Consumer Advocacy Sees Niki Bankruptcy Moved to Austrian Courts

In a remarkable course of events, airline passengers affected by the bankruptcy of Air Berlin subsidiary Niki, now have a greater chance of recouping their €1.2 million (US$1.45 million) in open claims. As a result of a successful appeal lodged by passenger rights advocate Fairplane, bankruptcy proceedings surrounding Niki have now been moved to Austrian courts.
Although managed from Berlin, the low-cost carrier founded by former F1 world champion racing driver Niki Lauda has official headquarters at Vienna’s Schwechat Airport, and all Niki’s operating licenses were granted by Austria. Following on from Fairplane’s beliefs that 3,000 passengers affected would have a better chance of recovering their losses if the bankruptcy proceedings were transferred to Austria, on Monday this week German courts reversed a lower court ruling which gave German officials the right to dispose of Niki’s assets.
Fairplane had argued that Air Berlin bankruptcy trustee Lucas Flöther had nominal interest in prioritizing passenger compensation in the Niki proceedings.
While the consumer may benefit from this move, doubt must now be cast over the recent deal struck by International Airlines Group (IAG) to acquire Niki and merge the carrier with its existing low-cost carrier, Vueling. Principal concern relates to the potential loss of critical runway slots along with several thousand jobs at Niki.
Fairplane has made it clear they do not consider the change in venue will seriously affect the IAG deal as Austrian bankruptcy officials can accept and take over the deal. Fairplane has already filed for Niki bankruptcy proceedings in Korneuburg, near Vienna.