EasyJet to take over planes from bankrupt Air Berlin

Budget airline easyJet says it has reached an agreement with Air Berlin to buy parts of the bankrupt German airline as part of a 40-million euro ($46 million) deal.

The British airline said Saturday in a statement it will acquire "certain assets of the air transport business operated from the Berlin-Tegel airport, including the related slots and bookings."

The German news agency dpa reported that easyJet would take over 25 Airbus A320 planes.

Air Berlin, which was Germany's second-biggest airline, ended operations after 38 years with a Friday evening Munich-to-Berlin flight.

Germany's No. 1 airline, Lufthansa, plans to take over more than half its fleet but that deal has yet to win antitrust clearance.

Air Berlin had some 8,000 employees. Lufthansa expects to take on up to 3,000 of them.