In the autumn of last year, the following news went unnoticed: Lauda airline ceased all operations, its assets being taken over by Lauda Europe. The company is a subsidiary of Ryanair Holdings, along with Buzz, Ryanair UK and Malta Air.
The Lauda company (initially known as Laudamotion) was founded by the famous Formula 1 driver, Niki Lauda. In other words, Lauda is the former Amira Air company that Niki Lauda had bought in 2016 and rebranded in 2018. Also in 2018, Lauda bought the bankrupt airline Niki and thus a new Austrian low-cost company appeared, having based in Vienna.
Lauda operated flights for RYANAIR
A few months after the appearance of Lauda, Ryanair Holdings also becomes a shareholder in the company, which later becomes the sole owner. Thus, Ryanair manages to enter the Austrian market and launch the first low-cost flights from Vienna airport, obviously under the Lauda brand.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lauda operated flights for RYANAIR. Due to the restrictions imposed by the governments of European countries, most of the Ryanair Holdings routes, the most imported routes being kept and where they could fly and there was demand.
Praise has become Praise Europe
Also in 2020, Lauda had some problems in Austria and Ryanair Holdings decided to withdraw the company from Vienna airport, the operations being taken over by RYANAIR. The surprise is that Lauda ceased all operations on October 31, 2020, and the assets were taken over by Lauda Europe, a new company registered in Malta.
The new Lauda Europe operates charter flights and offers its fully manned aircraft for hire. Lauda Europe currently owns a fleet of 9 Airbus A320 aircraft, which are registered in Malta. But Ryanair Holdings hopes to eliminate Airbus aircraft and stick to one type of aircraft, the dedicated Boeing 737. It's a risky move, given that the model is recorded on the ground as happened in the case of the 737 MAX. But it has the cost advantage. A single-aircraft fleet contributes to substantial financial savings.
So if you will not see frequent flights under the Lauda brand, know that this is the reason. The new Laura Europe will only operate charters and outsourced flights to other airlines.