820 staff to be recruited
Air Berlin is to expand with the recruitment of 700 new cabin crew and 120 co-pilots.
Germany's second largest carrier, which reported Q3 profits of €95.2m this month, said the recruits will be based at nine airports in Germany and two in Switzerland.
AB which this year celebrated 30 years in aviation is one of the few European carriers which is both returning a profit and recruiting extra staff during what many regard as the worst downturn the industry has ever experienced.
The carrier currently operates 129 aircraft to 146 destinations throughout the world.
It has phased out its Boeing 737s and will retire one 757 and two 767s by the end of January.
It is also expecting the delivery of 26 new aircraft next year.
In its results announced last week, AB said the Q3 profit was more than double the €45.1m figure for the same three months in 2008.
Joachim Hunold, AB's ceo, said at the time: "Despite the generally difficult economic environment, we have delivered attractive figures to our shareholders.
"We continue to expect a positive operating income for 2009."
But he said it was still too early to make a forecast for the year 2010, due to the persistently challenging economic situation.
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