Niki (airline)
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| Founded | 2003 | |||
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| Hubs | Vienna International Airport | |||
| Focus cities | Salzburg Airport | |||
| Frequent-flyer program | topbonus (from Air Berlin) | |||
| Alliance | Oneworld (affiliate) | |||
| Fleet size | 21 | |||
| Destinations | 50+ | |||
| Company slogan | The Passenger Comes First | |||
| Parent company | Air Berlin | |||
| Headquarters | Schwechat, Austria | |||
| Key people | Christian Lesjak (CEO) | |||
| Website | flyniki.com | |||
Niki (also styled as NIKI or flyNiki, legally NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH) is an Austrian low-cost airline and a subsidiary of Air Berlin. It is headquartered in Office Park I at Vienna International Airport in Schwechat.[1][2] Niki operates scheduled services to European cities and leisure destinations as well as charter services to leisure destinations from Vienna, Salzburg, Graz, Linz and Innsbruck.
History
In 2003 Niki Lauda, ex-Grand Prix driver and founder of Lauda Air, acquired the former Aero Lloyd Austria operation. The airline started operations on 28 November 2003.
Although Niki is often described as "low-cost", it provides full service, such as free refreshments, newspapers and baggage. It offers a sandwich or a cold snack, softdrinks, tea and coffee on all short-haul flights as well as on charter routes to Greece, Tunisia and Turkey. On mid-haul charter flights to the Canary Islands and Egypt all passengers are offered a warm snack. Also, gourmet menus from Demel can be ordered before the flight. There is also a buy on board service.[3]
On 9 January 2004, Niki announced cooperation with Air Berlin. In late 2011, Niki merged completely with Air Berlin, sharing operations, booking systems and aircraft. Since 20 March 2012, Niki is an "affiliate member" of Oneworld as a subsidiary company of Air Berlin.[4] Since late 2012, Niki successively repaints their aircraft in the Air Berlin paint scheme, using the Niki logo only at the nose. The new paint scheme will be applied during regular C checks.
In October 2014, Niki announced the cancellation of their flights from Vienna to Copenhagen, Moscow and Frankfurt due to decreasing demand. In exchange, new leisure routes will be started by summer 2015.[5]
Niki planned to start operations from Bratislava Airport by April 2015 with flights to Brussels and a 10-minute air connection to nearby Vienna International Airport. However, as of April 2015 these plans were abandonned and Niki will not start to serve Bratislava at all due to economic reasons.[6] Also in spring 2015, Niki started to replace its fleet of Embraer 190s with Airbus A319-100s from its parent, Air Berlin. The used Embraers are transferred to Helvetic Airways.[7]
Destinations
Niki operates scheduled and charter services to destinations to several countries in Europe - charter services are especially operated to Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Morocco - from Vienna, Salzburg, Graz, Linz and Innsbruck. The flights are also marketed by its parent Air Berlin.
Fleet
The fleet of Niki consists of the following aircraft as of April 2015:[8]
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Passengers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319-100 | 4 | 1 | 150 | |
| Airbus A320-200 | 11 | 4 | 180 | |
| Airbus A321-200 | 4 | — | 212 | |
| Embraer 190 | 2 | — | 112 | to be transferred to Helvetic Airways and replaced by Airbus A319-100s[7] |
| Total | 22 | 5 |
References
- ↑ "Contact form." Niki. Retrieved on 25 January 2011. "NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH Office Park I, Top B03 A-1300 Wien"
- ↑ "Information about the city plan." City of Schwechat. Retrieved on 5 September 2009.
- ↑ http://www.flyniki.com/en-AT/niki/service_on_board.php
- ↑ http://www.flyniki.com/de-AT/niki/about_us.php
- ↑ http://www.austrianaviation.net/news-regional/news-detail/datum/2014/10/14/niki-air-berlin-bestaetigt-streckenstreichungen.html
- ↑ http://www.austrianaviation.net/news-regional/news-detail/datum/2015/04/15/niki-blaest-bratislava-fluege-ab.html
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://www.austrianaviation.net/news-regional/news-detail/datum/2015/04/15/a319-bekommen-niki-beklebung.html
- ↑ http://ch-aviation.com/portal/airline/HG#al_profile_tab_fleet
External links
Media related to Niki at Wikimedia Commons
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