(ANSA) - TRIESTE - Flights operated by German carrier Air Berlin will end by October 28 at the latest, it said on Monday, urging staff to seek jobs elsewhere while it works toward a carve-up of its assets, Reuters reported. Air Berlin said its staff would not all find jobs with the potential buyers of its assets.

Air Berlin filed for insolvency in August and a government loan is keeping its planes in the air to give it time to negotiate with investors for parts of the business. Talks with Lufthansa and easyJet are due to run until Thursday. German deputy economy minister Matthias Machnig said he is confident a deal will be reached on Thursday. Lufthansa is interested in Air Berlin operations with about 81 planes, including Niki and LG Walter, while easyJet is in talks for parts of the business with about 27-30 planes, Air Berlin administrators have said.

Niki and LG Walter are not insolvent and will continue to run, the company said. It will also continue to fly 38 planes as part of a wet lease deal, under which Lufthansa rents crewed planes from Air Berlin mainly for its Eurowings brand, until competition authorities have approved the sale of assets.

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