FLEET - Ryanair mulls Airbus order for Lauda Europe

Ryanair Holdings is in talks with Airbus over a potential order of up to 50 new A320neo family aircraft for Lauda Europe (LW, Malta International). "At Lauda, we would like to replace the A320ceo, but also to create growth from the current 25 to 50 aircraft," chief executive Michael O'Leary said. Lauda Europe is currently the only Airbus operator in Ryanair's group with a fleet of twenty-six A320-200s.

CH Aviation / Photos: Flyingphotos

 

ROUTES - RYANAIR NS26 A320 NETWORK ADDITIONS – 05OCT25

Ryanair during Northern summer 2026 season schedule additional routes to be operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, mainly from Palma de Mallorca, Vienna and Zadar. Planned A320 network addition as of 05OCT25 as follows. Frequencies listed below focuses on Airbus A320 operations.

Palma de Mallorca – Belfast International eff 01APR26 1 weekly (A320 last served this route in NS24)
Palma de Mallorca – Glasgow Prestwick eff 31MAR26 2 weekly (A320 last served this route in NS24)
Palma de Mallorca – Verona 07JUN26 – 27SEP26 1 weekly (A320 last served this route in NS23)
Palma de Mallorca – Warsaw Modlin eff 01APR26 1 weekly
Vienna – Fuerteventura eff 03APR26 2 weekly (A320 last served this route in NS23 on regular basis)
Vienna – Gran Canaria/Las Palmas eff 30MAR26 2 weekly (A320 last served this route in NS23)
Vienna – Mykonos 01JUN26 – 30SEP26 5 weekly (A320 last served this route in NS22)
Vienna – Tenerife South eff 30MAR26 1 weekly (A320 last served this route in NW22)
Vienna – Thira eff 01JUN26 5 weekly (A320 last served this route in NS23)
Vienna – Zakynthos eff 01JUN26 2 weekly (A320 last served this route in NS23)
Zadar – Bratislava 01JUN26 – 30SEP26 4 weekly
Zadar – Cork 02JUN26 – 29SEP26 2 weekly
Zadar – Edinburgh 04JUN26 – 24SEP26 1 weekly
Zadar – Katowice 01MAY26 – 29SEP26 3 weekly
Zadar – Marseille eff 03APR26 2 weekly (A320 last served this route in NS24)
Zadar – Memmingen eff 30MAR26 4 weekly (A320 last served this route in NS24)
Zadar – Nuremberg 04JUN26 – 27AUG26 1 weekly (A320 last served this route in NS24)
Zadar – Pisa 01JUN26 – 31AUG26 2 weekly (A320 last served this route in NS23)
Zadar – Warsaw Modlin 01MAY26 – 29SEP26 4 weekly (A320 last served this route in NS24)

Photo:Flyingphotos

Ryanair mulls A320neo for Lauda Europe...at the right price

Ryanair Holdings would consider acquiring A320-200Ns and A321-200Ns for its newly formed Maltese subsidiary Lauda Europe (LW, Malta Int'l) but only if Airbus makes the right offer, Group Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said during a virtual interview at the WTM London trade fair.

"I am still hopeful and still optimistic that we can reach a deal with Airbus on price. The challenge though, is and this is one for Airbus, is they’ve got to be able to match Boeing's pricing... And if it doesn’t match what we have on Boeing, then you know, regrettably, I think we’ll finish up getting rid of the Airbuses out of Lauda altogether," he said.

The Maltese carrier currently operates a fleet of 34 used A320-200s taken over from its predecessor Lauda (OE, Vienna), which also added them as pre-owned aircraft, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows. It is the only Airbus operator in Ryanair Group, which also comprises B737-800-only carriers Ryanair, Ryanair UK, Malta Air, and Buzz.

When taking over Lauda, then known as LaudaMotion, Ryanair was planning to use the Austrian carrier as leverage to negotiate better prices with OEMs, shedding its image of a Boeing-only operator.

However, O'Leary has now acknowledged that after having developed a very close relationship to Boeing, the LCC would struggle to get similarly good deals from Airbus. Ryanair Group operates a total of 603 B737-800s, as well as a single B737-700 used for corporate charters. The group has 135 B737-8-200s on firm order from Boeing with deliveries expected to commence next year, following the recertification of the B737 MAX family.

