Niki Lauda is best known as a three-time Formula One World Champion, but he was also the founder of Austria’s second scheduled airline: Lauda Air. Its history ran partly in parallel with that of Tyrolean Airways, before both companies were eventually brought together under the Austrian Airlines Group.
Founded in the Middle of a Formula One Career
Niki Lauda founded Lauda Air in April 1979, while still actively racing in Formula One, together with the travel agency Itas. The young company took over Alpair’s charter flight licence and began charter operations for package holidays in May 1979 with two used Fokker F27 aircraft.
In early 1983, Lauda had to suspend flight operations again after heavy pressure from Austrian Airlines in the domestic market. It was not until late 1985 that he resumed regular flight operations with two leased BAC 1-11s, later supplemented by Boeing 737s.
Austria’s Second Scheduled Airline
Lauda Air subsequently obtained a scheduled flight licence, making it Austria’s second scheduled airline after Austrian Airlines. From 1988, the company operated Boeing 767-300ERs on long-haul routes from Vienna, including to Bangkok, Hong Kong and Sydney, establishing itself as a serious competitor to the state-affiliated Austrian Airlines. In 1990, the German airline Condor acquired a stake of around 25 percent in Lauda Air.
The 1991 Crash
On 26 May 1991, a Lauda Air Boeing 767 (OE-LAV, “Mozart”) crashed on a flight from Hong Kong to Vienna after a thrust reverser on the left engine incorrectly deployed during cruise flight. All 223 occupants were killed. The accident is among the most consequential in civil aviation history and led to extensive technical modifications to Boeing 767s worldwide.
Gradual Integration into the Austrian Airlines Group
From 1996, Lauda Air and Austrian Airlines cooperated initially on a selective basis, later within a strategic partnership in which the Lufthansa Group also participated. In 2001, Lauda Air became a 99-percent-owned subsidiary of Austrian Airlines, and Niki Lauda himself stepped back from operational business. In late March 2013, the Lauda Air brand was finally discontinued altogether, with the remaining holiday-flight operations continuing under the name “Austrian myHolidays”.
Read on: Austrian Airlines · Incidents and safety record
Sources (selection)
Part of the Austrian aviation history section. An independent, private history project with no connection to Austrian Airlines AG or the Lufthansa Group.