Airline entrepreneur Niki Lauda is returning to the industry by taking over the Austrian subsidiary of insolvent German charter carrier Aero Lloyd, which he plans to turn into a low-cost airline.
Aero Lloyd has not revealed how much Lauda is paying for the carrier, but says he will have to invest at least g4 million ($4.7 million) to restart operations. Initially, the airline will operate two Aero Lloyd aircraft, an Airbus A320 and an A321, on charters from Vienna, Salzburg and Linz to holiday destinations. But it will expand to four aircraft to serve eastern Europe with scheduled no-frills services from the second quarter of 2004. Lauda says Austrian Airlines' problems create a niche for a Vienna-based low-cost carrier (Flight International, 4-10 November).
So far, Aero Lloyd has failed to attract new investors - 66% owner Bayerische Landesbank put in g5 million immediately after it entered insolvency last month - saying that "we are in touch with many investors, but they are waiting for progress in revising our agreements with tour operators and [aircraft] lessors". It has signed sublease contracts with various US tour operators, leasing out six aircraft until April and another for the full year to October next year.
Source: Flight International
