Press releases

2010-07-05A Premium Partnership for Europcar and Air Berlin

Europcar, the European leader in car rental, and Air Berlin, Germany’s second largest  airline, are creating a new Premium Partnership to provide quality car rental services to all Air Berlin business and leisure customers.

 

An Air Berlin “topbonus” partner since February 2008, Europcar will become Air Berlin car rental “Premium Partner” as of July 1, 2010. In addition to its award-winning quality and range of vehicles, extensive network and customer service, Europcar will offer Air Berlin customers the best rates publicly available, including pre-paid rates reflecting “early-bird” deals in many Air Berlin destinations.

 

Europcar rentals will be part of the Air Berlin flight reservation process, and also available via dedicated co-branded micro-sites within the airberlin.com website. Air Berlin ticket desks call centres in Germany will transfer calls to Europcar Germany call centres, open 24/7. Air Berlin will also be promoting Europcar products & services at airports, at the ticket desks and check-in counters, on the doors of the planes, in the magazines and on the TV on board..

 

“Since partnering with the ‘topbonus’ program two years ago, Europcar and Air Berlin have gone from strength to strength, in Germany and internationally,” commented Guirec Grand-Clément, Global Sales and Marketing Director at Europcar International. “Being elected ‘Premium Partner’ pays testimony to the partnership’s value to our customers, as well as to both partners. Europcar looks forward to welcoming even more Air Berlin customers to our stations across the network”.

 

Europcar as part of the world’s largest car rental network, with more than 1.2 million vehicles and 13,000 locations around the world, is the perfect match for Air Berlin, which carried 27.9 million passengers to 134 destinations in 43 countries in 2009. Its network includes major international cities and holiday destinations, as well domestic flights within Germany & Spain.

 

Dr. Bernd Schmaul, Chief Commercial Officer, Europcar Germany, comments:
„Air Berlin is a strong brand in the European air traffic industry and, like Europcar, stands for excellent service and fair prices. This cooperation will help us to further strengthen our position at the international airports and to intensify our targeting of both leisure and business customers.”

 

“We are pleased to expand our relationship with Europcar as Premium Partner. In addition to offering our customers the biggest car rental network in Europe, the company has incorporated car rental in the flight reservation process, thereby simplifying the booking process for our customers”, comments André Rahn, Marketing Director Air Berlin PLC.

 

Special offers to celebrate the Premium Partnership

 

Although it is peak season, to celebrate the Premium Partnership launch, Europcar will be running a special “Drive Bigger, Pay Less!” promotion for Air Berlin passengers. Air Berlin customers benefit from amazingly competitive rates on certain categories, saving them money while gaining space on their car rentals in Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland. The Drive Bigger, Pay Less! promotion applies to reservations booked before July 18, for rentals until September 12, 2010, while supplies last.

 

In addition, while topbonus members continue to receive 500 award miles per rental across the Europcar network, as a Premium Partner Europcar will offer double award miles to topbonus customers. This double award miles offer applies to reservations booked online before October 1, for rentals up to October 15, 2010.

 

Throughout this promotional period (i.e. between July 1 and October 15), Europcar will also offer topbonus members “miles with a difference” which allow customers booking their rental via the micro-site to choose between “Status” and “Bonus” miles for their reward.

 

 

For more information:

 

http://www.airberlin.com/
www.europcar.com/airberlin
www.airberlin.com/europcar

 

 

About Europcar

 

Europcar is the European leader in passenger car and light utility vehicle rentals. The company serves business and leisure customers throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Excluding franchise operations, in 2009 Europcar signed 9.5 million rental contracts, with 7,000 employees and a fleet exceeding 190,000 vehicles. In September 2008, Europcar and U.S. market leader Enterprise Holdings joined forces in a strategic commercial alliance to form the world’s largest car rental network, with more than 1.2 million vehicles and 13,000 locations around the world. Europcar is owned by the French investment company Eurazeo.

 

Europcar is the European market leader and is also leading in its environmental approach to car rental. It opened its first “environmental agency” in Paris in 1999, and in 2008 it was the first company in Europe to have its “Environmental Charter” – which formalizes its commitments in favor of sustainable development -- certified by Bureau Veritas.

 

For more information: www.europcar.com/corporate

 

 

About Air Berlin

 

Air Berlin’s topbonus program is free to join and new members can register at airberlin.com/topbonus.  Members can collect both award and status miles. Miles can be earned on flights with Air Berlin and NIKI, and are also available with offers from topbonus partners, which include car hire companies and hotels. The award miles collected can be redeemed for free flights worldwide or for upgrades to Business Class. There are also special topbonus bargains, which mean that topbonus members can book award flights from just 3,000 miles. Status customers can designate a favourite service within Europe as “My Route” to collect double award miles.

 

The benefits available with Silver and Gold status are particularly interesting for business travellers, as they offer a faster and relaxed procedure prior to boarding.
Air Berlin is Germany’s second largest airline. As at 31st March 2010 the company had more than 8,500 employees and was operating 150 aircraft. In 2009 alone Air Berlin received more than 10 awards for service and quality. With an average age of only 5.3 years, Air Berlin has one of the newest fleets in Europe. The airline’s modern aircraft are extremely fuel-efficient and so provide a lasting contribution to the reduction of aviation emissions.

 

For more information: airberlin.com

 

 

Media Contacts for More Information:

 

Jean-Christophe Marteaux / Karin Weibel
Europcar International - Corporate Communications
Tel.: +33 (0)1 30 44 92 83
jean-christophe.marteaux@europcar.com / karin.weibel@europcar.com

 

Ingrid de Valbray / Helene Coulbault / Lorie Lichtlen
Burson-Marsteller Paris
Tel. +33 (0)1 41 86 76 76
ingrid.de-valbray@bm.com / helene.coulbault@bm.com / lorie.lichtlen@bm.com

 

Tina Birke
Air Berlin
Tel. +49 (0)30 34 34 15 30
tbirke@airberlin.com

 

 

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