Air Berlin cancels Leisure Cargo sale and Dreamliner order

AIR Berlin has cancelled the sale of its freight subsidiary, Leisure Cargo. 
The carrier blamed too low bids and said that it would wait until the market improved before trying again.
"We slowed down selling Leisure Cargo because we saw that the freight market in the second quarter was not the best," says chief financial officer, Ulf Huttmeyer. 
"It’s showing the first signs of a pickup, but we did not want to entertain any irrational offers here."
Air Berlin is also considering cancelling its order for 25 Boeing 787s, citing delays in the Dreamliner programme that are "everything but satisfactory". According to Huttmeyer: "It’s no fun anymore."
The carrier has said that it thinks the extended delay gives it suitable grounds to cancel the order.
 While Air Berlin is blaming Boeing’s excessive delay it seems little more than an excuse in light of plunging demand and its own change of long-haul strategy. 
The airline was to replace its current fleet of 13 Airbus with 787s but since closing down new China routes it is looking at new routes and services that will focus on higher yields, rather than volumes.
An alternative to a complete cancellation is to sell the aircraft delivery slots, the first of which is scheduled to be delivered in 2013 to another company once industry demand improves.