Ryanair to become partner of LaudaMotion Airline in Austria by acquiring 24.9% of the capital. Ryanair has made no secret of its objective: to acquire up to 75% of the capital as soon as possible, following approval from the European authorities. The new entity should have six Airbus A320 and begin flights from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, with priority given to Mediterranean destinations. The carrier's rapid development plan includes 21 devices. According to the two partners' action plan, LaudaMotion should become profitable after three consecutive financial years. Ultimately, the fleet could comprise up to 30 aircraft. For Niki LaudaChairman of LaudaMotion, Ryanair's entry into the capital " will enable LaudaMotion to establish itself as a serious competitor [to the Lufthansa group] and to develop rapidly and sustainably... And to offer passengers an extensive network at competitive prices. ". According to initial information, the airline will offer nine routes from Vienna to Spain, Italy and Greece.
Ryanair will certainly be an asset for the new carrier based in Vienna. In fact, the Austrian capital is fast becoming one of the most sought-after cities in Europe. low-cost carriers. Last year, Eurowingsthe hybrid subsidiary of Lufthansahas opened a base serving some fifteen destinations. Next April, WizzAir will serve 19 destinations with three aircraft, the first cities linked to the Austrian capital being Cluj (Romania), Gdansk, Malta and Rome, Tel AvivTuzla (Turkey) and Varna (Bulgaria). The airline has already announced, for example, the launch of four flights a week between Nice and Vienna next winter. Above all, it should help to strengthen Vienna's network to Central and Eastern Europe. Vienna is already linked to 35 European towns Central and Eastern Europe, the most important hub between Western and Eastern Europe. Last but not least, Vuelinga subsidiary of IAG, has also announced its intention to open a base at the Vienna hub, without giving any further details. Vueling currently offers flights to Barcelona, Palma and Rome, with 5 daily connections.
Last year, Vienna welcomed 24.39 million passengerswith a traffic increase of 4.5%: a result strongly influenced by low-cost transport. According to airport management, Eurowings and Easyjet were the biggest contributors to this growth, with double-digit jumps in traffic. The latter accounted for 23.5% of passenger traffic in 2016, including the group AirBerlin (AirBerlin and NIKI). In 2017, with the downsizing of Airberlin and NIKI and their subsequent disappearance in October, low-cost traffic fell back to 18.4% of total passenger traffic.
With the new Wizz Air and LaudaMotion bases, it is likely that the 20% mark will be well exceeded again this year, with the low-cost share even reaching 30% by 2020.
