Niki (also styled as NIKI or flyNiki, legally NIKI Luftfahrt GmbH) was an Austrian low-cost airline headquartered in Office Park I at Vienna International Airport in Schwechat. It operated scheduled and charter services to European and North African leisure destinations from Vienna, Salzburg, Graz and Innsbruck and also started services from several German airports in March 2017. Niki had a variety of owners, including two stints of ownership under Niki Lauda (1949–2019). In January 2018, the airline was acquired by Lauda, an airline that also had ties to Niki Lauda. History Early years 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 was often described as "low-cost", it provided full services, such as free refreshments, newspapers, and baggage. It offered a sandwich or a cold snack, soft drinks, juice, 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 were offered a warm snack. Also, gourmet menus from Demel could be ordered before the flight. There was also a buy on board service. Development as an Air Berlin subsidiary 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. On 20 March 2012, Niki became an "affiliate member" of Oneworld as a subsidiary company of Air Berlin. Starting in late 2012, Niki successively repainted their aircraft in the Air Berlin paint scheme, using the Niki logo only at the nose. The new paint scheme was 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. Also in spring 2015, Niki started to replace its fleet of Embraer 190s with Airbus A319-100s from its parent, Air Berlin, with the used Embraers being transferred to Helvetic Airways. Sale to Etihad Airways On 5 December 2016, parent company Air Berlin announced plans to sell its entire 49 percent stake in Niki to its own minority owner Etihad Airways. Etihad Airways itself would merge Niki into a new joint-venture to be created with the German leisure carrier TUIfly. At the same time,