Repatriation begins after failure of Niki
Austrian airline, Niki, has ceased operations leaving thousands of European passengers stranded.
Airlines, including Condor, Eurowings, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Swiss and TUIfly, are organising repatriation flights from various destinations back to Germany, Austria and Switzerland until December 31.
Founded by former F1 racing champion, Niki Lauda, Niki was Austria’s second largest airline.
He sold it in 2011 to Air Berlin, which went bankrupt earlier this year after its biggest shareholder, Etihad Airways, withdrew financial support.
Lauda has shown interest in buying back the airline after it filed for insolvency.
Niki had been in talks with Lufthansa over a possible takeover but the deal fell through earlier this week following competition concerns by the European Commission.
Austria’s transport minister warned that as many as 10,000 passengers could be affected by the airline’s failure. Most of the stranded customers are in Majorca.
A message on its website advised those who have booked through a tour operator to contact that operator. Anyone who had booked direct were told about the repatriation plans.
The online message also thanked customers for their loyalty over the years.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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