Airlines Ryanair informs about Laudamotion partnership

According to the press release, Laudamotion will operate a total of 21 aircraft from nine cities in three countries.

With four based aircraft, Vienna will become a major hub for Laudamotion. The carrier plans to increase its flights to Palma de Mallorca up to three daily connections. As the new carrier plans to base two Airbus A320 Family aircraft at Zurich Airport, the city will become the only Swiss Laudamotion hub. In Germany, LaudaMotion will base four Aircraft in Berlin-Tegel, six in Düsseldorf, one each in Cologne-Bonn, Frankfurt/Main, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart. At the former Air Berlin and Niki hub Berlin-Tegel, Laudamotion plans to open a base in June, offering flights to 17 holiday destinations. Palma de Mallorca will become Laudamotion’s most important destination with several weekly flights from all Austrian, Swiss and German airports. All flights will be sold on the website of Laudamotion and Ryanair.

Niki Lauda has acquired the former Air Berlin subsidiary Niki in March 2018. Some weeks later, Lauda announced he sells parts of its new company to the Irish low cost carrier Ryanair. Ryanair plans to acquire 25% in the first step and further 50% in the next step. The deal is still subject to EU competition approval. In addition to the now published own operations, Laudamotion operates flights for Lufthansa’s low-cost subsidiary Eurowings as well as the German Thomas Cook subsidiary Condor.

Last week, Laudamotion commenced operations with a fleet of ten former Niki Airbus A320 Family aircraft. As a part of the cooperation with Ryanair, Laudamotion will wet-lease six probably Boeing 737 aircraft from Ryanair during Summer season.

Ryanair’s CEO O’Leary stated: “This partnership will be of enormous benefit to both Ryanair and Laudamotion customers. The Laudamotion AOC will support a fleet of Airbus aircraft, which is something we have hoped to develop within the Ryanair Group for some years. And in turn, Ryanair will support Laudamotion by providing access to our fleet and financial resources, allowing for more rapid growth. This is also good news for Laudamotion’s people, providing improved job security and promotional opportunities at Austria’s first low fares airline.”

The new management plans to develop Laudamotion into an Austrian low-cost carrier. In the winter season 2018/2019, Laudamotion plans to focus on city shuttle services with up to seven aircraft based in Vienna. German media assumed, Laudamotion might be fully integrated into Ryanair in the next months.