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EU commission approves Ryanair’s 75% stake in Laudamotion

Laudamotion

Laudamotion

The EU commission has approved Ryanair taking a 75% stake in Austrian airline, Laudamotion.

Laudamotion is owned by former Formula 1 driver Niki Lauda and took control of Niki when Air Berlin collapsed last year.

Ryanair almost immediately took a stake 24% in the airline in a deal worth €50m, the stake would rise to 75% subject to regulatory approval. Another €50m covered the airline’s start-up and operating costs for the first year.

Ryanair said it welcomed today’s decision to approve that stake increase and said that it had entered into the partnership with Niki Lauda to offer competition, lower fares, and more choice for consumers in Austria, Germany, and Spain.

Laudamotion, however, is under threat according to Ryanair. They say that  Lufthansa is attempting to remove the 9 aircraft that the German carrier was obliged by the European Commission to provide in order to allow Laudamotion to restart services.

According to the Irish budget airline, the move is the latest in a series of efforts by Lufthansa to destabilise and damage Laudamotion, which Ryanair says has seen:

Ryanair’s Chief Legal & Regulatory Officer, Juliusz Komorek said: “We welcome the EU Commission’s decision to approve Ryanair’s proposed acquisition of a 75% interest in Laudamotion. Ryanair remains committed to bringing competition, choice and low fares to the Austrian, German and Spanish markets through our investment in Laudamotion. We urge the EU competition authorities to take action and prevent any further attempts by Lufthansa to damage competition through its anti-consumer behaviour.”

A by-product of the Ryanair Laudamotion deal is that the low-cost carrier now has Airbus aircraft in its previously all Boeing fleet leading some analysts to suggest that it could pave the way for a future deal with Airbus.

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