Meanwhile, in another panel during the ACI Europe annual meeting, O'Leary said Ryanair was eager to expand at "progressive" airports which offer good incentives for traffic growth in the post-COVID period. He expects low-cost traffic will return to pre-COVIDs level by Summer 2022, although prices will take longer to rebound. He underlined that among the airports that Ryanair is looking at as potential bases include several Italian gateways, such as Turin, Venice Treviso, and Verona. Ryanair already has 16 bases in Italy and the country is its largest market with a 22.1% share by departure capacity in the LCC's current network.

ch aviation

Lauda to close, be replaced with new Maltese unit

Lauda (OE, Vienna) has announced that it will cease operations by the end of 2020 and will be replaced by a new unit, Lauda Europe, which has already commenced its certification in Malta.

The Austrian subsidiary of Ryanair Holdings said that the new unit would continue to operate A320-200s as a capacity provider under wet-lease terms for the needs of the entire group from its existing bases in Austria, Germany, and Spain, as well as new bases around Europe. Lauda Europe plans to commence operations in November 2020, subject to its AOC being secured by then.

The low-cost carrier holding blamed Austrian tax regulations for the decision, saying that they prevented Laudamotion GmbH (Lauda's legal name) from fulfilling the true potential of the Lauda brand. In particular, it pointed out that by demanding that all employees be taxed under Austrian law, regardless of the location of their bases, the regulations hindered the expansion of Lauda as a wet-lease provider in other countries.

"Lauda Europe will allow German and Spanish based cabin crews to pay their income taxes in Germany and in Spain. Lauda Europe will also facilitate new bases being opened across Europe, with pilots and cabin crew employed on local contracts... Lauda Europe, with an Airbus AOC, will offer greater flexibility to the Ryanair Group, as it will open up bases across Europe without the penal restrictions imposed by Austria's income tax system," the group said.

Ryanair Holdings criticised Austria for first demanding Austrian income taxation of crews based abroad but then refusing to provide COVID-related job protection assistance covering these workers. Staff who recently accepted new collective labour agreement at Lauda will be allowed to transfer to Lauda Europe.

In terms of its business model, the change will have limited impact on Lauda and Lauda Europe. The Austrian unit planned to drop all in-house operations and fly exclusively under Ryanair's FR code going forward even if it had stayed in Austria.

Lauda Europe will be Ryanair Holdings' second Maltese AOC besides Malta Air (AL, Malta Int'l), which operates B737-800s on behalf of Ryanair.

ch aviation

Lauda S20 new routes as of 18OCT19

By Jim Liu



Lauda in recent weeks gradually filed planned new routes for summer 2020 season, including flights from Palma Mallorca, Stuttgart and Vienna. Planned new routes include the following.

Palma Mallorca – Klagenfurt eff 31MAR20 2 weekly A320
Palma Mallorca – Knock eff 31MAR20 2 weekly A320
Stuttgart – Chania eff 04JUN20 1 weekly A320 (until 24SEP20)
Stuttgart – Palermo eff 30MAR20 2 weekly A320
Stuttgart – Porto eff 31MAR20 2 weekly A320
Stuttgart – Seville eff 29MAR20 2 weekly A320
Stuttgart – Valencia eff 31MAR20 3 weekly A320
Vienna – Beirut eff 29MAR20 2 weekly A320
Vienna – Catania eff 31MAR20 3 weekly A320
Vienna – Malta eff 30MAR20 3 weekly A320

Separately, Lauda A320 aircraft to operate for following Ryanair service (selected flights) at Palma Mallorca from 29MAR20:
Palma Mallorca – Alicante
Palma Mallorca – Barcelona
Palma Mallorca – Berlin Schoenefeld
Palma Mallorca – Berlin Tegel
Palma Mallorca – Birmingham
Palma Mallorca – Bratislava
Palma Mallorca – Bremen
Palma Mallorca – Cologne
Palma Mallorca – Edinburgh
Palma Mallorca – Hamburg
Palma Mallorca – Karlsruhe-Baden/Baden
Palma Mallorca – Klagenfurt
Palma Mallorca – Memmingen
Palma Mallorca – Milan Bergamo
Palma Mallorca – Newcastle
Palma Mallorca – Seville
Palma Mallorca – Valencia

LAUDA -A320-200 - OE-IHH

Ton Jochems - PMI

LAUDA - A320-200 - OE-LOB

Alain Charpentier - TLS