British Airways’ parent IAG has failed in its bid to buy Austrian leisure airline NIKI, which has been sold instead to its founder, former Formula One racing champion Niki Lauda.
IAG had attempted to acquire NIKI from Air Berlin, which filed for insolvency in August after its main shareholder Etihad Airways withdrew its financial support.
BA’s parent was planning to use its Vueling subsidiary to acquire NIKI’s assets for around £18 million.
However, the deal it had agreed with Air Berlin’s German administrators was blocked by two courts, which ruled that proceedings should be held in Austria instead.
Niki’s German administrator Floether and Austrian counterpart Reisch worked together on securing a deal and chose Lauda’s bid to buy back the airline over IAG’s.
In a statement, IAG said it was ‘disappointed that Niki will not be able to develop and grow stronger as part of the group’.
Lauda said Niki will be merged into his Laudamotion company and continue to offer holiday flights from Austria to Turkey, Greece and Spain.
