ATW Daily News

Niki plans to fill Vienna gap

Friday December 4, 2009

Niki plans to increase capacity by more than 30% next year as it endeavors to fill the void left by SkyEurope Airlines and a restructuring Austrian Airlines. "This is my chance and I'm going to take this opportunity," President Niki Lauda told ATWOnline. On Feb. 1 the LCC will begin daily flights from Vienna to Belgrade, Sofia and Bucharest Otopeni and on March 26 it will launch daily services to Barcelona and Nice and a six-times-weekly flight to Copenhagen.

Its fleet will grow from the current 11 aircraft to 17 A320 family jets and E-190s next year. "We will also add 250 new employees within the next 12 months. Fifty of them are pilots," Lauda said. Niki and partner Air Berlin aim to control 30% of the VIE market and together they already are the largest O&D carrier between Austria and Germany with 444 weekly flights on 21 routes. They command a 47% market share between VIE and Germany, one of the highest-density routes in Europe. Lauda said he expecs 2009 passenger boardings to increase around 25% from 3 million last year.

by Kurt Hofmann

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