Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with&nbsp;New Jersey Monthly&nbsp;magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.

Senior Editor

Gregory Polek

Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Aviation Group and German travel company TUI have entered talks to create a new European leisure airline group through the combination of Air Berlin’s “touristic” operations and TUIfly, the prospective partners announced Wednesday. The new airline would concentrate on point-to-point flying between “key” European tourist markets. Etihad owns a 29.21 percent stake in Air Berlin, now the second largest airline in Germany.

 


The proposal involves the use of aircraft currently operated by TUIfly for Air Berlin under a wet-lease agreement&nbsp;and the establishment of a broad network of destinations from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

 


TUI, Etihad and Air Berlin plan to complete an agreement in “due course,” according to a statement issued by the companies. &nbsp;

 


The partnership would mark another move by Air Berlin to consolidate its operations in an effort to stem growing losses it attributes largely to industrywide overcapacity and jitters over terrorism threats. The talks follow last month’s <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2016-09-28/lufthansa-complete-brussels-airlines-take-over">agreement by Air Berlin to wet lease 40 Airbus A320-family narrowbodies</a> to the Lufthansa Group for its Eurowings and Austrian Airlines units.

 


TUIfly operates as part of TUI Group, which has built a portfolio of more than 300 hotels, 14 cruiseliners and six European airlines operating some 140 aircraft and a wide-reaching distribution network, covering more than 1,800 travel agencies and online portals.

News about commercial airlines, including regulations, aircraft orders, safety, acquisitions, and mergers.

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