In 2005, Air Berlin signed a partnership agreement with Germania. As part of the deal, Air Berlin leased some of Germania's aircraft and crew, and Germania became almost exclusively a charter airline. Plans were made for Germania to be associated with Air Berlin under a management contract. However, the contract was not signed. At the beginning of March 2008, Germania's joint owners could not reach agreement on the takeover by Air Berlin, so Germania remained an independent airline. A joint Air Berlin/Germania subsidiary dubbed "Air Zürich" and planned to be based at Zurich Airport was proposed in 2005, but did not materialize.