NatEx coaches are very nice (much nicer than many trains), but it takes a long time to shake off a reputation like that.
 

LNW-GW Joint

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EasyJet has signed up to take over many of Air Berlin's flights from Berlin Tegel.
So there will be some fierce competition for DB on its longer-distance routes.
 
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