EasyJet's chief financial officer Andrew Findlay expects the assets it is taking over from Air Berlin to make a positive contribution in 2019. The UK budget carrier has agreed to lease up to 25 ex-Air Berlin Airbus A320s for operations from the German capital Tegel airport, recruit 1,000 flightcrew formerly with the now-defunct Oneworld member and acquire other assets, including airport slots, for a cost of €40 million ($53 million). Speaking on an investor call today, Findlay said that while EasyJet's Tegel operation would create a £60 million of "headline" cost in 2018, it would become "earnings accretive" in 2019 and represent "attractive financial returns" in the long run, given the airport's strategic market position. Findlay says EasyJet will initially operate wet-leased A320s at Tegel and conduct its first flights under its own branding from the airport in January 2018.