LaudaMotion GmbH

The story of LaudaMotion is a turbulent chapter in the aviation saga of its famous founder, the three-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda. The airline's origins are complex, rising from the assets of other carriers. In 2016, Niki Lauda took over a business charter airline called Amira Air and renamed it LaudaMotion. The pivotal moment came in January 2018 when LaudaMotion acquired the assets of Niki, an airline Lauda himself had founded in 2003 and later sold to Air Berlin. This move resurrected a passenger airline from the insolvency of Air Berlin, ready to compete in the European low-cost market. However, the resurrected airline almost immediately entered a transformative partnership. In March 2018, just as operations were set to begin, Irish low-cost giant Ryanair announced its intention to acquire a stake. This was a significant event, marking a major investment by Ryanair. Ryanair initially purchased a 24.9% stake, which quickly increased to 75% by August 2018 after receiving EU approval. By January 2019, Ryanair had completed the acquisition, taking 100% ownership of the airline from Niki Lauda. Under Ryanair's ownership, the airline was rebranded first to simply "Lauda" in March 2019 and continued to operate its fleet of Airbus aircraft. Ultimately, in 2020, Lauda's operations and fleet were transferred to a new Malta-based Ryanair subsidiary called Lauda Europe, marking the end of LaudaMotion as an independent Austrian airline.