Laudamotion

Laudamotion
IATA ICAO Callsign
OE LDM LAUDA MOTION
Founded 2004 as Amira Air
Commenced operations 25 March 2018 as Laudamotion
Operating bases
Fleet size 9
Destinations 38
Company slogan The Lauda way to fly.
Parent company Ryanair
Headquarters Schwechat, Austria
Key people Andrea Czvitkovits (Director)
Employees ~906
Website laudamotion.com

Lauda Motion GmbH, operating as Laudamotion and formerly named Amira Air, is an Austrian low-cost airline[2] based in the Concorde Business Park in Schwechat, Austria, near Vienna.[3] Former Formula 1 driver Niki Lauda has a minority stake in the airline. In 2018, the airline acquired Niki, an airline that previously had ties to Niki Lauda, which led to a refocus from business jet operations to scheduled leisure services.

History

The airline was founded in 2004 as Amira Air by investor Ronny Pecik as a provider of charter flights for executive travel, serving European and international destinations.

In early 2016, Niki Lauda took over Amira Air and renamed the company Laudamotion.[4] Up until February 2018, Laudamotion operated chartered business flights with a fleet of business jets. This operation was moved to a new unit to make way for scheduled passenger flights.[5]

On 23 January 2018, the creditors' committee of the insolvent airline Niki awarded Lauda Motion GmbH the contract for the takeover of the airline. It was announced that the Niki brand would be retired and all operations transferred to Laudamotion, which would operate 15 aircraft transferred from Niki and be ready to begin operations for the summer 2018 season.[6][7]

On 16 February 2018, Condor signed an agreement with Laudamotion to take over sales and marketing of three Laudamotion planes, as well as operational functions. Initial destinations will include flights from Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Basel to Majorca, Ibiza and Málaga, which can be booked through the Condor website and travel agencies.[8]

On 20 March 2018, Ryanair announced it would acquire 24.9% of LaudaMotion, to rise to 75%, subject to approval by EU authorities. The deal was reported to be worth an initial €50m plus €50m for first year start up and operating costs. The intention is to reach profitability by the third year of operations with a fleet of 30 aircraft.[9][10][11] On 29 March 2018, the airline announced it would open 7 bases in Germany in addition to the bases at Vienna and Zurich.[12][1] However, in May 2018 Laudamotion announced it would not go ahead with proposed routes to and from Zurich Airport due inavailability of leased aircraft.[13]

In April 2018, Condor announced it was ending its cooperation and sales agreement with Laudamotion earlier than planned. Condor stopped providing sales infrastructure and stopped selling Laudamotion flights at the end of April 2018.[14] In the same months, Eurowings also announced it would not extend its short-lived cooperation with Laudamotion. The wetlease contract ended on 31 May 2018.[15]

In August 2018, Ryanair announced that it had completed the purchase of 75% of the shareholding of the airline and that it planned to double the Airbus fleet from 9 to 18.[16]

Destinations

Fleet

Laudamotion Airbus A321-200 wearing a hybrid livery of the former Air Berlin

As of April 2018, the Laudamotion fleet consists of the following aircraft:[17]

Laudamotion fleet
Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
Y+ Y Total
Airbus A320-200 5 — — 180 180
Airbus A321-200 4 — — 212 212
Total 9 —

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Laudamotion and Ryanair Partnership Takes Off". finchannel.com. 29 March 2018.
  2. ↑ "." CAPA. Retrieved on July 24, 2018. "Laudamotion Airline Profile."
  3. ↑ "Imprint." LaudaMotion GmbH. Retrieved on April 2, 2018. "LaudaMotion GmbH Concorde Business Park 2/F/10 A-2320 Schwechat"
  4. ↑ "Niki Lauda has renamed Amira Air LaudaMotion". austrianwings.info. February 10, 2016.
  5. ↑ "LaudaMotion adds maiden A320, shifts bizav to new unit". ch-aviation.com. 28 February 2018.
  6. ↑ "Airline Niki goes to founder Niki Lauda". dw.com. January 23, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Niki Lauda: "Wir starten im März mit Laudamotion"". diepresse.com. January 23, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Laudamotion will take off with Condor and Eurowings". fvw.com. 21 February 2018.
  9. ↑ "Partnership With Niki Lauda To Develop Laudamotion Airline In Austria" (Press release). Ryanair. 20 March 2018.
  10. ↑ Karen Walker (Mar 20, 2018). "O'Leary's winning hand with Lauda". Aviation Week Network.
  11. ↑ https://corporate.ryanair.com/news/laudamotion-and-ryanair-partnership-takes-off/?market=es
  12. ↑ "Laudamotion to launch Tegel base amid intensifying competition". flightglobal.com. 29 March 2018.
  13. ↑ aerotelegraph.com - "Laudamotion cancels all flights from Zurich" (German) 12 May 2018
  14. ↑ airliners.de - Condor and Laudamotion split up 6 April 2018
  15. ↑ spiegel.de - "Eurowings quits contract with Laudamotion" 20 April 2018
  16. ↑ https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2018/0829/988301-laudamotion-to-double-airbus-fleet/
  17. ↑ "Aircraft Register". austrocontrol.at. 15 March 2018.

Media related to Laudamotion at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.