Ryanair Group’s Vienna-based subsidiary Lauda will cease operations at the end of this year, making way for a new Maltese AOC that will be be called Lauda Europe. The airline’s headquarters will therefore move from Vienna to Malta. The coronavirus has been an influential factor in Ryanair’s decision, but there is also an interesting song to this change of plans: Lauda’s 30 A320s will be registered in Malta to reduce taxes. There will still be a Lauda office in Vienna, though. An intelligent move… Lauda CEO Andreas Gruber announced: “We will subsequently reduce our Austrian AOC operation, close it and return [the AOC to the Austrian authorities]. We already applied for a Maltese AOC and plan to start operations from November”. Gruber added that Lauda Europe will remain as a wet-lease operator for Ryanair Group airlines as well as being available for all airlines in the ACMI (Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance, Insurance) business. Ryanair has also created a start-up in a joint venture with Government of Malta called Malta Air that operates a total of 120 Boeing 737-800s. On top of this, Ryanair is challenging the Irish government about the obligatory 14-day quarantine in Ireland that is ruining its business. Ryanair has the optimal business plan and knows how to get through the market and when to do what… which is why it remains the biggest airline in Europe. 6th of August 2020.
Aeronews24 