On the evening of October 27, 2017, the last Air Berlin plane landed at what was then the capital's airport at Berlin-Tegel. Two months before that, Air Berlin applied for the opening of insolvency proceedings, which continue to this day and the end of which is not yet in sight.
As the Berliner Morgenpost reported, there is no end in sight to the Air Berlin insolvency proceedings. A spokesman for the insolvency administrator Lucas Flöther told the German Press Agency (dpa), "The Air Berlin proceedings are probably - measured in terms of the number of creditors - by far the largest insolvency proceedings in German economic history" and "Five to ten years is probably a realistic estimate for such a mega-proceeding."
Air Berlin was the second largest German airline behind Lufthansa and most recently operated a pure Airbus fleet consisting of the types Airbus A319, A320, A321 and A330. About 15 million creditors are affected by the opening of insolvency on August 2017, 1,3, but their chances of being reimbursed for their claims are very slim.
However, it is doubtful whether the set 10 years are sufficient for the insolvency proceedings. The insolvency of the former Swiss national airline Swissair (ceased operations on March 31, 2002) is still going on after almost 20 years.