EasyJet will pay 40 million euros ($46 million) for 25 Airbus A320 aircraft leases and takeoff and landing slots at Berlin Tegel Airport, the Luton-based discount carrier said Friday in a statement. It also has launched a recruitment campaign to attract about 1,000 of AirBerlin’s pilots and cabin crew.

The deal will make easyJet, which currently operates only out of Berlin Schoenefeld airport, the leading carrier in the German capital. “This will enable easyJet to operate the leading short-haul network at Tegel connecting passengers to and from destinations across Germany and the rest of Europe,” EasyJet said in a statement.

The deal with easyJet, subject to regulatory approval, could help to ease some of the worries with the Lufthansa deal because it gives Lufthansa a competitor in the domestic German market.

EasyJet also has its eyes on failed U.K. competitor Monarch Airlines Ltd., which operated 35 aircraft to destinations such as Spain and Portugal, and folded in early October, leaving vacant takeoff slots at EasyJet base airports including Luton and London Gatwick.

Source: Bloomberg