A formal announcement came yesterday that Air Berlin has deals with American Airlines and will also join the Oneworld global airline alliance. American Airlines hopes that this will lead the way for expansion in Germany, by allowing some of their own planes to fly there. This partnership should help both American Airlines and Air Berlin keep prices down while increasing profits in the long run.

American Airlines President Tom Horton said, “We have flown to both Dusseldorf and Berlin in years past, and with the presence that Air Berlin brings on this end, this may well offer us an opportunity to expand our presence in Germany with some of our own flying. We’ve made no decisions on that, but that’s the sort of things we’ll look at going forward.”

All parties involved seems to be very pleased with the new partnership agreement.