Airlines LaudaMotion grows in Vienna

In a press conference, Niki Lauda and Andreas Gruber have announced that the Austrian low-cost carrier plans to offer flights to 23 destinations in the upcoming winter flight schedule.

LaudaMotion will double its fleet in the Austrian capital – from currently four aircraft to eight in winter 2017/2018. First flights should start on October 28, 2018.

Beside leisure destinations in Spain, Portugal and Morocco Lauda announced several city destinations like Copenhagen, London-Stansted, Paris-Beauvais or Rome. After the announcement of Ryanair to acquire LaudaMotion, the announcement shows, that the Austrian carrier tries to develop into a low-cost carrier offering flights to leisure and business destinations. The takeover of Ryanair is still subject to approval by EU authorities.

After the insolvency of Air Berlin and its Austrian subsidiary Niki, several low-cost carriers have expanded their operations in Vienna. Lufthansa’s low cost unit Eurowings offers flights to several destinations, WizzAir has announced a major growth in Vienna and the IAG subsidiary Vueling is just about to announce first routes from the Austrian capital. The new city-routes from Vienna are another step in the currently ongoing price-battle in Vienna. Lauda announced one-way flights should be available for 9,99€.

Niki Lauda acquired the former Air Berlin subsidiary Niki and rebranded it to LaudaMotion. Some months later, he announced the sale to Ryanair. LaudaMotion operates flights from several airports in Germany and Austria to leisure destinations. Plans to open a base in Zurich have been cancelled in the last days. The carrier operates a fleet of own former Niki Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft. Additionally, LaudaMotion wet-leased aircraft from Ryanair and Sky2Go.