Niki Lauda to return to aviation through Amira Air

Veteran Formula 1 driver and aviation pioneer Niki Lauda is set to return to the airline industry following his acquisition of Amira Air (Vienna) late last year.

Lauda told Die Presse newspaper that he had acquired the Austrian VIP/business charter operator from former owner Ronny Pecik but did not disclose either the terms or the value of the deal.

Founded in 2004, Amira Air currently operates a fleet of fourteen executive jets including one Citation Jet CJ2, nine Challenger 300s, and four Bombardier Global Express 5000/6000 aircraft.

Lauda's first venture into the airline business - Lauda Air (NG, Vienna) - launched in 1985 offering scheduled regional European flights before expanding into the longhaul sector in the 1990s. In 2000, Lauda sold the airline to rival Austrian Airlines (OS, Vienna) which absorbed its flight operations in 2005. In 2012, Lauda Air's AOC was returned.

Lauda went on to set up Niki (HG, Vienna) after he bought a 51% majority in Austrian unit of Germany's grounded charter airline Aero Lloyd (YP, Frankfurt Int'l) in 2003. Lauda eventually resigned from Niki's board in 2013 to return to Formula 1 after selling the carrier to Air Berlin (AB, Berlin Tegel).