Lauda Air - History

History

Lauda Air was established in April 1979 by former Formula One world motor racing champion Niki Lauda and started operations in 1985, initially operating charter and air taxi services. Scheduled operations were licenced in 1987 and in 1990 licences for international flights were obtained. In 1989 Lauda started its first long-haul flights from Vienna to Sydney and Melbourne, via Bangkok. In the 1990s it started to fly its Sydney and Melbourne flights via Kuala Lumpur. Daily flights to Miami via Munich, to Dubai and to Cuba followed.

It became a wholly owned subsidiary of Austrian Airlines in December 2000 and has 35 employees (at March 2007). In 2005 the flight operation merged with Austrian Airlines, and the label Lauda Air now operates charter flights within the Austrian Airlines Group.

At an Austrian Airlines Group board meeting in November 2006 plans were approved to retire the Airbus wide-bodied fleet by mid-2007, to concentrate on a Boeing 767 and Boeing 777 fleet. As a result of subsequent fleet cuts Austrian Airlines suspended some long-haul services and Lauda Air withdrew from the long-haul charter market over the next year. This has led to a refocus on the Short/Medium Haul market, thus leading to the addition of a 737-800 to take over most of the charter routes immediately. A second 737-800 will be added to create a stable fleet, add services and raise more independent revenue for the subsidiary.